Leigh Goodmark is a lawyer, author, and professor at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law whose research focuses on intimate partner and domestic violence. She is a feminist and a prison abolitionist.[1]
Activism and work
editGoodmark has advocated for legislative changes that affect the sentencing outcomes for criminalized survivors and for policy changes that affect how domestic violence cases are handled.[2][3] She has spoken at an Oklahoma interim study alongside others like Colleen McCarty to advocate for sentencing reform for their incarcerated survivors.[4][5] Goodmark argues that current systems fail to decrease or prevent violence and instead often punishes the victims.[6] She has published work highlighting that legislative change is often not enough for criminalized survivors, who at best get reduced sentencing but does not correct the systemic problems.[7] Goodmark believes that intimate partner violence can't be addressed through a carceral system.[8][9] She believes that "abolition feminism" is what can challenge and upend "the notion that carceral structures, such as policing and prison, can still be used to address gender violence".[10]
She has offered free workshop trainings for other domestic violence advocates.[11]
Notable published works
editHer work has been featured in outlets like Truthout[7] and Inquest.[12]
Books
edit- A Troubled Marriage: Domestic Violence and the Legal System, 2013.[13]
- Comparative Perspectives on Gender Violence: Lessons From Efforts Worldwide, 2015.[14]
- Decriminalizing Domestic Violence: A Balanced Policy Approach to Intimate Partner Violence, 2018.[15]
- Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism (Gender and Justice), 2023.[16]
Articles
editPersonal life
editShe has a JD from Stanford Law School and also attended Yale.[19][20] She used to be the Director of the Clinical Education and Family Law Clinic and Co-Director of the Center on Applied Feminism at the University of Baltimore School of Law but is currently "a member of the Editorial Board of Violence Against Women and a member of the advisory board for the Appalachian Justice Research Center." [21]
She began her career by "representing battered women, convinced that she could protect them through policing, protective orders, prosecution, and prison. Now she argues that the legal system does not make abused women safer".[22]
References
edit- ↑ Lustbader, Sarah (2025-03-09). "The Feminist Law Professor Who Wants to Stop Arresting People for Domestic Violence". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "When moms fight back: Stories from the Capitol". Verified News Network. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2025-03-31). "Some offenders were victims first; it's time to pass the Second Look Act". Maryland Matters. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "When moms fight back: Stories from the Capitol". Verified News Network. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- ↑ Oklahoma, Janelle Stecklein | CNHI (2022-09-14). "Advocates seek to stop criminalizing domestic abuse survivors". Enidnews.com. Retrieved 2026-03-20.
- ↑ The Kansas City Public Library (2024-07-26). Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism. Retrieved 2026-03-19 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 Goodmark, Leigh (2025-12-04). "New Pennsylvania Law Seeks to Aid Abuse Survivors Who Resist — But Is It Enough?". Truthout. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Barber, Rebekah (2023-02-03). "'Violence is not the answer to violence': Lawyer makes case for abolition feminism in new book". The 19th. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Red Emma's Bookstore Coffeehouse (2023-02-17). Leigh Goodmark: "Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism". Retrieved 2026-03-19 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Law, Victoria (2023-02-02). "Leigh Goodmark on "Imperfect Victims" and the Need for Abolition Feminism". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "The Imperfect Victim: How Economic Justice Intersects with Victimization and Risk Factors » www.ncedsv.org". www.ncedsv.org. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Inquest. "Leigh Goodmark". Inquest. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2012). A troubled marriage: domestic violence and the legal system. New York: New York University. ISBN 978-0-8147-3222-9.
- ↑ Goel, Rashmi (2015). Comparative Perspectives on Gender Violence: Lessons from Efforts Worldwide. Interpersonal Violence Ser. Leigh Goodmark. Oxford: Oxford University Press USA - OSO. ISBN 978-0-19-934658-5.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2018). Decriminalizing domestic violence: a balanced policy approach to intimate partner violence. Oakland, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-96829-5.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2023). Imperfect victims: criminalized survivors and the promise of abolition feminism. Gender and justice. Oakland, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-39113-0.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2004-01-01). "Law Is the Answer? Do We Know That for Sure?: Questioning the Efficacy of Legal Interventions for Battered Women". Saint Louis University Public Law Review. 23 (1). ISSN 0898-8404.
- ↑ Goodmark, Leigh (2015-11-30). "Hands Up at Home: Militarized Masculinity and Police Officers Who Commit Intimate Partner Abuse". BYU Law Review. 2015 (5): 1183–1246. ISSN 2162-8572.
- ↑ "Profile". www.law.umaryland.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Fulbright Specialist Prof Leigh Goodmark". law.uq.edu.au. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Leigh S. Goodmark | The American Law Institute". www.ali.org. Retrieved 2026-03-19.
- ↑ "Professor Leigh Goodmark profiled in The New Yorker". www.law.umaryland.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-19.