Mary D. Fan

  • Jack R. MacDonald Endowed Chair

Contact

Phone: (206) 685-4971
Email: mdfan@uw.edu

Education

J.D. 2003, Yale Law School Ph.D. Candidate (2017), Epidemiology, University of Washington M.Phil. 2008, University of Cambridge B.A., magna cum laude, 2000, University of Arizona

Areas of Expertise

Criminal Law and Procedure — Evidence — Immigration and Refugee Law — Police and Law Enforcement — Privacy — Prosecution and Prosecutorial Ethics

Recent Courses

Course Number Course Name
Criminal Law
Evidence
Criminal Procedure: Investigation

Selected Publications

See the full list under the Publications tab below.

Professor Mary D. Fan's expertise includes criminal law and procedure, evidence, information privacy, and crimmigration.  She is the author of numerous articles in leading law reviews and a recent book Camera Power: Proof, Policing, Privacy, and Audiovisual Big Data, published by Cambridge University Press. Her research and teaching are informed by her experiences as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of California and as an associate legal officer at a United Nations criminal tribunal. Her scholarship has been cited by judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and in major media venues.

Among Professor Fan’s most cherished honors is that the student body has three times voted to award her Professor of the Year. She also has been nominated for the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Award. She also received the Dean's Medal for excellence in teaching, scholarship and service twice and also received the Washington Law Review’s Richard O. Kummert Outstanding Contribution Award.

Professor Fan was the Herman Phleger Visiting Professor at Stanford Law School in winter 2022, where she taught first-year criminal law. She was a Visiting Scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2017-18. Professor Fan is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and an elected Life Fellow of the American Bar Association (ABA). She also serves on the Board of Directors for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)-Washington.

Trained in epidemiology and anthropology as well as law, Professor Fan collaborates on interdisciplinary violence prevention research as a core faculty member at Harborview Medical Center's Injury Prevention & Research Center. She also is an affiliate faculty member at the Center for an Informed Public, an interdisciplinary collaboration on the integrity of information at the University of Washington.

Mary Fan clerked for the Hon. John T. Noonan, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for Judge O-Gon Kwon at the first war crimes tribunal since the World War II era. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School and her M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar. At Yale, she was a Notes Editor for the Yale Law Journal, a Managing Editor for the Yale Journal of International Law, and a Coker Teaching Fellow. She was awarded the Jewell Prize and the Nathan Burkan Prize for her publications.

Peer Reviewed Journals & Law Reviews

  • Mary D. Fan, A Higher Vision of Rights and Resistance, 100 Wash. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2025).
  • Mary D. Fan, Essay, Resisting Disclosure: Piercing Privacy Pretext, 105 Boston Univ. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2025).
  • Mary D. Fan, Mass Data Searches and the Constitution, 26 U. Pa. J. Con. L. __ (forthcoming 2025).
  • Mary D. Fan, The Hidden Harms of Privacy Penalties, 56 U.C. Davis L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2022).
  • Mary D. Fan, Citizenship Perception Strain in Cases of Crime and War: On Law and Intuition, 2010 Mich. St. L. Rev. 1-49.

Books or Treatises

  • Mary D. Fan & Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, Perilous Science: Lessons on Persistence and Resilience from Politically Dangerous Firearms Research (Stanford Univ. Press, forthcoming 2023).
  • Antonio A. Cassese, Guido G. Acquaviva, Mary De Ming Fan & Alex A. Whiting, International Criminal Law: Cases and Commentary (Oxford University Press 2011). 600 pages.

Book Chapters

  • Mary D. Fan, Privacy, Public Disclosure, and Police-Worn Body Camera Footage, in POLICE ON CAMERA: SURVEILLANCE, PRIVACY, AND POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY (Bryce Clayton Newell, ed., Routledge forthcoming 2020).

News Media


Other Publications


  • Speaker, "AI-Enhanced Evidence," Evidence Summer Workshop, Vanderbilt School of Law (May 6, 2025)
  • Speaker, "Justice on Video Workshop," University of Colorado Visual Evidence Lab (April 25, 2025)
  • Speaker, "Firearms Prohibition, Relinquishment, and Compliance," Washington State Courts Judicial Training Series, (April 18, 2025)
  • Speaker, "Firearms Prohibition, Relinquishment, and Compliance," Washington State Courts Judicial Training Series, (April 11, 2025)
  • Speaker, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law Symposium, University of Pennsylvania School of Law (January 31, 2025)
  • Panelist, Law & Anthropology Section Panel, American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting (January 11, 2025)
  • Panelist, Criminal Law Section Panel, American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting (January 10, 2025)
  • Panelist, Criminal Procedure Section Panel, American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting (January 10, 2025)
  • Speaker, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Annual Conference, (November 9, 2024)
  • Speaker, Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Annual Conference, (November 8, 2024)
  • Speaker, Perpetrator-Made Images Workshop, University of Copenhagen and Bard College (September 13, 2024)
  • Speaker, "Suspecting with Data," Annual Training Conference, Washington Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys (June 8, 2024)
  • Speaker, Evidence Summer Workshop, Vanderbilt Law School (May 17, 2024)
  • Keynote, 17th Annual Why Law Matters Conference, Joint CLE, Federal Defenders, Central District of Illinois and the University of Illinois (April 19, 2024)
  • Speaker, Law of Policing Conference, University of Chicago Law School (June 7, 2023)
  • Sep 09, 2024 | Source: NBC10 Philadelphia

