Andrea L. Miller, Ph.D., J.D.
Andrea L. Miller, Ph.D., J.D., is a Senior Court Research Associate at the National Center for State Courts. She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and she sits on the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Equality. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
Dr. Miller’s research focuses on the social-psychological foundations of prejudice, discrimination, and inequity, particularly as they operate in the courts. Her research questions include: 1) How does social cognition—including social identities and normal human imperfections in social perception, memory, and information processing—affect the implementation of the law? 2) In what ways does the law successfully address social injustices related to inequality and discrimination? In what ways does the law fail as a result of insufficiently accounting for human psychology?
Recent projects involve helping courts conduct internal assessments of racial and other forms of equity, developing training materials for court personnel about systemic racism and equity issues, and developing performance measures for Allied Legal Professional and other regulatory reform programs designed to promote access to justice.