Soler, Marcos
University of Pennsylvania (USA)
Courses
PRIMARY APPOINTMENT(S)
2025-Present Executive Director, CERL, Penn Carey Law School & Penn Global, UPenn
https://www.law.upenn.edu/institutes/
2025-Present Co-Principal Investigator (with Judd Kessler of UPenn Wharton), The Impact of Youth Employment Programs on New York Youth Crime, Criminal Justice Involvement, and Civic Engagement, Arnold Ventures Foundation’s Causal Research on Community Safety and the Criminal Justice System Grant Award (12/2025-12/2028). Grant: 25-14888
OTHER CURRENT ACADEMIC & POLICY AFFILIATIONS
2025- Contributor, Vital City (a policy journal housed at Columbia Law School, New York)
2025- Editorial Board Member, Terra: A Journal of City and Regional Planning, University of Valencia (Spain)
2022- Affiliated Scholar, John Jay College Research & Evaluation Center (City University of New York)
EDUCATION
2015 D.S.Sc., Honors, Politics, The New School for Social Research, The New School, New York.
The Hannah Arendt Award for the best dissertation in politics. PhD Qualifying Exam: Honors.
2008 D.E.A, Honors, Law, Department of Philosophy of Law, Law School, Universitat de Valencia, Spain
2006 M.S., Public Policy Analysis & Management, Milano School of Policy, The New School, New York
1997 International Master's in Sociology of Law, International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Onati, Basque Country
1996 LL.M., Cum Laude, Legal Theory, European Academy of Legal Theory, KU Leuven, Brussels, & Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt
1995 LL.M., Honors, Constitutional Law and Politics, National Center for Constitutional Studies at the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency & International University Menendez Pelayo (IUMP), Madrid
1994 Licentiate, First-in-Class Honors, Philosophy and Law, University of Valencia and University of Valencia Law School, Spain
POLICY POSITIONS (PAST AND PRESENT)
2025-present Research Project Director, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York State (part-time)
2025-present Evaluation Director, New York & New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, Office of National Drug Control Policy (consulting agreement)
2022-2025 Deputy Secretary for Public Safety, New York State Executive Chamber, Office of Governor Kathy Hochul (full-time)
ooversaw 14 agencies (State Police, Corrections, Homeland Security, National Guard, DCJS, among others); $10 billion budget, 40,000 state employees.
2015-2022 Director of Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice & NYC Criminal Justice Coordinator, City Hall, Office of Mayor de Blasio, New York (full-time)
Managed staff of 180; $1.1 billion expense and $1 billion capital budget
2014-2019 Deputy Police Monitor, Office of the Federal Monitor in the Agreement between US DOJ and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico for the Reform of the Puerto Rico Police, U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico
2001-2015 Deputy Executive Director for Policy and Strategic Initiatives,
Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), New York (full-time)
Acting Executive Director in 2013.
PRIOR ACADEMIC POSITIONS
2005-Present Adjunct Assistant Professor & Research Advisor, Department of Political Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY.
2012-2013 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science,
Technical University of Dresden, Germany.
