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Elsa Y. Chen

Professor of Political Science
Santa Clara College of Arts and Sciences

Elsa Y. Chen is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Santa Clara College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches public policy, criminal justice policy, housing and homeless policy, research methods, and American politics.

Dr. Chen’s published work focuses on criminal justice reform, reentry from incarceration, criminal record expungement, analyses of the implementation and effects of sentencing policies, including “Three Strikes and You’re Out,” and racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes. Her current research studies policies associated with the de-escalation of mass incarceration and prisoner reintegration into society.