Dr. Sandra Mayson

Biography

Sandra Mayson researches and writes in the fields of criminal law, constitutional law, and legal theory, with a focus on the role of preventive restraint within the criminal legal system. Her academic work draws from her experience as a trial lawyer at the Orleans Public Defenders, where she represented indigent clients in criminal proceedings and trained public defenders in immigration-sensitive defense practices. Mayson’s articles have appeared in top legal journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Law & Philosophy, and Criminal Law & Philosophy. She is actively engaged in pretrial law reform, having served as an Associate Reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Pretrial Release and Detention Act. She co-authors amicus briefs in lawsuits challenging aspects of money-bail systems and advises both public and private stakeholders on pretrial reform initiatives. Mayson clerked for Judge Dolores K. Sloviter and U.S. Circuit Judge L. Felipe Restrepo in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn, she was on the faculty at the University of Georgia School of Law, where she received the C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2020. Mayson’s current projects include an article discussing the constitutional standards governing pretrial detention and a theoretical inquiry into the law of consciousness.

Research Interests