James T. Richardson, Ph.D., J.D. Director, Grant Sawyer Center for Justice Studies

Director of the Judicial Studies Program, a faculty member of the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology Doctoral Program and Professor of Sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Research interests include all aspects of new religious and other social movements, including particularly recruitment and participation, but also organizational and defensive strategies. Also, governmental regulation of religious groups is a focus of study, with research being done on how minority religions are treated around the world. Another major area of interest involves the use of expert evidence in courts, how much judges know about science and how they make decisions about the use of evidence claiming to be scientifically based.

Recent Publications

Dobbin, S.A., Gatowski, S.I., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M.L., Dahir, V., & Richardson, J.T. (in press). Surveying difficult populations: Lessons learned from a national survey of state trial court judges. Justice System Journal.

Dobbin, S. A., Gatowski, S.I., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M. L., & Dahir, V. (in press).Views from the bench: A snapshot of selected results from a national survey of judges on Daubert. Judicature.

Edelman, B. C. & Richardson, J.T. (in press) Falun Gong and the law: Development of legal social control in China. Nova Religio.

Gatowski, S.I., Dobbin, S.A., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P., Merlino, M. L., & Dahir, V. (2001). Asking the gatekeepers: A national survey of judges on judging expert evidence in a post-Daubert world. Law and Human Behavior, 25(5), 433-458.

Richardson, J.T., & Introvigne, M. (2001). ‘Brainwashing’ theories in parliamentary and administrative reports on ‘cults’ and ‘sects.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 40, 143-168.

Richardson, J.T. (2000). Discretion and discrimination in legal cases involving controversial religious groups and accusations of ritual abuse. In R. Ahdar (ed.), Law and religion. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishers.

Richardson, J.T. (2000). Law, social control, and minority religions. In P. Cote (ed.), Chercheurs de dieux dans l’space public (Frontier Religions in the Public Space). Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press.

Richardson, J.T. (2000). Minority religions, prisoners, and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act: A review of recent cases and critiques. In C. Barrigar & D. Sinacore-Guinn (Eds.), Religion, pluralism, and the law: Studies in global perspective, vol. 5, in McGill Studies in Religion Series. Atlanta: Scholars Press.

Recent Presentations

Richardson, J.T. (2001, December) A Sociology of Law Analysis of Governmental Treatment of New Religions. Presented at the biannual meeting of International Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Eastern and Central Europe, Zagreb, Croatia,

Richardson, J.T. (2001, October) Report on Governmental Treatment of New Religions. Presented to conference on Evangelism in Europe, at Lausanne University, Switzerland.

Richardson, J.T. (2001, October) Efforts to Influence Governmental Policy about New Religions: The Cases of INFORM in England and the Observatory in Belgium. Presented at annual meeting of the German Religious History Association, Leipzig, Germany.

Richardson, J.T. (2001, August) Governmental Intervention in New Religions in Europe. Presented at biannual meeting of International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Mexico City, Mexico.

Krylova, G., Richardson, J.T. (2001, August) Legal Cases Involving New Religions in Russia: An Update. Presented at annual meeting of Law and Society Association, Budapest, Hungary.

Cote, P., Richardson, J.T. (2001, August) Jehovah’s Witnesses as a Public Religion. Presented at biannual meeting of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Mexico City, Mexico.

Dobbin, S. A., Gatowski, S.I., Richardson, J.T., Ginsburg, G.P. (2001, July) The Impact of Daubert and its Progeny on the Admissibility of Battered Women Syndrome Evidence. Presented at annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Budapest, Hungary.

Richardson, J.T. (2001, Febuary) Witchcraft and Satanism: A Sociological Analysis of Dissimilar Movements. Invited Presentation at New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America conference at Baylor University, Waco, Texas.

Richardson, J.T. (2001, January) Use of Part-Time Faculty in Sociology. Invited presentation to National Conference on Contingent Academic Labor, San Jose, CA.

Edelman, B. C. & Richardson, J.T. (2000, October) Falun Gong and the Law. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Religion, Houston, TX.

Contact information

jtr@unr.edu
Dr. Richardson's website