2012 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Public Policy, Department of Social Sciences, Marymount Manhattan College, New York City
2003-2004 Adjunct Faculty, Political Science, Empire State College (SUNY)
2002 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Political Science, Queens College
2000 Adjunct Assistant Professor, Political Science, Hofstra University
1994-1998 Doctoral Research Fellow, Law, Department of Legal Theory, University of Valencia Law School (Valencia, Spain)
1994-1995 Research Fellow, Constitutional Law, National Center for Constitutional and Political Studies, Ministry of the Presidency (Madrid, Spain)
1993-1994 Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow, Philosophy, Caja Madrid Foundation, Madrid, Spain
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
John Jay College (CUNY):
Undergraduate: Research Methods (POL 225), Constitutional Powers (POL 301), Constitutional Rights and Liberties (POL 305), Judicial Policies (POL 235), Political Science Introduction to Politics (POL 101)
Graduate: Issues in Criminal Justice: Theory and Courts (CRJ710, MA seminar with Professor Lila Kazeiman for the Department of Criminal Justice), Oversight of Law Enforcement (PAD759, graduate MPA seminar for the Department of Public Administration)
Technical University of Dresden, Germany:
Graduate: Comparative Constitutionalism & Democracy (graduate MA seminar); Constitutionalism & the Idea of Crisis (graduate MA seminar)
Marymount Manhattan College, New York:
Undergraduate: Public Policy Analysis
Empire State College (SUNY):
Undergraduate: Class, Race, and Gender in the United States
Queens College:
Undergraduate: Political Parties and Elections (PSCI 218-01)
Hofstra University:
Undergraduate: First Amendment Issues
GRANTS, AWARDS, & HONORS
2025-2028 “The Impact of Youth Employment Programs on New York Youth Crime, Criminal Justice Involvement, and Civic Engagement: A Statewide Evaluation.” Arnold Ventures Foundation’s Causal Research on Community Safety and the Criminal Justice System Grant Award, $654,000/3 years. (Principal Investigator with Co-PI Judd Kessler of UPenn Wharton) Grant ID: 25-14888
2018-2021 “A Cost-Benefit Evaluation of the Effects of Community-Led Violence Interruption and Cure Violence Programs in NYC.” US Department of Treasury SIPPRA Innovation Award, $20.5 million. (Principal Investigator with Co-PIs Jeffrey Butts of CUNY and John Roman of NORC)
2015 Hannah Arendt Award for the Best Dissertation in Politics, The New School for Social Research, New York City
2005-2006 Robert J. Milano Merit Scholarship, Milano School of Policy, The New School, New York
2004-2005 Mayor LaGuardia Scholarship, Milano School of Policy, The New School, New York
2003-2004 DUAPA Merit Scholarship, Milano School of Policy, The New School, New York
2002-2003 City of New York Mayor’s Graduate Scholarship, Milano School of Policy, The New School, New York
1995-1998 Doctoral Research Fellow and Department Member, Department of Legal, Political, and Moral Philosophy, University of Valencia Law School, Valencia University, Spain
1995-1998 Research Associate, International Research Project on “Utilitarian Theory and the Future of the Welfare State,” University of Santiago de Compostela, SpainAncla
1994 Winner of the Extraordinary Graduation Award for the best Minor Dissertation, University of Valencia, Spain
RESEARCH & WRITING
Working Papers and In Progress
(with Judd Kessler, Wharton, UPenn) “An Evaluation of the Impact on Crime and Good Civics of the Summer Youth Employment Program in New York.” Arnold Foundation
(With Jeffrey Butts, CUNY, and John Roman, NORC) “A Cost-Benefit Evaluation of the Effects of Community-Led Violence Interruption and Cure Violence Programs in NYC.” US Department of Treasury SIPPRA Innovation Award.
(With Brenner Fissell) “Precision Lethality and Civilian Harm Mitigation: A Primer,” Naval Institute Press (forthcoming)
“The Second in the Country for Gun Law Strength, the Third Lowest Firearm-related Death: How New York Has Dealt with the Supreme Court’s Reinterpretation of the Second Amendment in NRA v. Bruen (2022).”
“The Politicizing of Crime Control: Order Maintenance Policing and the Emergence of Crime Control as a National Political Issue.”
“A Formal Framework to Analyze Welfare Retrenchment: How Political Parties Fail to Advance and Institutionalize their Policy Agendas: The Rise and Fall of the Conservative Critique of the Welfare State.”
Publications
2025 “Crime on the Ground – and How It’s Experienced.” Vital City Special Issue 2025 January.
1996 “Canon Law and the Concept of Plenitudo Potestatis: The Jurisdictional Power of the Papacy,” In Ramiro Flores (ed.) Actas del Congreso de Filosofía Medieval (Zaragoza: University of Zaragoza, 2005), 293-303.
