Policing · Race · Punishment · Power

Madalyn K.
Wasilczuk

Associate Professor of Law examining how the legal system produces and perpetuates harm through policing and punishment practices.

University of South Carolina · Joseph F. Rice School of Law

American Bar Foundation Fellow · 2023

Co-PI · Tracking Pregnancy Criminalization After Dobbs

Full CV → About →

USC Joseph F. Rice School of Law

Panel discussion at Cornell Center for Human Rights

Speaking

Teaching

Current Research

Pregnancy Criminalization After Dobbs

A national study tracking criminal prosecutions related to pregnancy in the United States — documenting the defendants, charges, and systems of surveillance that make these prosecutions possible.

412 Cases · 16 States View the research →

Deaths Behind Bars in South Carolina

The only publicly available dataset of deaths in South Carolina's lockups, juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons — asking not only how people die in custody, but why.

2015–Present · Arnold Ventures View the data →

Featured Work

Article · 2026

What's Dobbs Got to Do With It? Pregnancy-Related Prosecutions in a Post-Roe World

Co-authored with Wendy A. Bach & Kendra Hutchens · The Harbinger, Vol. 53, NYU Review of Law & Social Change, 2026

About

Madalyn K. Wasilczuk

Researching policing, pregnancy criminalization, and carceral conditions — and the ways legal doctrine obscures the harms these systems produce rather than remedying them.

Associate Professor of Law University of South Carolina · Rice School of Law

American Bar Foundation Fellow Named 2023

J.D. New York University School of Law, 2013

B.A. with Honors, summa cum laude American University, 2009

Madalyn K. Wasilczuk is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. Her work focuses on criminal legal system issues, including policing, race, extreme sentencing, conditions of confinement, and the prosecution and detention of children and pregnant people. Her scholarship examines the ways that law produces and perpetuates harm and how legal doctrine obscures rather than remedies that harm.

Professor Wasilczuk's scholarship appears in publications such as the Georgetown Law Journal, Wisconsin Law Review, and Buffalo Law Review, and has been featured by numerous local and national news outlets. Her database on deaths in custody in South Carolina represents the only publicly available dataset of deaths in the state's lockups, juvenile detention centers, jails, and prisons since 2015. She is also the co-Principal Investigator on a national study of pregnancy criminalization in the three years following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center.

Professor Wasilczuk directs the Youth Defender Clinic and teaches The Death Penalty, Incarceration Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Adjudication, and a Juvenile Justice Seminar.

Before joining the University of South Carolina faculty, Professor Wasilczuk taught at Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where she directed the Juvenile Defense Clinic and taught courses on capital punishment and carceral abolition. Prior to that, she worked at the Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide and the Defender Association of Philadelphia, where she was an Assistant Defender. She has also served as a fellow with the International Legal Foundation in Myanmar and Tunisia.

Panel discussion at the South Carolina Center for Civil Rights History and Research

Speaking at Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy panel

Working with public defenders in Myanmar

For a full biography, see her faculty profile at the USC School of Law.

Writing

Law Review Articles

2024

Killing Stays

2024 Wis. L. Rev. 3 (2024)

2023

The Racialized Violence of Police Canine Force

111 Geo. L.J. 5 (2023)

2023

The Clinic as a Site of Grounded Pedagogy

29 Clin. L. Rev. 405 (2023)

2023

For Their Own Good: Girls, Sexuality, and State Violence in the Name of Safety

59 Cal. W. L. Rev. 1 (2023)

2022

Developing Police

70 Buff. L. Rev. 271 (2022)

Op-Eds & Short Articles

2023

5th Amendment Rights as Abortion Rights

Harv. L. Rev. Blog (Apr. 11, 2023)

2022

How Young Is Too Young To Be a Police Officer?

Lawfare (Jul. 29, 2022)

2021

Rules are meant to protect children, but police use them to shield themselves

The Advocate (Jun. 30, 2021)

2020

Two tragedies occur when youths kill, end up in adult prisons

The Advocate (Mar. 4, 2020)

2018

Applying the death penalty to drug dealers is never 'appropriate'. It violates international law.

IntLawGrrls (Apr. 24, 2018)

Reports

2024

Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs

Pregnancy Justice, Sept. 2024 (co-authored with Wendy A. Bach). Received more than 400 media mentions in the first two days after launch, including coverage by Time, CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, CBS News, ABC News, The Associated Press, Jezebel, Mother Jones, and The Root.

Research Project

Pregnancy Criminalization

Tracking the prosecution and policing of pregnant people across the United States.

