Adam Gershowitz Tackles the Most Pressing Issues in Criminal Justice

Adam Gershowitz, the James D. & Pamela J. Penny Research Professor and Hugh & Nolie Haynes Professor of Law, is a nationally recognized expert in criminal procedure whose scholarship and public commentary continue to inform legal discourse across the country.

For instance, he has been in heavy demand since New Years Day, 2025, when a cybertruck exploded in front of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. The incident revealed the large amount of sensitive data modern cars collect about those who drive them.

As someone who has studied police searches of digital data, and written “The Tesla Meets the Fourth Amendment” (BYU Law Review, Vol. 48, 2023), Gershowitz was the right person to clarify the issue.

On January 4, he was quoted in a Washington Post story about the amount of possibly sensitive data captured by today’s vehicles. Two days later, in a NewsNation Vargas Reports piece, “Are cars spying on us? Tesla data helped Vegas investigation,” he commented on the “double-edged sword” of information that runs from phone to vehicle, and the amount of data car companies are collecting on drivers.

And on January 13, Gershowitz contributed an op-ed, "Police didn’t need a warrant to search the exploding Tesla Cybertruck’s computer — can they search your Tesla data too?" published in The Hill. In the piece, Gershowitz examined Tesla computer searches and the cybertruck explosion outside of Trump Hotel. 

More recently, he was quoted in “Bootleggers, Cops, and Cars: How Driving Became a Privacy Trap,” a Bloomberg Law story about police using license plate readers and warrantlessly extracting cell phone data from smart cars.

A 2024 study of Gershowitz’s, “The Prosecutor Vacancy Crisis,” has been cited frequently in the media, most recently by the Houston Chronicle in “‘The stress of it’: Prosecutors leaving DA Teare's office as caseloads remain high.”

Gershowitz has authored more than 40 scholarly articles and several influential books, including “The Wire: Crime, Law, and Policy,” Carolina Academic Press. 2013, and “Crim Pro 360: The Investigation Process,” Carolina Academic Press 2021.  He has also just published an aid for incoming students, “A Short & Happy Guide to Acing Your 1L Year,” 2025. 

Gershowitz’s recent scholarship tackles some of the most pressing issues in criminal justice. In “Accidental Brady Violations” (Texas A&M Law Review, Vol. 12, 2025), he explores how inadvertent failures to disclose evidence can undermine fair trials. And in “The Brady Database” (Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Vol. 114, 2024) he presented empirical data on prosecutorial disclosure practices. 

A frequent voice in national media, Gershowitz has been quoted in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and ABC News, among others. His insights are sought after on topics ranging from prosecutorial ethics to digital privacy.

Gershowitz has earned 10 teaching awards, including the McGlothlin Teaching Award and Walter L. Williams, Jr. Memorial Teaching Award at William & Mary. He served as Vice Dean and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2021 to 2023, and previously as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development.