Austin Sarat
Austin Sarat is interested broadly in the cultural and social life of American law. He is currently pursuing several lines of research, among are the American values and beliefs revealed by state killings. Sarat uses the death penalty as a lens through which to view ideas about responsibility and blame, pain and its proper uses, race and fairness, mercy and the possibilities of redemption. Sarat recently completed a book-length study of the decline of executive clemency in capital cases and a study of race and capital punishment in the United States.
Sarat's research also focuses on the cultural life of law or law in popular culture. He is now writing a book entitled Hollywood’s Law: What Movies Do for Democracy. This book examines movies about law from 1950 to 2000 in order to understand how these films contribute to the development of democratic citizenship.
At Amherst College, Sarat teaches an introduction to Law, Jurisprudence, and Social Thought and a first-year Seminar, Secrets and Lies, and a class about murder.
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May 1 deadline could trigger constitutional clash over Trump’s Iran war
As the War Powers Resolution clock expires, a legal confrontation is emerging over whether President Donald Trump can continue military operations in Iran without congressional approval.
The Trump administration aims to penalize disabled adults who live with their families
A rule change pushed by White House officials would slash benefits or end support for as many as 400,000 Supplemental Security Income recipients.
A peace agenda to end military madness
To create a safer world, millions of Americans need to mobilize to end the war on Iran, prevent nuclear proliferation, halt the arms race and slash military budgets.
War-fueled oil profits deepen what critics call an obscene transfer of wealth
As TotalEnergies and BP post surging profits tied to oil price shocks from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, critics warn that fossil fuel giants are once again converting geopolitical crisis into shareholder windfalls while households absorb the economic pain.
What makes the MAGA misrule tragedy historic? Total foregone conclusion. Total knowability and avoidability.
Paying the corrupt MAGA piper is now a lead “investment” – with outcomes as predictable (and problematic) as all that voters repressed when empowering the Trump II horror show.