Last updated on: 9/13/2011 | Author: ProCon.org

Phillip J. Cook, PhD Biography

Title:
Professor of Public Policy at Duke University
Position:
Not Clearly Pro or Con to the question "Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?"
Reasoning:

“If the death penalty had been abolished on July 1, 2004, state government expenditures for processing murder cases would have fallen by $10.8 million per year… The bottom line is that the death penalty is a financial burden on the state and a resource-absorbing burden on the trial courts.”

“Potential Savings from Abolition of the Death Penalty in North Carolina,” American Law and Economics Review, Dec. 11, 2009
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:
    Experts
Individuals with MDs, JDs, PhDs, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to death penalty issues. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to death penalty issues.
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Professor, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, 1973-present
  • Schelling Visiting Professor of Public Policy, University of Maryland, 2008-2009
  • Recipient, Raymond Vernon Memorial Prize for best paper in Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 2008
  • Recipient, Richard A. Stubbing Teacher Mentor Award, 2008
  • Member, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 2001-present
  • Fellow, American Society of Criminology, 2000-present
  • Visiting Scholar, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 2000
  • Director and Chair of, Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University, 1985-1989, 1997-1999
  • Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1996-present
  • Visiting Professor, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, 1989-1990
  • Consultant, Criminal Division, US Department of Justice, 1982
  • Visiting Scholar, Institute for Research in Social Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fall 1980
  • Recipient, Special Career Fellowship, Ford Foundation, 1968-1972
  • Member, Committee on Law and Justice, National Research Council
  • Honorary Fellow, American Society of Criminology
Education:
  • PhD, Economics, University of California at Berkeley, 1973
  • BA, high distinction, University of Michigan, 1968
Other:
  • Former Member, Division Committee for the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council
  • Former Consultant, Enforcement Division, US Department of Treasury