Leadership, Faculty
Karin D. Martin
Associate Professor; MPA Program Director
The connections between civil justice problems and criminal legal system involvement - voting in jail, race & policing, court-ordered debt, jury participation.
Karin D. Martin is Associate Professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy & Governance at the University of Washington, where she is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Sociology. At Evans, she serves as the MPA Program Director.
Dr. Martin is a crime policy specialist whose areas of expertise are monetary sanctions, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and decision-making in the criminal legal context. She received the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020. Dr. Martin is an American Bar Foundation Affiliated Scholar and was an 2021-2022 ABF/JPB Foundation Access to Justice Faculty Scholar. She is also Affiliated Faculty with the West Coast Poverty Center and the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington. Her work has appeared in a variety of journals across disciplines, including: Stanford Law Review, Stanford Law & Policy Review, American Journal of Public Health, Social Issues and Policy Review, Annual Review of Criminology, Sociological Perspectives, Law and Human Behavior, Law & Policy, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, International Journal of Prisoner Health, Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review.
In her current work, Dr. Martin examines how civil justice problems and criminal legal system involvement give rise to one another, including the intersections between amnesty for unpaid court-ordered debt, cyclical and protracted criminal legal system contact, housing security, and legal representation for eviction proceedings. Her book, Antiracist Policing (co-authored with Ben Jones at Penn State), is in press with Oxford University Press.
Democracy
- Civic Engagement
- Voting
Policy Analysis Tools & Methods
- General expertise
Program Implementation and Service Delivery
- Equity & Access
Public Sector
- Policy Process
Social Policy
- Criminal Legal Policy
- Housing & Community Development
- Poverty & Income Policy
Washington State House of Representatives. Testimony regarding HB1412, which would give judges more discretion over mandated restitution payments. February 2021.
Washington State Senate, Housing Stability & Affordability Committee. Testimony regarding SB 5907, civil legal aid study on impact of legal representation in eviction hearings. February 2019.
United States Commission on Civil Rights. Hearing on Municipal Policing and Courts: A Search for Justice or a Quest for Revenue. March 2016.
New York State Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice. Hearing on Criminal Justice Reform. May 2015.
Book
Antiracist Policing co-authored with Ben Jones (Penn State), Oxford University Press [in press]
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Johnson, E. J., Pluckebaum, H., Martin, K. D., Danielson, B., Majercin, B., Capestany, S. A., & Lyons, V. H. (2025). Youth Detention and Incarceration Facilities in the United States (2010 to February 2023): Mapping Closure Intents and Implementation. American Journal of Public Health, August, Vol. 115, No. 8.
Shannon, S., Harris, A., Smith, T., Pattillo M., Martin, K., Slavinski, I., Stewart, R., Giuffre, A., Sutherland, A. (2025). “It’s like a reverse Robin Hood—We all know they can’t pay”: How court actors navigate the logics of monetary sanctions. Criminology, 63(1), 26-57.
Chambers, J. E., Skeem, J. L., Jian, L., & Martin, K. D. (2024). “Estimated effect of fee repeal on family financial stress and juvenile probation outcomes.” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.
Young K., K. Martin, & S. Lageson (2024) “Access to Justice at the Intersection of Civil and Criminal Law” Introduction to Special Issue on “Access to Justice” Punishment & Society, co-edited by Young K., K. Martin, & S. Lageson.
Martin, K. “Monetary Sanction Thwart Access to Justice. (2023) Stanford Law Review Online, 75(89).
Martin, K. (2023) “Fiscal Contrition: An Examination of Predatory Fine and Fee Revenue and Policy Change in Three US Counties” Law & Policy, 1–23.
Ellyson, A. M., Martin, K. D., Bowen, D., Gallagher, A., & Rivara, F. P. (2022). Implicit Racial and Gender Bias About Handguns: A New Implicit Association Test. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 38(5-6), 5190-5210.
Martin, K. D., Spencer-Suarez, K., & Kirk, G. (2022). Pay or Display: Monetary Sanctions and the Performance of Accountability and Procedural Integrity in New York and Illinois Courts. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 8(1), 128-147.
Friedman, B., Harris, A., Huebner, B. M., Martin, K. D., Pettit, B., Shannon, S. K., & Sykes, B. L. (2022). What Is Wrong with Monetary Sanctions? Directions for Policy, Practice, and Research. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 8(1), 221-243. (authors in alphabetical order)
Howell, B. A., Earnshaw, V. A., Garcia, M., Taylor, A., Martin, K., & Fox, A. D. (2022). The Stigma of Criminal Legal Involvement and Health: a Conceptual Framework. Journal of Urban Health, 1-10.
Spencer-Suarez, K., & Martin, K. D. (2021) Navigating the Monetary Sanctions Maze: Understanding and Confusion Among Criminal Legal Debtors. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 37(1), 4-24.
Martin, K. D. (2020) “The Plurality of Perspectives on Monetary Sanctions”: An Introductory Essay. Sociological Perspectives, 63(6), 901–920.
Martin, K. D., & Fowle, M. Z. (2020) Restitution without Restoration? Exploring the Gap between the Perception and Implementation of Restitution. Sociological Perspectives, 63(6), 1015–1037.
Martin K. (2020) Law, Money, People: Insights from a Brief History of Court Funding Concerns. UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 4(1).
Martin, K., Taylor, A., Howell, B. and Fox, A. (2020) Does criminal justice stigma affect health and health care utilization? A systematic review of public health and medical literature, International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 263-279.
Kahn, K. & Martin, K. (2020) The Social Psychology of Racially Biased Policing: Evidence-Based Policy Responses Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Martin K. (2018) Monetary Myopia: an examination of institutional response to revenue from monetary sanctions for misdemeanors. Criminal Justice Policy Review, Vol. 29, No. 6-7, pp. 630-662.
