Haverford College, B.A.
University of Chicago, J.D.
Professor Richard S. Frase is recognized for his scholarship in the area of criminal justice. He teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, and the federal defense clinic. His seminars include comparative criminal procedure and sentencing guidelines. He was the Julius E. Davis Professor of Law for 1988-89 and became the Benjamin N. Berger Professor of Criminal Law in 1991.
Professor Frase graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Haverford College. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago, where he was Comment Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review. He clerked for the Honorable Luther M. Swygert, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and was an associate attorney for the law firm of Sidley & Austin in Chicago from 1972 to 1974. Professor Frase then became a research associate and Arnold Shure Fellow of the Center for Studies of Criminal Justice at the University of Chicago Law School.
In 1977 he joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School. He has been a Visiting Professor at the Christian Albrechts Universität in Kiel, Germany, and at the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France. Professor Frase is a member of the American Law Institute, the International Association of Penal Law, the American Society of Criminology, and the American, Minnesota, and Hennepin County Bar Associations. He is a frequent contributor to radio, television, and newspaper reports on criminal justice issues.
Proportionality Principles in American Law: Controlling Excessive Government Actions (with E. Thomas Sullivan) (Oxford University Press, 2009)
The Doctrine of Proportionality in the United States (in progress) (with E. Thomas Sullivan)
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2nd Edition. Volumes I-IV. [editor, with J. Dressler, T. Bernard, D. Denno, J. Hagan, D. Kahan, & C. Steiker] Macmillan Reference USA (2001)
Sentencing and Sanctions in Western Countries (Co-editor: Michael Tonry) (Oxford University Press, 2001).
Minnesota Misdemeanors and Moving Traffic Violations, 1st ed. 1982 (with Martin J. Costello & Phebe S. Haugen); 2nd ed. 1990 & Supps. 1991-98 (with Martin J. Costello & Stephen M. Simon); 3rd ed. (same co-authors), Lexis Law Publishing, 1999 and Supps. 2000-2006.
The French Code of Criminal Procedure (Rev. ed. 1988) (with Gerald L. Kock).
The Criminal Justice System: Materials on the Administration and Reform of the Criminal Law (1980) (with Franklin E. Zimring).
Articles, Monographs, and Chapters in Books
"Sentencing Guidelines in Minnesota – Past, Present, and Future" (in progress)
"A Public Safety Model of Imprisonment for a Post-Deserts Era?" (in progress)
"Prior-Conviction Sentencing Enhancements: Rationales and Limits Based on Retributive and Utilitarian Proportionality Principles" (in progress)
"Second-Look Provisions in the Proposed Model Penal Code Revisions," Federal Sentencing Reporter (forthcoming 2009)
"Norval Morris's Contributions to Sentencing Structures, Theory, and Practice," Federal Sentencing Reporter (forthcoming 2009)
"What Factors Explain Persistent Racial Disparities in Minnesota 's Prison and Jail Populations?" in: Crime and Justice: A Review of Research (Michael Tonry, ed.), vol. 38 (forthcoming 2009)
"America's Sentencing Future," in: Corrections in the 21st Century, 4th Edit. (Frank Schmalleger & John Smykla, eds.) (McGraw-Hill, forthcoming 2009)
"Limiting Excessive Prison Sentences under Federal and State Constitutions" (University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, forthcoming 2008)
"Sentencing and Comparative Law Theory," in: Crime, Procedure and Evidence in a Comparative and International Context: Essays in Honour of Professor Mirjan Damaska (Hart Publishing, 2008)
"The Defense Lawyer's Role in Negotiated Justice," in: Strafverteidigung vor neuen Herausforderungen [Criminal Defense Facing New Challenges] (Duncker & Humblot 2008)
"National Report: United States of America ," in: Strafverteidigung vor neuen Herausforderungen [Criminal Defense Facing New Challenges] (Duncker & Humblot 2008)
"What Factors Explain Persistent Racial Disparities in Minnesota's Prison and Jail Populations?" (in progress)
"Sentencing Guidelines in Minnesota - Past, Present, and Future" (in progress)
"Sentencing and Comparative Law Theory" (in progress)
"America's Sentencing Future," in: Corrections in the 21st Century, 4th Edit. (Frank Schmalleger & John Smykla, eds.) (McGraw-Hill, forthcoming) (updating essay in 3rd edition, 2005)
