Hi there! My name is Daniel. I’m a PhD student at the University of Chicago and a contributing editor at Inquest.

My dissertation examines the history of prison litigation in the post-war United States. I’m interested in how different groups of Americans have understood the legal and moral dilemmas posed by incarceration, and their efforts to reform, abolish, or entrench prison as a response to criminal wrongdoing.

Before attending graduate school, I worked as a journalist. My essays and reporting have appeared in outlets like Smithsonian, The Baffler, The Nation, and The New Republic. If you’d like to get in touch, you can email me at danielfernandez@uchicago.edu.