Martin, K. Bryan L. Sykes, Sarah Shannon, Frank Edwards, and Alexes Harris. (2018) Monetary Sanctions: Legal Financial Obligations in US Systems of Justice. Annual Review of Criminology, 1:10.1–10.25.
Martin, K. Bryan L. Sykes, Sarah Shannon, Frank Edwards, and Alexes Harris. 2018. Monetary Sanctions: Legal Financial Obligations in US Systems of Justice. Annual Review of Criminology, 1:10.1–10.25.
Martin, K. Smith, S. S. & Still, W. 2016. Shackled to Debt: Criminal Justice Financial Obligations and the Barriers to Reentry They Create. National Institutes of Justice.
Kahn, K.B. & Martin, K. 2016. Disparate Racial Treatment in Policing: Perceptions, Realities, and Policy Implications. Social Issues and Policy Review, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 82-121.
Glaser, J., Martin, K. D., & Kahn, K. B. 2015. Possibility of Death Sentence Has Divergent Effect on Verdicts for Black and White Defendants. Law and Human Behavior.
Wilde, V., Martin, K., & Goff, P. “Dehumanization as a Distinct Form of Prejudice” 2014. TPM Vol. 21, No. 3.
Goff, P. A., Mentovich, A., & Martin, K. 2013. “(The Need for) A Model of Translational Mind Science Justice Research.” Special Thematic Section on Societal Change. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 1(1), 385-399.
Law Review Articles
von Geldern, W., & Martin, K. D. (2025). No right to counsel: evictions, administrative burden, and access to civil justice. Stanford Law & Policy Review, 36(2), 313-348.
Martin, K. “Monetary Sanction Thwart Access to Justice. (2023) Stanford Law Review Online, 75(89).
Martin K. 2020. Law, Money, People: Insights from a Brief History of Court Funding Concerns. UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 4(1).
Shannon, S., Huebner, B. M., Harris, A., Martin, K., Patillo, M., Pettit, B., Sykes, B., & Uggen, C. (2020). The Broad Scope and Variation of Monetary Sanctions: Evidence From Eight States. UCLA Criminal Justice Law Review, 4(1).
Commentary
Martin, K. (2025). Focusing on family finances reveals actual cost of incarceration. Science Advances, 11(45), eaec7420.
Policy Reports
von Geldern W, Martin K, Fyall R, “Evictions by Default Judgment in Washington State” July 2024.
Martin K & Weaver, A. “Voting in Washington’s County Jails: Challenges, Obstacles, and Recommendations” Report prepared for WA State Legislature and the Office of the Secretary of State. December 2024.
Fyall R, Martin K, von Geldern W. “Washington State’s Appointed Counsel Program: Baseline Report.” August 2023.
Martin K & Fowle M. “Mitigating and Understanding the Nature, Extent, and Harms of Criminal Justice Debt in Pierce County” May 2019.
Harris A, Huebner B, Martin K, Pattillo M, Pettit B, Shannon S, Sykes B, Uggen C. “United States Systems of Justice, Poverty and the Consequences of Non‐Payment of Monetary Sanctions: Interviews from California, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, New York, and Washington.” A Research Report Prepared for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. November 2017.
Martin, Karin & Kimberly Spencer-Suarez. “Criminal Justice Debt: Costs & Consequences.” New York, New York: The Fortune Society. October 2017.
Martin K. & K. Spencer-Suarez. “New York Policy Report: Monetary Sanctions and Sites” in Harris A, Huebner B, Martin K, Pattillo M, Pettit B, Shannon S, Sykes B, Uggen C. “Monetary Sanctions in the Criminal Justice System: A Report to the Laura and John Arnold Foundation” October 2016.
Goff, P. & Martin, K. “Unity Breeds Fairness: The Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity, Report on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,” January 2013.
Goff, P., Martin, K., Gamson-Smiedt. M. “Protecting Equity: The Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity, Report on the San Jose Police Department,” December 2012.
Goff, P. & Martin, K. “Measuring Justice” report issued by Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity in collaboration with the US Department of Justice. August 2012.
- APPAM Policy Council, Researcher in an Academic Setting 2023-2027
- Law & Society Association Trustee 2023-2026
- American Society of Criminology, Teaching Committee 2023-2024
- UW Population Health Initiative Executive Council Member, 2022-2025
- UW Student Conduct Reviewing Officer, 2022-2025
American Bar Foundation (ABF)/JPB Foundation Access to Justice Faculty Scholar, 2021-2022
University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award, 2020
Evans School of Public Policy & Governance Teaching Award, 2019
Voices & Visions Awardee, Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, 2019
2014 Early Career Workshop, Law & Society Association
Goldman School of Public Policy Finishing Year Fellowship, 2011-2012
Center for Research on Social Change, Institute for the Study of Social Change Graduate Fellow 2010-2012
2010 Berkeley Empirical Legal Studies (BELS) Graduate Fellow
2009 National Forum for Black Public Administrators Fellow
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Workshop on Sentencing and Other Federal Case Data Analysis Fellow, University of Michigan, 2009
Integrated Graduate Education Research and Training (IGERT) Program in Politics, Economics, Psychology, and Public Policy Fellow (funded through National Science Foundation) UC Berkeley, 2007-2009
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Quantitative Analysis of Crime and Criminal Justice Program Fellow, University of Michigan, 2008
Goldman School of Public Policy Department Award, 2006-2007
AY 2026–27 Courses
- PUBPOL 501 MPA Launch Offered Autumn
- PUBPOL 513 Public Policy Analysis Offered Spring
- PUBPOL 599 Race and Public Policy Offered Autumn