    “Paramount is the concern for the right to a fair trial by jury, by an impartial jury,” said Mary D. Fan, a criminal law professor at the University of Washington. Often, victims' family members will want to attend every day of a trial as a way to signal support for the victim, or because they want to see for themselves if justice is being done. Prosecutors often consult with survivors and victims' families, and may give their concerns heavy consideration when crafting arguments against moving a trial, Fan said. “There are a number of potential adverse impacts, depending on where the change of venue occurs. Certainly it may be more of an inconvenience to witnesses, to family members who might want to attend every day of the trial,” said Fan.

  • Aug 21, 2023 | Source: FOX 13 Memphis

    “Law enforcement officers have discretion in the sense that they hold the video (and) they control whether or not there is an ongoing investigation,” said Mary Fan, a law professor at the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ and an expert on police body camera policies across the country.

  • Aug 15, 2023 | Source: Global News (Canada)

    “RICO laws punish more severely the participation in a criminal enterprise to commit a series of crimes, recognizing the greater harms posed by a group of people acting with the purpose of committing multiple crimes,” Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington, explained in an email.

  • May 16, 2023 | Source: Newsweek

    Mary Fan, a criminal justice expert and professor at the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ, told Newsweek via phone that in a number of major U.S. cities, there was a regression back to the mean compared to the time during the pandemic.

  • Apr 24, 2023 | Source: KIRO

    Prosecutors have filed charges for the murder of Leticia Martinez-Cosman, who was killed after attending a Mariners game in March. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.

  • Mar 15, 2023 | Source: Axios Philadelphia

    A proposal for Philadelphia Police to use drones as a crime-fighting tool could face opposition from privacy advocates who view it as an intrusion unlikely to reduce street violence. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Mar 10, 2023 | Source: Associated Press

    New Mexico’s House of Representatives has endorsed new limitations on public access to police body-camera video when it captures images of nudity, violence, injury or death. The 46-19 vote Thursday sent the bill to the Senate for consideration. Proponents of the initiative include the New Mexico State Police and associations representing county and municipal governments, including sheriffs’ departments. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Feb 23, 2023 | Source: Forbes

    Pig butchering, as it’s known, is a new type of online con perpetrated by overseas scammers who “fatten” up victims – making them believe they have made boatloads of money in cryptocurrency often using manipulated apps and websites – before absconding with all their money. Experts say billions of dollars are lost to this type of pernicious scheme each year. The hard truth is that recovering money lost to crypto scams is extremely rare, even when law enforcement does take up a case. But in recent years, a nascent industry has cropped up, offering services that promise to do just that. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Jan 28, 2023 | Source: Washington Post

    The message from those who had seen the video of Memphis police officers beating a 29-year-old Black man was both clear and chilling: It would be heartbreaking to watch what happened to Tyre Nichols. Anticipation for the release of the video on Friday, which showed the Jan. 7 violence against Nichols three days before he would die, brought headlines about violence and another nationwide reflection on American policing and the use of body-cam footage to prevent fatal police encounters. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Jan 13, 2023 | Source: Why Don't We Know (podcast)

    "This episode of Why Don’t We Know was done in collaboration with the Spencer Education fellowship at Columbia University, where host Sara Ganim was a fellow for the 2021-2022 academic year. Additionally, a companion piece ran in USA Today, elaborating on specific cases, with insight from other experts, lawyers and students who have been presented with these agreements."

  • Jan 08, 2023 | Source: USA Today

    Security cameras. Internet video streams. Cellphone towers. In the days after four college students were stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, rental home in the early hours of Nov. 13, police traced the digital footprint of the victims and the man accused of killing them in exhaustive detail. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Jan 05, 2023 | Source: Associated Press

    The white sedan cruised past the gray, three-story rental home on a dead-end street in Moscow, Idaho. Then again. And again. It was unusual behavior in the residential, hillside neighborhood in the quiet hours before dawn. And according to a police affidavit released Thursday, surveillance videos showing the vehicle that November night were key to unraveling the gruesome mystery of who killed four University of Idaho students inside the house. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Jul 31, 2022 | Source: The San Diego Union-Tribune

    Mary D. Fan is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of California, current law professor at the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ, and author of “Camera Power: Proof, Policing, Privacy, and Audiovisual Big Data.” She discusses this recent court ruling and how widely accessible recording is shifting the relationship between the public and the police

  • Jun 10, 2022 | Source: Seattle Times

    The Washington state Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a person’s race, and law enforcement’s long history of discrimination against people of color, should be taken into account when determining the legality of police seizures. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Jun 09, 2022 | Source: King 5

    Days before Congress began its committee hearings into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, the Justice Department announced a superseding indictment in the case of five members of the Proud Boys group, including Ethan Nordean of Auburn. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.

