About me

I am an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. I received my Ph.D. in sociology from City University of New York in 2025.

My research focuses on the relationship between punishment, laws, and political economy, with an emphasis on the everyday operations of criminal legal organizations, such as police, prisons, and courts. I investigate how these institutions serve as sites where race and class inequalities are shaped and produced, often through routine bureaucratic practices. I am particularly interested in the organizational mechanisms that structure how resources are distributed, harm is legitimized, and authority is exercised by organizations empowered to control and punish people. Identifying these processes can help explain the persistence of mass incarceration and the uneven implementation of more recent decarceral policies.

Questions about my research or interested in working together? I can be reached via email at: alascalag [at] umass [dot] edu.