The Pregnancy Prosecutions Tracking Study documents criminal prosecutions related to pregnancy across the United States. To date, the study has identified 412 cases across 16 states. The dashboard presents data on where prosecutions occurred, the demographics of defendants, the types of charges brought, and the role of health care and family policing systems in supporting prosecutions.

The data reveal that more than three-quarters of defendants were low-income individuals. The majority of charges alleged some form of child abuse, neglect, or endangerment, and nearly all cases involved allegations of substance use during pregnancy. The study also tracks the pregnancy outcomes involved in each case and examines whether prosecutors were even required to prove fetal harm — in 378 of 441 charges, they were not.

The dashboard also documents the systems that work alongside the criminal legal system to surveil pregnant people: in 264 cases, information supporting prosecution was obtained or disclosed in a medical setting, and in 217 cases, the family policing system was involved.

This project is conducted in collaboration with Professor Wendy Bach, Dr. Kendra Hutchens, and Pregnancy Justice, a national advocacy organization dedicated to defending the rights of pregnant people.

Key Report

Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs

Pregnancy Justice, September 2024 · Co-authored with Wendy A. Bach

This preliminary report documents criminal prosecutions related to pregnancy in the year following the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Center. The report received more than 400 media mentions in the first two days after launch, including coverage by Time, CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, CBS News, ABC News, The Associated Press, Jezebel, Mother Jones, and The Root.

Access the full interactive data dashboard →

View Data Dashboard

Research Project

Deaths Behind Bars

Documenting and analyzing deaths in South Carolina's jails and prisons.

People die in custody at alarming rates across the United States, and South Carolina is no exception. This project compiles and analyzes data on deaths occurring in South Carolina's state and local carceral facilities, drawing on public records, official reports, and investigative research.

The data project examines the circumstances, demographics, and patterns behind these deaths — asking not only how people are dying, but what structural conditions contribute to mortality behind bars. By making this information public and accessible, the project aims to support accountability, policy reform, and the work of advocates and families seeking answers.

This project is supported by funding from Arnold Ventures.

Access the full interactive data dashboard →

View Data Dashboard

Press & Media

Media Mentions

Selected press coverage and media appearances.

2025

Maine Jail Officials Minimized a 'Big Red Flag' Before a Woman's Suicide

Bangor Daily News, June 2025

2025

Ending Prompt Notice of Deaths at Charleston Jail a Step Backward, Attorneys Say

Post and Courier, 2025

2024

How Some States Turn Pregnancy Loss Into Criminal Cases Against Women

The Marshall Project, October 2024

2024

Pregnancy Prosecutions Appear to Rise After Dobbs Ruling

Post and Courier, October 2024

2023

Sexual Assaults. Riots. Too Few Guards. Why Can't the State Fix County Jails?

Post and Courier, 2023

2023

Brutal Ohio Police Dog Attack on Black Truck Driver Highlights Pattern, Echoes Violence of Slavery

Democracy Now!, July 2023

2023

City Copes with Aftermath of Police Dog Attack

North Carolina Lawyers Weekly, October 2023

Curriculum Vitae

Madalyn K. Wasilczuk

1525 Senate Street, Suite 354 · Columbia, SC 29208 · 803.777.3393

Current Appointment

University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, Columbia, SC

Associate Professor of Law, August 2025–Present
Assistant Professor of Law, August 2021–August 2025
Faculty Affiliate, USC Center for Civil Rights History and Research, 2025–2026

Courses: Youth Defender Clinic, Juvenile Justice Seminar, Eighth Amendment Law & Litigation, Criminal Adjudication, Insider Knowledge: Carceral Institutions from Behind the Bars (Reading Group), Clinics II

Honors: Ian Kerr Best Paper Awardee 2025, Privacy Law Scholars Conference, for The Interdisciplinary Policing of Pregnancy Criminalization (with Wendy A. Bach & Ji Seon Song) · American Bar Foundation Fellow, named 2023 · Research Grant Awardee, Advancement of Children's Constitutional Rights Consortium, 2023 · Bellow Scholar, Deaths Behind Bars in South Carolina, AALS Clinical Legal Education Section, 2023–2024 · Outstanding Faculty Publication Award – Article, for The Racialized Violence of Police Canine Force, 2023 · Center for Teaching Excellence Innovative Pedagogy Grantee, 2022

Leadership: Principal Investigator, Carceral Studies Working Group (cross-campus working group sponsored by the Humanities Collaborative), 2023–2025

Past Appointment

LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Baton Rouge, LA

Assistant Professor of Professional Practice, August 2018–May 2021
Director, Juvenile Defense Clinic, August 2018–May 2021

Courses: Juvenile Defense Clinic Course, Juvenile Defense Clinic Practicum, Capital Punishment, Abolish or Reform: The Future of U.S. Justice

