Prof. Megan Stevenson

Megan Stevenson is an economist and legal scholar who became an Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason University, in 2017. Her research uses advanced econometric techniques to evaluate criminal law and policy in areas such as bail, pretrial detention, juvenile justice, and risk assessment. Her studies are published or forthcoming in top journals in both economics and law, such as the Stanford Law Review and the Review of Economics and Statistics.  Her research on bail was cited extensively in a landmark federal civil rights decision, O’Donnell v. Harris, and has received widespread media coverage.  In addition to legal scholarship, Professor Stevenson has written a number of op-eds for news outlets such as the Houston Chronicle and the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.

Prior to joining the law faculty at George Mason, Professor Stevenson was a fellow at the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Law School (2015-2017).  She holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies (2009, with highest distinction) and a PhD in Agricultural and Resource Economics (2016), both from the University of California, Berkeley.  She teaches Law & Economics and Criminal Law.