Saundra D Westervelt

Saundra D. Westervelt is an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro where her teaching and research are in the areas of criminology and the sociology of law. She works on issues related to the wrongful conviction of the innocent, in particular on what life is like for exonerees once they are released and return to their communities. Her most recent book, "Life after Death Row: Exonerees' Search for Community and Identity," with UNCW colleague Kimberly J. Cook, examines this "aftermath" of a wrongful conviction for eighteen death row exonerees in the U.S. She has published numerous journal articles and book chapters, as well as two earlier books, Shifting the Blame and Wrongly Convicted (both with Rutgers University Press). Saundra is a native of Lexington, NC, USA. She received her BA in Sociology and English from Furman University and her MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of Virginia. She lives in Greensboro with her husband, Van, and their fourteen year old son, Drew.