  • Jun 02, 2022 | Source: KIRO 7

    Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, comments on the plausibility of a claim of self defense in the case involving a Pierce County council candidate.

  • Nov 24, 2021 | Source: The New York Times

    “We lawyers, we don’t have a lock on the story anymore,” said Mary Fan, a professor of law at the University of Washington and a former prosecutor. “It doesn’t matter how dramatically I do my openings or closing or how my witnesses tell their accounts, because the jury is going to look at the visual evidence and my words are just going to be words. I can never match the drama of a video.”

  • Oct 31, 2021 | Source: The New York Times

    Mary D. M. Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington, said that while the trial would focus on the definition of self-defense, it would also be about the Second Amendment, race, politics and the role of free speech.

  • Oct 27, 2021 | Source: The New York Times

    A judge’s decision that the word “victim” generally could not be used in court to refer to the people shot by Kyle Rittenhouse after protests in Kenosha, Wis., last year drew widespread attention and outrage this week. But legal experts say that determining who should be considered a victim — in a case that hinges on Mr. Rittenhouse’s assertion of self-defense — is at the center of what jurors must decide in his trial, expected to begin next week. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Sep 29, 2021 | Source: The Seattle Times

    While homicides committed across the United States spiked by nearly 30% last year according to FBI data released this week, the surge wasn’t quite as pronounced in Washington, which saw a 21% increase in killings amid the pandemic. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Sep 09, 2021 | Source: Fox 13 (Salt Lake City)

    “Utah, in this case, is part of a trend across the country of judges trying to address concerns that video is missing,” said Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington who has written a book on police cameras.

  • Aug 01, 2021 | Source: Arkansas Democrat Gazette

    Fan said the answer to this issue is not something for an expert to decide; it's something for communities to decide. What the public wants will look different across the county and should be democratically decided.

  • May 07, 2021 | Source: NPR

    Although there's been graphic video of police encounters, not all video makes it into a courtroom. The legal standards regarding rules of evidence about a video's credibility and authenticity are high. Even so, University of Washington Law School Professor Mary Fan, who studies how audio-visual technology is reshaping policing, says there's been a dramatic turn in how much video is used in court cases.

  • May 03, 2021 | Source: New York Times

    Mary Fan, a law professor at the University of Washington who has studied body camera policies, said that a number of states still had problematic laws on the books that overextend exceptions to public disclosure.

  • Apr 21, 2021 | Source: KOMO 4

    UW law professor Mary Fan explains how decisions about sentencing Derek Chauvin could be made.

  • Apr 20, 2021 | Source: KOMO Radio

    UW law professor May Fan says that the evidence in the Derek Chauvin trial indicated that a "depraved-heart murder" had taken place, resulting in a call to action from the community.

  • Apr 20, 2021 | Source: KING 5

    UW law professor Mary Fan explains what sets the case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin apart from others.

  • Apr 10, 2021 | Source: Huff Post

    Attempts to humanize Mr. Chauvin, the former police officer accused of murder in the death of George Floyd, are central to the defense’s effort to portray him as a responsible person who was only doing his job, legal experts say. Prof. Mary Fan is quoted.

  • Mar 30, 2021 | Source: The New York Times

    Some of the week’s most stinging testimony came from a renowned pulmonologist and the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department. Mary Fan, a UW professor of law, is quoted.

  • Mar 30, 2021 | Source: The New York Times

    Emotional and sometimes combative witnesses dominated the second day of testimony Tuesday in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd. Legal experts expect the conversation to shift in coming days as the trial continues. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is quoted.

  • Mar 22, 2021 | Source: KUOW

    In the wake of the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling in the “Blake” decision on Feb. 25, people can no longer be arrested for simple drug possession in Washington. Officials must now chart a new path to address past convictions and current substance use. Mary Fan, professor of law at the UW, is interviewed.

  • Jun 17, 2020 | Source: The Verge

    Many people treat video footage, regardless of where it comes from, as objective evidence, says Mary Fan, a professor at the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ who studies cameras and police encounters. “The temptation is to see it as a window into what really happened,” she says. But that’s not the case: the place the video comes from has a big impact on how people interpret it.