Jasmine E. Harris
Professor of Law
Jasmine E. Harris is a law and inequality legal scholar with expertise in disability law, antidiscrimination law, and evidence. Her work addresses law’s capacity to define and advance social norms of inclusion. Her evidence scholarship explores topics such as the application of critical theories to evidentiary rules, principles, and doctrine.
Her recent academic articles have or will appear in such leading law reviews and journals as the Columbia Law Review, New York University Law Review, UCLA Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Boston University Law Review, Yale Law Journal Forum, among others. Harris also co-edits a preeminent evidence treatise, McCormick on Evidence, and is currently working on a co-edited book, Critical Evidence Law.
Harris also writes frequently about disability and equality law for popular audiences. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Ms. Magazine, and Tribune Wire, in addition to academic blogs such as the American Constitution Society’s Expert Forum and the Harvard Law School Petrie-Flom Center’s Bill of Health. She is regularly quoted in media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, TIME, Forbes, CNBC, National Public Radio, PBS NewsHour, Chronicle of Higher Education, Guardian, Harper’s BAZAAR, and USA Today.
A range of federal and state lawmakers and legal advocates regularly seek Harris’s opinion on issues of legislative and policy reforms related to disability laws and civil litigation. Harris is a member of the inaugural Steering Committee tasked with developing a National Smithsonian Museum of Disability History and Culture. She also serves on the Board of Directors for The Arc of the United States, one of the largest national disability rights organizations, and as Chair of the Legal Advocacy Subcommittee to advise the organization on impact litigation. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Harris was appointed by the United States Chief Judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to serve as Co-Reporter for Third Circuit’s Committee on Model Civil Jury Instructions.
Harris is a recipient of the A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in Teaching at Penn Carey Law and has received recognition for her teaching and mentorship of students at other universities.
Harris graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College with a bachelor’s degree in Latin American & Caribbean Studies. She received her juris doctorate from Yale Law and clerked for the late Honorable Harold Baer, Jr., United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. She has worked in both private and public interest law. Harris practiced in the areas of complex commercial litigation, securities, and government investigations as a Senior Associate with WilmerHale. She also worked as a staff attorney at Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization, where she assisted grassroots advocacy campaigns to advance racial justice in education and address the school to prison pipeline through legal, policy, and strategic communications efforts.