Honors: LSU Internationalization Grant Recipient, 2019–2020

Publications & Works in Progress

Law Review Articles

In progress

Pregnancy's Criminal Procedure Problem (formerly The Interdisciplinary Policing of Pregnancy Criminalization)

Work in progress

2024

Killing Stays

2024 Wis. L. Rev. 859

2023

The Racialized Violence of Police Canine Force

111 Geo. L.J. 1125 (2023)

2023

The Clinic as a Site of Grounded Pedagogy

29 Clin. L. Rev. 405 (2023)

2023

For Their Own Good: Girls, Sexuality, and State Violence in the Name of Safety

59 Cal. W. L. Rev. 1 (2023) (invited symposium)

2022

Developing Police

70 Buff. L. Rev. 271 (2022)

2020

Lessons from Disaster: Assessing the COVID-19 Response in Youth Jails & Prisons

2 Ariz. St. L.J. Online 221 (2020)

Book Chapters

2023

Coker v. Georgia, Rewritten Opinion

in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Criminal Law Opinions (Bennet Capers, Sarah Deer & Corey Rayburn Yung, eds., Cambridge University Press 2023)

Reports

2024

Pregnancy as a Crime: A Preliminary Report on the First Year After Dobbs

Sept. 2024 (co-authored with Wendy A. Bach). Received more than 400 media mentions in the first two days after launch, including coverage by Time, CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, CBS News, ABC News, The Associated Press, Jezebel, Mother Jones, and The Root.

2023

South Carolina Deaths Behind Bars: 2015–2021

Jan. 2023

Book Reviews

2023

Review of Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail

Rutgers Crim. L. & Crim. Just. Books (March 2023)

Op-Eds & Short Articles

2023

5th Amendment Rights as Abortion Rights

Harv. L. Rev. Blog (Apr. 11, 2023)

2022

How Young Is Too Young To Be a Police Officer?

Lawfare (Jul. 29, 2022)

2021

Rules are meant to protect children, but police use them to shield themselves

The Advocate (Jun. 30, 2021)

2020

Two tragedies occur when youths kill, end up in adult prisons

The Advocate (Mar. 4, 2020)

2018

Applying the death penalty to drug dealers is never 'appropriate'. It violates international law.

IntLawGrrls (Apr. 24, 2018)

Grants

Co-Principal Investigator, Tracking the Criminalization of Pregnancy After Dobbs
Co-principal investigator on a grant of $2,403,621 from an anonymous donor to partner with Pregnancy Justice and Professor Wendy Bach, University of Tennessee – Knoxville. Received $215,345.49 for research from May 15, 2024 to April 30, 2027.

Principal Investigator, Deaths Behind Bars in South Carolina
Received $99,575 from Arnold Ventures to fund research from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026.

Education

New York University School of Law, New York, NY
J.D., May 2013
Honors: Leonard J. Schreier Memorial Prize (for academic excellence in ethics) · Journal of International Law and Politics, Senior Notes Editor · AmeriCorps Equal Justice Works Summer Corps Scholarship Recipient 2012 · Pro Bono Service Award

American University, Washington, DC
B.A. in International Studies, Spanish Translation Certificate
University Honors in International Studies Major, Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, May 2009

Selected Professional Experience

Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center, SMU Law, June–August 2019
LSU Field Placement Supervisor. Supervised students researching COVID-19 policies in the criminal legal system for the Deason Center Pandemic Policy Project.

International Legal Foundation, Myanmar, May–July 2019
International Fellow. Supported the development of specialized juvenile divisions in Myanmar public defender offices. Trained Myanmar public defenders on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, principles and practices in juvenile defense, and adolescent brain development science. Consulted with UNICEF on priority issues in juvenile justice.

Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide, Ithaca, NY, August 2016–May 2018
Clinical Teaching Fellow. Supervised student practice on death penalty cases in the U.S., Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. Co-taught the International Human Rights Clinic. Presented at and trained lawyers at the Makwanyane Institute. Drafted submissions to the High Court of Malawi. Lobbied members of the United Nations Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Council.

The Defender Association of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 2013–August 2016
Assistant Defender. Tried over 50 misdemeanor and felony bench trials. Litigated over 35 motions to suppress. Represented juvenile clients in delinquency proceedings in Philadelphia Family Court.

Bar Admissions & Languages

Admitted to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (2013), State of Louisiana (2018), Middle District of Louisiana (2018), Eastern District of Louisiana (2018), Fifth Circuit (2018), and State of South Carolina (2022, limited to clinical practice). Proficient in Spanish. Basic knowledge of Swahili and French.

For a complete CV including academic presentations and service, please download the full CV.