Affiliated Graduate Program Faculty Member

Areas of Specialization: Crimes of the Powerful; State-Corporate Crime; Race, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice; Political Economies of Justice Systems

Office: Lucy Stone Hall, A259
Campus: Livingston Campus

Kenneth Sebastian León is an Associate Professor of Latino and Caribbean Studies and Criminal Justice at Rutgers – New Brunswick. He specializes in crimes of the powerful and racialized social control, both within and beyond the formal boundaries of criminal justice institutions. Prior work related to the criminal justice system includes examining the extralegal factors of the federal death penalty, the policing of Latino men under the pretext of gang interdictions, and migrant detention in New Jersey during the coronavirus pandemic. His current research is supported by the National Science Foundation to study the impact of labor law and immigration policy on workers within the meatpacking industry.

His scholarship appears in Annual Review of Criminology, Criminology & Public Policy, and Ethnography, Latino Studies among other outlets. His books include Corrupt Capital – Alcohol, Nightlife, and Crimes of the Powerful, and co-authorship of Class, Race, Gender, and Crime – The Social Realities of Justice in America. More information about his research, teaching, and advising can be found at www.ksebastianleon.com