1995 “William of Ockham and the Franciscan Order: A Historical Approach to the Ethical, Legal, and Political Works of Ockham,” Spanish Review of Medieval Studies 2(1): 127-144.
Papers/Invited Talks/Presentations
2025 The Rule of Law in the United States: Domestic Military Deployments and Judicial Response. Universidad Cardenal Herrera School of Law, Valencia, Spain, November 6, 2025 (Guest speaker)
2025 (With Claire O. Finkelstein, University of Pennsylvania Law School) “Federal Troop Deployments to Quell Civil Unrest: From Tabletop Exercises to Reality.” Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law Report, University of Pennsylvania, August 19, 2025.
2025 “Roundtable: Presidential Authority, Emergency Powers, and Military Operations in a Changing Landscape: From Foreign Wars to the Southern Border.” CERL Symposium on Threats to the Rule of Law and National Security, University of Pennsylvania, April 11, 2025.
2023 “Crime and Safety in New York State.” Panel NYC 2025 Now: Crime and Safety in a Vital City, New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, December 7, 2023. (Guest Speaker)
2023 “The Emergence of Crime as a National Political and Policy Issue.” Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Social Sciences at Dartmouth College, May 17-18, 2023 (Guest speaker)
2021 “Human Rights and the Idea of Inviolability: A More Affirmative Vision of the Right of the People to be Secure in Their Persons in the United States.” Institute for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University, June 28, 2021 (Guest speaker)
2021 “Crime Trends and Deterrence Theory: NYC as a Case Study.” Hofstra University, Department of Criminal Justice, June 8, 2021 (Guest Speaker)
2021 “Current Challenges in Federal Litigation: How to Make Consent Decrees Bring About Change in Local Jurisdictions.” Inter-American University School of Law, Tuesday, April 27, 2021 (Guest speaker)
2021 “Comparative Judicial Policies: a Research Note on the Validity of the Strategic Model.” 78th Annual Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Wednesday, April 14, 2021 (Discussant)
2021 “Trumpism and the Political and Constitutional Crisis of the United States after January 6, 2021.” Club de Encuentro Manuel Broseta, Valencia, Spain, March 26, 2021 (Guest Speaker)
2021 “Exogenous Shocks and Crime.” St. John University, Division of Criminal Justice, Legal Studies and Homeland Security, March 9, 2021 (Guest Speaker)
2019 “Safer, Smaller, Fairer: New York City’s Roadmap to Criminal Justice Reform.” University of Nebraska Workshop, April 11-12, 2019, Omaha, Nebraska (Guest Speaker)
2014 “Policing of Public Housing in New York City.” (With Denis McCormick) International Conference: The Rule of Law in an Era of Change, June 11-14, Athens, Greece.
2013 “Police and Racial Profiling in the United States.” International Seminar on Racial Profiling. University of Valencia’s Institute of Human Right, November 22, Valencia, Spain (Guest Speaker)
2010 “Policing Protest: Policing of Mass Demonstration in the United States since the 1960s.” The 16th National Conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, September 20-23, Seattle, Washington. (Guest speaker & Panel Moderator).
2010 “Welfare State Retrenchment under Conservative Governments: Using Quantitative Indexes of Political Integration to Make Sense of Historical Development in Social Spending.” The 2010 Policy History Annual Conference, June 3-6, Columbus, Ohio.
2010 “Perceptions of Justice and Effective Police Accountability: Measuring Output Satisfaction and Deterrence Benefits of Mediating Complaints against the Police." The 2010 Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association, May 27-30, Chicago, Illinois.
2010 “A Methodological Framework for the Study of the Conservative Idea of Democracy in America.” The 68th Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, April 24-26, Chicago, Illinois.
2010 “The Conservative Idea of Democracy in American History.” New England Political Science Association Annual Conference, April 22-23, Newport, Rhode Island.
2010 “Contemporary Conservative Legal Thought and the Idea of Democracy.” New York Political Science Association Annual Conference, April 16-17, Saratoga Springs, New York.
