Sarah French Russell focuses her research and teaching on sentencing policy, juvenile justice, prison conditions, reentry issues, ethics, and the problems of access to justice. At Quinnipiac, she directs the Legal Clinic, which gives students the opportunity to represent low-income clients and work on policy projects. Russell leads the Clinic's Juvenile Sentencing Project, which conducts research and advocates for fair sentencing and parole practices for children. Russell serves on the Connecticut Sentencing Commission and as Counsel to the Federal Grievance Committee for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Russell was previously Director of the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program at Yale Law School and taught in Yale’s Criminal Defense, Prison Legal Services, and Supreme Court clinics. Russell also worked at the Federal Public Defender's Office in New Haven where, as an assistant federal defender, she represented indigent clients in federal court at the trial and appellate levels. Russell clerked for Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey in the Southern District of New York and for Judge Chester J. Straub on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.