Frank Rudy Cooper
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Director, Program on Race, Gender & Policing
William S. Boyd Professor of Law
Expertise: Criminal Law, Policing, Race Theory, Race and Law, Civil Rights
Biography
Frank Rudy Cooper is the director of the Program on Race, Gender & Policing at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law.
Cooper's expertise includes the intersection of race and law, in addition to civil rights, critical race theory, and diversity and inclusion. He also conducts research centered on feminist theory, gender and the law, and masculinity theory. He is often called upon by local and national media to provide insight into current issues including police reform and police brutality.
Prior to UNLV, Cooper practiced law in Boston and taught at Villanova University School of Law, Boston College Law School, and Suffolk University Law School.
His work has been published in journals including the Boston University Law Review, the University of California, Davis Law Review, the University of Illinois Law Review, and the Arizona State Law Journal.
Education
- J.D., Duke University School of Law
- B.A., Political Science & English, Amherst College
Frank Rudy Cooper In The News
April 14, 2021
The topic of “toxic masculinity” comes up more in conversations about #MeToo than about Black Lives Matter, understandably so. But cop machismo is an important way of understanding police violence against people of color. It helps explain why Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck — continuing for two minutes after Floyd’s pulse stopped — and why three other officers chose to keep the crowd at bay rather than save Floyd’s life.
CounterPunch
November 5, 2020
The numbers tell the sad story.
October 22, 2020
As a child in the early 1980s, LeRonne Armstrong spent much of the summer watching cartoons at his grandma’s apartment in West Oakland’s Acorn Projects. The public housing development would later become notorious as the site where Black Panther co-founder Huey Newton was killed in 1989, but for Armstrong’s mother, it was where she sent her three children for safekeeping as crack began menacing the city and violent crime was on the rise.
August 1, 2020
The months-long, multiracial protests against police violence and for racial equality are a demand for change, and states such as Colorado are listening. The Legislature is at risk of not heeding the call. The proposed police reform bill for the current special session does not do half of what Colorado did. If Nevada is serious about meaningful change, our Legislature must deliver police reform at least as strong as Colorado’s.
Articles Featuring Frank Rudy Cooper
Arts and Culture | December 30, 2020
A sampling of university experts who sounded off on the year’s monumental movements surrounding race, ethnicity, and gender.
Campus News | July 2, 2020
A collection of news stories featuring the people and programs of UNLV.
People | January 22, 2019
One of Boyd Law’s newest professors shares his Las Vegas experiences since moving from the East Coast.