2009 “Making the Grade: Stakeholders and Performance Standards in Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.” The 15th National Conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement, October 31- November 3, Austin, Texas. (Guest speaker)
2009 “New Research Trends in Civilian Oversight of the Police.” Government and Political Science Department Graduate Colloquium, Saint John’s University, April 7, New York. (Guest speaker)
2008 “Can Mediation Reduce Civilian Complaints against the Police? A Case Study.” International Conference on Justice and Policing in Diverse Societies, June 9-12, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
2008 “American Conservatism and the Problem of Democracy: An Analysis of the Whigs' Victory in the Election of 1840." Politics and Propaganda – The 29th Annual Conference of the Nineteenth Century Studies Association. Florida International University, April 3–5, Miami, Florida.
2008 “Theorizing the Right: Is Conservatism Compatible with the Idea of Democracy?” Towards a Comparative Discussion on ‘Rightist’ Movements Conference. Graduate Center, City University of New York, March 13-14, New York.
2007 “Police Accountability: It is Not Just by the Numbers.” The 13th National Conference of the National Association for Civilian Oversight of law Enforcement, September 25-28, San Jose, California. (Guest speaker)
2001 “U.S. Low-Income Working Families: The Rawlsian Second Principle of Justice and the Limits of a Liberal Program of Social Justice.” Northeastern Political Science Association 33rd Annual Meeting, November 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
2001 “Constitutional Design, Democratization, and the Consolidation of a Democratic Regime: Spain as a Case Study.” The Road to Democratization: Freeways and Detours Conference. Duke University, October 19-21, Durham, North Carolina.
2001 “Separation of Powers in the Construction of the European Union.” European Identity and Nationalism Conference. Center for Comparative European Studies at Rutgers University, May 11-13, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
2001 “Narratives of Modernity: Capitalism, Colonialism, and Human Rights in Eric Hobsbawm and Partha Chatterjee.” New York State Political Science Annual Meeting 2001, May, New Paltz, New York.
2001 “Bigotry in the Media: The so-called ‘Bad Mothers’ and the Role of Mainstream Media in the Politics of Blaming American Women.” Second Annual Media Studies Conference, New School University, April 21, New York.
2001 “Abortion in Comparative Perspective: European Union and the United States.” Women in Political Studies Conference Celebrating International Women’s Day, New School University, March 8, New York.
2001 “Religion, Integration and Gender Issues in the Immigrant Coptic Community of New York City: A Case Study on the Role of Religion in New Immigrant Communities.” Third Annual Women’s History Month Conference: On the Front Lines: Women’s Activism in New Immigrant Communities, Sarah Lawrence College, March 2-3, New York.
2000 “Hate Speech on American Campuses: Can College Newspapers Publish Ads Denying the Holocaust?” Critical Themes on Media Studies Conference, New School University, April, New York.
2000 “Immoral and Indecent Became the Law of the Land: An Analysis of Post-60’s Court Decisions on Pornography and Sodomy.” New York State Association of Political Science, Hofstra University, April, Hempstead, New York.
1999 “On R. Dworkin’s Moral Reading of the Constitution.” International Graduate Student Conference on Political Science, New School University, April, New York.
1999 “European & American Law on Marriage and the Right to Privacy.” International Law Conference on EU Private Law, February 5-6, Brussels, Belgium.
Amicus Brief
2025 Brief for 160 members of Congress as Amici Curiae, Trump v. Illinois, Case No. 25A443, Supreme Court of the United States, November 10, 2025.
https://www.penncerl.org/news/cerl-files-amicus-brief-in-trump-v-illinois-on-behalf-of-more-than-150-members-of-congress-in-the-senate-and-house/
2025 Brief for California as Amici Curiae from the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, the National Institute for Military Justice, Lawyers Defending American Democracy, and Law Professors, Governor Newson v. President Trump, Case No. 3:25-CV-04870-CRB, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, August 22, 2025.