"The Role of the Public in Sentencing Policy Development under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines," in: Public Opinion and Penal Populism: Sentencing Policy and Sentencing Councils (Arie Freiberg & Karen Gelb, eds.) (Willan Press, forthcoming 2007)
"The Defense Lawyer's Role in Negotiated Justice," in: Criminal Defense Facing New Challenges (Duncker & Humblot, forthcoming 2007)
"National Report: United States of America," in: Criminal Defense Facing New Challenges (Duncker & Humblot, forthcoming 2007)
"The Apprendi-Blakely Cases: Sentencing Reform Counter-Revolution?" Criminology & Public Policy, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 403-32 (2007)
"France," in: Criminal Procedure: A Worldwide Study, 2nd Edit. (Craig Bradley, ed.), pp. 201-42 (Carolina Academic Press 2007) [updating chapter in first edition, 1999]
"Punishment and Sentencing Alternatives," in: Encyclopedia of Law and Society: American and Global Perspectives (Sage Publications, 2007)
"Blakely in Minnesota, Two Years Out: Guidelines Sentencing Is Alive And Well," Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 4, pp. 73-94 (2006)
"Proportionality Principles in the American System of Criminal Justice," Perspectives, The Magazine of the University of Minnesota Law School, Fall 2005, pp. 28-32
"Why Minnesota Will Weather Blakely's Blast" (with Dale G. Parent), Federal Sentencing Reporter, vol. 18, pp. 12-18 (2005)
"Punishment Purposes," in: Symposium, A More Perfect System: Twenty-five Years of Guideline Sentencing Reform, Stanford Law Review, vol. 58, pp. 67-83 (2005)
"The Warren Court's Missed Opportunities in Substantive Criminal Law," Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, vol. 3, pp. 75-103 (2005)
"The Impact of Contextual Factors on the Decision to Imprison in Large Urban Jurisdictions: A Multilevel Analysis" (with Robert R. Weidner and Jennifer S. Schultz), Crime and Delinquency, vol. 51, pp. 400-424 (2005)
"State Sentencing Guidelines: Diversity, Consensus, and Unresolved Policy Issues," in: Symposium, Sentencing: What's At Stake for the States? Columbia Law Review, vol. 105, pp. 1190-1232 (2005)
"Explaining Sentencing Severity in Large Urban Counties: A Multilevel Analysis of Contextual and Case-Level Factors" (with Robert R. Weidner and Iain Pardoe), The Prison Journal, vol. 84, pp. 184-207 (2004)
"Historical and Comparative Perspectives on the Exceptional Severity of Sentencing in the United States" [reviewing: Harsh Justice: Criminal Punishments and the Widening Divide Between America and Europe, by James Q. Whitman (Oxford U. Press, 2003)], Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev., vol. 36, pp. 227-37 (2004)
"Limiting Retributivism," in: The Future of Imprisonment (Michael Tonry, edit.), pp. 83- 119 (Oxford Univ. Press, 2004)
"Legal and Extralegal Determinants of Inter-County Differences in Prison Use" (with Robert R. Weidner), Criminal Justice Policy Review, vol. 14, pp. 377-400 (2003)
Book Review, reviewing The Japanese Way of Justice: Prosecuting Crime in Japan, by David T. Johnson (Oxford U. Press, 2002), Criminal Law Bulletin, vol. 39, pp. 488- 94 (2003)
"Criminal Punishments", in The Oxford Companion to American Law, pp. 197-202 (Kermit Hal, edit.) (Oxford University Press, 2002)
"Sentencing Guidelines", in The Encyclopedia of American Law, pp. 391-93 (David Schultz, ed.) (Facts On File, 2002).
"Criminal Justice System", in Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2nd Edition. (Dressler et al., edits.) Volume I, pp. 371-93 [with Robert R. Weidner] Macmillan Reference USA (2001)
"Criminalization and Decriminalization", in Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2nd Edition. (Dressler et al., edits.) Volume I, pp. 347-61. Macmillan Reference USA (2001)
"Victimless Crime", in Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2nd Edition. (Dressler et al., edits.) Volume IV, pp. 1626-29. Macmillan Reference USA (2001)
A County-Level Comparison of the Propensity to Sentence Felons to Prison, 1 International Journal of Comparative Criminology 1 (2001) (with Robert R. Weidner)
"International Perspectives on Sentencing Policy and Research", in Sentencing and Sanctions in Western Countries (Michael Tonry & Richard S. Frase, edits.) (Oxford University Press, 2001)
Sentencing Guidelines in Minnesota, Other States, and the Federal Courts: A Twenty-Year Retrospective, 12 Federal Sentencing Reporter 69-82 (1999). [An abbreviated version entitled "Is Guided Discretion Sufficient? Overview of State Sentencing Guidelines" appears in 44 St. Louis University Law Journal 425-46 (2000).]
