Hi there! 


My name is Daniel. I’m a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago and a contributing editor at Inquest. I study the history of incarceration in the 20th century United States. I’m interested in how different groups of Americans have understood the legal and moral dilemmas posed by prisons, and their efforts to reform, abolish, or entrench them as a response to criminal wrongdoing.

Before attending graduate school, I worked as a journalist, where I covered legal affairs. 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.