Professional Policy Reports
2019 (with Liz Glazer and Ashley Demyan, PhD) “Breaking the Frame? Remaking the Criminal Justice System in New York City.” MOCJ Policy Report prepared for the Breaking the Frame Conference at New York Law School, July 14, 2019.
https://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/breaking-the-frame-july-2019/
2018 (with Liz Glazer, Susan Sommer, et al.) “A Fair Approach to Marijuana: Recommendations from the Mayor's Task Force on Cannabis Legalization.” MOCJ Policy Report, December 2018.
https://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/mayors-task-force-on-cannabis-legalization/
2018 (with Liz Glazer et al.) “Smaller, Safer, Fairer: A Roadmap to Closing Rikers Island.” MOCJ Policy Report. April 2018.
https://criminaljustice.cityofnewyork.us/reports/smaller-safer-fairer-copy/
2014 “A Mutated Rule: Lack of Enforcement in the Face of Persistent Chokehold Incidents in New York City.” Report prepared for the NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board, October, New York.
nyc.gov/html/ccrb/downloads/pdf/Chokehold Study_20141007.pdf
2009 “A Classification System for the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice: Design, Implementation, and Empirical Validation of a Behavioral Assessment Tool.” (With Theresa Caragine) Report prepared for the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Leadership Institute, May, New York.
2005 “Reducing Juvenile Recidivism: Evaluating the Best Alternatives for the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice.” Report prepared for the NYC Department of Juvenile Justice, June, New York.
Dissertations/Master’s Thesis/Minor Dissertations
2015 “American Conservatism and the Idea of Democracy, 1930-1980.” Doctoral Committee: David Plotke (Chair), Federico Finchelstein, Julia Ott, and Andrew Arato (ISBN: 9781339107509).
2008 “Ronald Dworkin’s Theory of Rights: The Foundations of Modern Liberalism.” DEA Doctoral Committee: Ernesto Vidal (Chair), Jesus Ballesteros, Javier Jimenez, and Pilar Gonzalez.
1997 Marcos Soler, “The Limits of Equality in the Different Worlds of the Welfare State.” MA Thesis, International Institute for the Sociology of Law.
1996 Marcos Soler, “An Introduction to Ronald Dworkin: The Foundations of Liberalism.” LLM Thesis, European Academy of Legal Theory
1995 Marcos Soler, “The Rule of Law in Spain: A Liberal Critique.” National Center for Constitutional Studies, LLM Thesis/Working Papers.
1994 Marcos Soler, “The Transition Towards Modernity: The Legal, Political, and Moral Philosophy of William of Ockham and Thomas Hobbes.” Caja de Madrid Foundation Working Papers & Minor Dissertation, University of Valencia.
ADVISING, SERVICE, & TRAINING
2025 External Examiner, PhD Dissertation in Law by Patrick Salvador Peris, Universitat de Valencia, Spain: “Re-entry and Rehabilitation in the Spanish Constitution: A Legal and Criminological Study.”
2016 Member of the Center for the Advancement of Public Integrity (CAPI) Data Analytics Working Group, Columbia Law School
2014 External Examiner, PhD Dissertation in Criminal Justice by Cynthia Lee Maragh, John Jay College of Criminal Justice: “Examining individual and aggregate predictors of mediation selection.”
2012-13 Member of the Roundtable on the Update of the Mayor’s Management Report (MMR), NYC Mayor’s Office of Operations
2009-10 Graduate of the NYC Leadership Institute Special Alumni Edition Executive Program, The City of New York
2008-09 Graduate of the NYC Leadership Institute Executive Program, The City of New York’s Office of Executive Development Programs
2009-2012 Treasurer and Board Member of Directors, National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE)
2009 Mediation Clinic, Columbia Law School, Columbia University, New York,
1998 Law and Society Association Graduate Student Workshop, Aspen
MEMBERSHIP
Law and Society Association
American Political Science Association
American Society of Criminology
