Joshua Dressler

Joshua Dressler is an American retired law professor. He is a Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the Ohio State University. He has held academic positions at several U.S. law schools and is widely recognized for his scholarship, teaching, and contributions to legal education. His work has focused on areas such as criminal responsibility, sentencing, and moral theory, with particular attention to issues involving battered women and self-defense law.

Early life and education Dressler attended UCLA, earning his B.A. in 1968, and then earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law in 1973.

Career Dressler began his academic career at Hamline University School of Law. where he served as an associate professor and later as professor of law. He subsequently joined Wayne State University Law School, where he served as professor of law and held the Career Development Chair. While at Wayne State, he was awarded the Donald H. Gordon Teaching Excellence Award (1990). beginning his tenure at OSU in 2001. He was also a visiting professor at various institutions across the United States, as well as internationally at the University of British Columbia and University of Auckland in New Zealand. On articles regarding legal matters, Dressler's expertise in criminal law has been cited by various media outlets including Vox, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, and the New York Times.

In 1993, Dressler joined the McGeorge School of Law, where he later held the institution’s first Distinguished Professor and Scholar Chair. During this period, he continued to develop his national reputation as a scholar in criminal law and criminal procedure and received the Eberhardt Teacher and Scholar Award (1995). His teaching and scholarship at McGeorge contributed to his growing recognition as a leading academic in his field. Dressler is known for his extensive contributions to legal scholarship. He has authored or co-authored casebooks and treatises widely used in legal education, particularly in criminal law and criminal procedure.

Awards and Recognition Dressler has received numerous teaching and scholarly awards, including: University Distinguished Scholar (2007) – Ohio State University University Distinguished Lecturer (2005) – Ohio State University Criminal Procedure: Principles, Policies, and Perspectives Criminal Procedure: Investigating Crime (multiple editions) Criminal Procedure: Prosecuting Crime (multiple editions) Cases and Materials on Criminal Law (1994–2025; with Steven Garvey from 6th ed.) Understanding Criminal Procedure (1991–2021)

Articles "Professor Delgado's 'Brainwashing' Defense: Courting a Determinist Legal System" (1979). in Minnesota Law Review. 1711. "Battered Women, Self-Defense, and the Law" (2011). in Fordham Law Review (with Holly Maguigan) “Kahler v. Kansas: Ask the Wrong Question, Get the Wrong Answer” (Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 2020) “Hating Criminals: How Can Something that Feels So Good Be Wrong?” (Michigan Law Review, 1990)