Review Essay: The Search for the Whole Truth about American and European Criminal Justice, reviewing: William Pizzi, "Trials Without Truth: Why Our System of Criminal Trials Has Become An Expensive Failure and What We Need to Do to Rebuild It" (1999), 3 Buffalo Criminal Law Review 785-849 (2000)
"France", in Criminal Procedure: A Worldwide Study (1999) (edited by C. Bradley)
"Jails", in Handbook of Crime & Punishment (Michael Tonry ed., 1998).
"Comparative Criminal Justice Policy, in Theory and in Practice," in 17 Comparative Criminal Justice Systems: From Diversity to Rapprochement, 17 Nouvelles Etudes Pénales 109 (1998).
Main-streaming Comparative Criminal Justice: How to Incorporate Comparative and International Concepts and Materials into Basic Criminal Law and Procedure Courses, 100 W. Va. L. Rev. 773 (1998)
"Fair Trial Standards in the United States of America", in The Right to a Fair Trial (1997), (edited by D. Weissbrodt & R. Wolfrum).
Sentencing Principles in Theory and Practice, 22 Crime & Just. 363 (1997).
Lessons of State Guideline Reforms, 8 Federal Sentencing Reporter 39 (July/August 1995).
German Criminal Justice as a Guide to American Law Reform: Similar Problems, Better Solutions?, 18 B. C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 317 (1995) (with Thomas Weigend).
Purposes of Punishment Under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines (Symposium on Sentencing Guidelines and Guidance), 13 Crim. Just. Ethics 11 (1995).
"Sentencing Guidelines in Minnesota and Other American States: A Progress Report", in The Politics of Sentencing Reform (1995), (edited by C. Clarkson & R. Morgan).
Sentencing Laws and Practice in France, 7 Fed. Sentencing Rep. 275 (1995).
State Sentencing Guidelines: Still Going Strong, 78 Judicature 173 (1995).
Implementing Commission-Based Sentencing Guidelines: The Lessons of the First Ten Years in Minnesota, 2 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 279 (1993).
The Role of the Legislature, the Sentencing Commission, and Other Officials Under the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines, 28 Wake Forest L. Rev. 345 (1993).
Sentencing Guidelines in the States: Lessons for State and Federal Reformers, Guest Editor's Observations, 6 Fed. Sentencing Rep. 123 (1993).
The Uncertain Future of Sentencing Guidelines, 12 L. & Ineq. J. 1 (1993).
Criminal Justice System, Encyclopedia of the American Constitution (Supp. 1) 132 (1992).
Defendant Amenability to Treatment or Probation as a Basis for Departure Under the Minnesota and Federal Sentencing Guidelines, 3 Fed. Sentencing Rep. 328 (1991).
Sentencing Reform in Minnesota, Ten Years After: Reflections on Dale G. Parent's Structuring Criminal Sentences: The Evolution of Minnesota's Sentencing Guidelines, 75 Minn. L. Rev. 727 (1991).
Comparative Criminal Justice as a Guide to American Law Reform: How Do the French Do it, How Can We Find Out, and Why Should We Care?, 78 Cal. L. Rev. 539 (1990).
Criminal Procedure in a Conservative Age: A Time to Rediscover the Critical Nonconstitutional Issues, 36 J. Legal Educ. 79 (1986).
Defining the Limits of Crime Control and Due Process, 73 Cal. L. Rev. 212 (1985).
Criminalization and Decriminalization, 2 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 438 (1983).
Victimless Crime, 4 Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice 1608 (1983).
The Decision to File Federal Criminal Charges: A Quantitative Study of Prosecutorial Discretion, 47 U. Chi. L. Rev. 246 (1980).
The Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 43 U. Chi. L. Rev. 667 (1976).
