Peter Martel

Peter J. Martel is a second-year student in the joint PhD Program in Public Policy & Sociology. His research focuses on the U.S. legal system, mass incarceration, criminal procedure, and prisons. He is currently in the early stages of a project that will consider the composition of jury venires and whether those venires are fairly representative of the communities from which they are drawn.

Peter earned his law degree at Wayne State University Law School and completed his undergrad studies at Mott Community College and UM Flint. He has worked as a prisoner advocate at the American Friends Service Committee, a mitigation specialist at the State Appellate Defender Office, and as a legal writer in the Michigan Department of Corrections. He is currently working as a Graduate Student Instructor in the Sociology Department and proudly serves as a steward for the Graduate Employees' Organization at the Ford School.