Zach Sommers joined the Chicago-Kent College of Law faculty in fall 2024. It marked a return to academia after he spent five years clerking at the Northern District of Illinois and in practice at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. During his time at Kirkland & Ellis, Sommers worked as a litigation associate in the white-collar crime group. He specialized in government and internal investigations and also advised corporate clients on anti-corruption and international trade matters. His pro bono practice included investigations into patterns of racial discrimination in law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices.
Sommers has dedicated his entire career to the study of crime. He earned his B.A. in Criminology and Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He got his Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University after writing his dissertation on biases and perceptions in the criminal justice system. During his time at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, he served as the criminology editor of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
His current research focuses on race, perceptions, and media coverage of crime. His recent papers have focused on disparities in the coverage of gun violence in Chicago based on victim demographics, as well as some of the difficulties faced by prosecutors of white-collar crime. Sommers also makes regular media appearances discussing “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” which he has studied extensively.
Education
J.D., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
Ph.D., Northwestern University
B.A., University of Pennsylvania
Publications
Missing White Woman Syndrome: An Empirical Analysis of Race and Gender Disparities in Online News Coverage of Missing Persons, 106 (2) J. Crim. L. & Criminology 275 (2016)
Missing White Woman Syndrome: It’s Not a Media Myth, The Crime Report, Apr. 3, 2017.
Solitary Confinement and the Nation of Islam, The Immanent Frame, May 30, 2018 (with Brittany Friedman).
Black Deaths Matter: Disparities in Gun Homicides, Policing, and News Coverage in Chicago, 57:5 Crim. L. Bull. Art. 2 (2021).
Missing White Woman Syndrome: How Do We Fix It?, Bloomberg Law, Oct. 19, 2021.
White-Collar Crime: An Empirical Examination of Race, Class, and the Challenges of Enforcement, __ MICH. ST. L. REV. __ (forthcoming).
More Than You Bargained For: Race and Plea Bargain Experiments, (in progress)
What’s in a Name? An Experimental Analysis of the Role of Suspect Name and Victim Location in Perceptions of Acts of Terror (in progress)
Select Media Appearances
Marquise Francis, Boyfriend of Alabama Woman Carlee Russell Suggests She Was Kidnapped Before Her Safe Return, Yahoo! News, July 17, 2023.
Melanie Eversley, When Women of Color Disappear, Who Says Their Names?, The Guardian, Oct. 4, 2021.
Li Cohen, These Families Want Help Finding Keeshae Jacobs, Mary Johnson, Alicia Navarro and Hundreds of Other Missing People. Here's Why You Might Not Have Heard of Them, CBS News, Oct. 1, 2021.
Nora Mabie, The Gabby Petito Case Has Left Indigenous People Asking How to 'Qualify' for Same Attention, USA Today, Sep. 24, 2021.
Nicquel Terry Ellis, These Families of Missing Black People are Frustrated with the Lack of Response to their Cases, CNN, Sep. 23, 2021.
Maia Niguel Hoskin, What About Jelani Day And Daniel Robinson?: Racial Bias And Anti-Blackness In the Media, Forbes, Sep. 23, 2021.
Hanna Flint, Why Does the Media Only React When Victims are Young, Pretty and White?, GQ Magazine, June 2021.
Maia Niguel Hoskin, Breonna Taylor’s Death Further Illustrates the Invisibility of Black Women and Resurrects a Discussion About ‘Missing White Woman Syndrome,’Forbes, June 28, 2020.
Anna North, A Young Woman Disappeared in Iowa. Here’s Why President Trump Got Involved, Vox, Aug. 23, 2018.
Paul Farhi, Colorado Murders Signal a Return of the News Media’s ‘Damsels in Distress’ Trope, The Washington Post, Aug. 21, 2018.
Gene Demby, What We Know (And Don’t Know) About ‘Missing White Women Syndrome,’NPR, Apr. 13, 2017.