New Book
Worthy of Justice
The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice
In Worthy of Justice, Jamie Rowen examines Veterans Treatment Courts (VTCs) as a window into the deep inequalities of the U.S. criminal legal system. Drawing on fieldwork across three courts, Rowen shows how veterans are treated as uniquely “worthy” of support because of who they are, not what they’ve done—revealing the contradictions at the heart of punishment and welfare in America.
RECENT MEDIA APPEARANCES
November 27, 2025
The Attitude
Reflection on professional journeys and a deeper discussion about politics, identity, and hope.
November 11, 2025
Legal AF
Jamie Rowen lays out the implications of Judge Immergut’s latest ruling and shares why veterans she’s spoken to are “absolutely livid” about the actions of Trump’s government.
November 7, 2025
The Attitude
Diving into the outcomes of the November 4 elections and what they reveal about shifting political dynamics across the country. The conversation also covers the ongoing tariff case and its potential impact on trade and party positioning.
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
The Conversation | May 30, 2025
Veterans’ protests planned for D-Day latest in nearly 250 years of fighting for their benefits
Veterans across the United States will gather on June 6, 2025, to protest the Trump administration’s cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as the slashing of staff and programs throughout the government…
The Conversation | March 13, 2025
Five Reasons Why Veterans are Hit Especially Hard by Trump’s Cuts
The department known as the VA manages and directly provides comprehensive services for veterans. Those services include health care, short- and long-term housing options, life insurance…
Human Rights Quarterly | May 2024
The Paradox of Diasporic Peacebuilding Amidst Violence:
Providing Reparations to Colombians Abroad
This article uses the case of Colombian migrants in the United States (U.S.) who are registered with the Colombian Unit for Victims to illustrate the tension that emerges when a home country commits to reparations for nationals in exile when violence in their home country has not ceased.
Law & Social Inquiry | May 2024
Strategic Adaptation in a Crisis: Treatment
Court Responses to COVID-19
This article draws on a case study of how Massachusetts treatment courts responded
to the COVID-19 pandemic to address two intersecting theoretical and policy questions…
About
Jamie Rowen
Dr. Rowen received a J.D. from Berkeley School of Law in 2009, a Ph.D. from the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at Berkeley School of Law in 2012, and was a doctoral fellow at the American Bar Foundation in 2012-2013. Prior to her current position at UMass, Dr. Rowen taught in the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Rowen’s work examining the creation and implementation of Veterans Treatment Courts was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and is the foundation of her new book Worthy of Justice: The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice. Dr. Rowen’s first book, Searching for Truth in the Transitional Justice Movement (Cambridge University Press 2017), focuses on the emergence of transitional justice as an idea in international and domestic scholarship, policy making, and advocacy. Her other publications have appeared in Law and Society Review, Law and Social Inquiry, Law and Policy, Human Rights Quarterly, International Journal of Transitional Justice, and other journals and edited volumes. She is a regular contributor to The Conversation and WHNH’s “The Attitude with Arnie Arnesen,” and has appeared on WBAI (NYC Public Radio), Legal AF (Meidas Network), among other media outlets.
JAMIE ROWEN 