Doug Berman

Prof. Doug Berman, Ohio State Professor  Professor Douglas A. Berman is Newton D. Baker-
Baker & Hostetler Chair in Law and Executive Director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy
Center, housed in the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. Berman’s principal
teaching and research focus is in the area of criminal law and criminal sentencing, though he
also has teaching and practice experience in the fields of legislation and intellectual property.
Professor Berman attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. After graduation
from law school in 1993, Professor Berman served as a law clerk for Judge Jon O. Newman and
then for Judge Guido Calabresi, both on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second
Circuit. After clerking, Professor Berman was a litigation associate at the law firm of Paul, Weiss,
Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison in New York City.
Professor Berman is the co-author of two casebooks, Sentencing Law and Policy: Cases,
Statutes and Guidelines and Marijuana Law and Policy. In addition to authoring numerous
publications on topics ranging from capital punishment to the federal sentencing guidelines,
Professor Berman has served as an editor of the Federal Sentencing Reporter for more than a
decade, and also now serves as co-managing editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law.

Professor Berman is the sole creator and author of the widely-read and widely-cited blog,
Sentencing Law and Policy. Professor Berman’s work on the blog, which he describes as a form
of “scholarship in action,” has been profiled or discussed at length in articles appearing in the
Wall Street Journal, Legal Affairs magazine, Lawyers Weekly USA, Legal Times, Columbus
Monthly, and in numerous other print and online publications.
Professor Berman frequently is consulted by national and state policymakers, sentencing
commissioners, and public policy groups concerning sentencing law and policy reforms. He has
testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and before numerous sentencing
commissions. He also is frequently contacted by media concerning sentencing developments
by national and local media concerning sentencing developments.