Center Staff

Student Fellows

Ryan Taylor

Ryan is a senior at William & Mary, majoring in Government and minoring in History. He is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, and has completed coursework in Courts & Politics of Criminal Justice, Criminology, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Equal Protection of the Law, and American Legal Process. Ryan has gained applied experience in indigent defense in the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia. On campus, Ryan is active in Mock Trial, serving as treasurer, and supports his peers as a Conduct and Honor Advisor. He is also a Campus Vote Project fellow and an active member of William & Mary's Voter Engagement Committee. Ryan hopes to go to law school with the goal of being a defense attorney or engaging in impact litigation for a criminal justice nonprofit.

At the Center, Ryan authors research memos on issues concerning novel law-enforcement trends, including pattern-or-practice investigations, federalization of law enforcement, police discipline policy discrimination, and deployment of surveillance technologies to monitor crime in Washington, D.C.

Jason Zheng

Jason is a Posse Scholar at William & Mary, double-majoring in public policy and sociology, with a concentration in criminology, law, and society. With experiences working with Everytown for Gun Safety, the Virginia Poverty Law Center, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, and grassroots campaigns, Jason intends to pursue a J.D. that equips him with the legal expertise to navigate complex laws and pursue public interest work that creates community-led changes.

At the Center, Jason has primarily researches state and local approaches that decrease violence, intervention teams for mental health crises, and community-based responses to gun violence. Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, Jason's more extensive projects involved the effectiveness of community-oriented federal responses to gun violence in the aftermath of Bruen. In the 2025-26 academic year, Jason's research areas include officer mental health, the Ferguson Effect, targeted enforcement, trends in gun violence, and the federalization of local law enforcement.