Biography
Danieli Evans joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Law in 2021. She teaches courses on Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Law and Social Science. Broadly stated, her research is about law, inequality, and social welfare. Her work investigates how people develop their sense of citizenship and belonging, and how this impacts their relationship to government and their social opportunities. She also investigates political and social dynamics that create, sustain, and legitimate inequities in power and in outcomes related to health, economic opportunity, and welfare. Much of her work is informed by social science and behavioral science. Her writing spans topics from the criminal legal system and policing to constitutional law and discrimination law. Her articles have been published in the Virginia Law Review, Michigan Journal of Race and Law, Stanford Law & Policy Review, Georgetown Law Journal, and Psychology, Crime & Law, among others.
Danieli presents and speaks regularly on topics related to constitutional law, social science in law, equality, and the criminal system. She has been involved in programs and initiatives related to procedural justice, belonging, and trust within the Washington Judiciary and the Office of Administrative Hearings. She is the faculty advisor to the Seattle University chapter of the American Constitution Society.
Prior to joining Seattle University School of Law, she served as a law clerk for Judge Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and for Judge Harry T. Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She held positions as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Council of State Governments Justice Center, where she advised state governments on criminal legal system policy; a Research Scholar in Law at the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School, where she contributed to research pertaining to procedural justice, legitimacy, and trust; a Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies at the National Constitution Center, where she oversaw the content of media and resources related to the Supreme Court and the Constitution; a litigation associate at the Washington, D.C. firm of Kellogg, Hansen, Figel & Frederick PLLC, where she practiced primarily appellate litigation; and as counsel the firm of Cader Adams LLP, where she consulted on matters related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and is currently a Ph.D. in Law candidate at Yale Law School.
