Professor Luskin is a political scientist whose research and teaching interests center on the judicial process. She has focused particularly on trial courts as institutions affecting the distribution of value in society. Her long-standing interest in the determination of case processing times and caseloads has led her to conduct research on these topics in a variety of settings using quantitative and qualitative methods. This research, which has been supported by several grants from the National Institute of Justice, has resulted in published articles on both theoretical and empirical aspects of the problem.

In other work, Professor Luskin has researched the relationships between communities and courts. In a study of limited jurisdiction courts, she examined how community context affects the work of these courts and the potential of such courts as accessible, economic, and responsive local institutions of justice. Currently, as a member of the core faculty of a National Institutes of Health funded study of the delivery of services to the severely mentally ill, she is examining the intersection of civil and criminal courts and the treatment system for the mentally ill.

Professor Luskin has served recently on advisory boards for an Indiana Criminal Justice Institute sponsored project tracking drug-related cases in Indiana courts and a National Center for State Courts sponsored study of motions practice. She has taught a variety of courses, including courses on the courts and criminal justice, law and society, plea bargaining, and court reform.

Article:

Prison as 'psychiatric warehouse'