Catherine Crump is director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley School of Law, as well as Clinical Professor of Law. Crump’s civil liberties advocacy focuses on protecting privacy and free speech in an era of increasingly ubiquitous surveillance. She also focuses on ensuring that new technologies are integrated into the criminal legal system with attention to equity and accuracy.
Under Crump’s leadership, the Samuelson Clinic has litigated cases to force disclosure of records regarding the Trump Administration’s use of social media information to remove or exclude people from the United States based on their expression or beliefs; to improve public access to court records about the government’s use of electronic surveillance; and to push back against court orders requiring websites to remove content. She has also authored or co-authored reports on the use of electronic monitoring technology on youth in the juvenile system; why courts should impose consequences when police officers fail to activate their body-worn cameras and then want to testify about unrecorded events; and on a Federal Bureau of Prisons policy of monitoring emails that incarcerated persons send to their attorneys. Crump has testified before Congress, the European Parliament, and various state legislatures and municipal bodies on issues including cell phone location tracking and the impact of national security surveillance on people outside the United States.
Crump appears regularly in the national news media as an expert commentator as well as opinion writer, in outlets such as The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and CNN. Her TED talk on the civil liberties problems with automatic license plate readers has been viewed some 2 million times.
Crump’s scholarly agenda addresses regulation of surveillance technology, particularly by state and local government. Her piece Surveillance Policy Making By Procurement documented the ways in which federal grants for surveillance technology subvert local democratic control of policing. Another article, Tracking the Trackers, focused on the use of location tracking bracelets on youth going through the juvenile system. It demonstrated the ubiquitous nature of this technology and documented its net-widening effect.
Prior to joining the Berkeley Law faculty, Crump spent nearly nine years as an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, where she litigated First and Fourth Amendment challenges to national security-related policies as well as police surveillance. She filed and argued some of the first civil lawsuits against the government’s policy of conducting suspicionless searches of electronic devices at the international border, argued before the en banc Third Circuit in a case challenging the government’s warrantless use of a GPS tracker on a vehicle, and was counsel in a landmark free speech case challenging the Child Online Protection Act. She also authored two influential reports, You Are Being Tracked: How License Plate Readers Are Being Used to Record Americans’ Movements and (with co-author Jay Stanley) Protecting Privacy from Aerial Surveillance: Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft.
Crump is a graduate of Stanford University and Stanford Law School. In 2014 the law school awarded her the Miles L. Rubin Public Interest Award, given annually to one graduate who has made an outstanding contribution to the public interest. She clerked for Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Education
B.A., Stanford University (2000)
J.D., Stanford Law School (2004)
Catherine Crump is teaching the following courses in Spring 2025:
• 285.9 sec. 001 - Samuelson Clinic Seminar
• 295.5T sec. 001 - Samuelson Clinic
• 295.5U sec. 001 - Advanced Samuelson Clinic
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Fall 2025 | 285.9 sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic Seminar | 285.9B sec. 001 | Advanced Samuelson Clinic Seminar | 295.5T sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic | 295.5U sec. 001 | Advanced Samuelson Clinic | Fall 2024 | 285.9 sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5T sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | Spring 2024 | 285.9 sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic Seminar | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5T sec. 001 | Samuelson Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation | 295.5U sec. 001 | Advanced Samuelson Clinic | View Teaching Evaluation |
|---|
Op-Ed: Lawyers can’t visit clients in prison, so quit monitoring their emails
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, along with Ken White, writes that the Federal Bureau of Prisons should end its unjust policy of requiring inmates to “voluntarily” waive privilege in emails they send to their attorneys through the bureau-provided email system
Police are using protests as an excuse to unleash new surveillance tech
Catherine Crump, director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, explains that while police have a right to monitor protest activity, a line must be drawn when that surveillance becomes oppressive
Op-Ed: Stop monitoring emails between inmates and their lawyers
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, along with Ken White, calls for the Federal Bureau of Prisons to stop forcing inmates to “voluntarily” waive all claims to confidentiality in emails they send their lawyers through the BOP-provided email system
FBI Use of Google Search Data Raises Privacy Questions
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, explains why government requests for Google data should raise major privacy concerns
Q&A: Cameras, Police, the Dangers of a Constantly Monitored Society
Professor Catherine Crump, Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic, discusses the technological and legal implications of the Ring device, and the significance of this new third-party surveillance.
Oakland Adopts Privacy Principles Drafted By Berkeley Law Students
The principles provide concrete guidance for city staff to better protect residents’ personal information.
Branching Out: Berkeley Law Tech Clinic Expands into Criminal Justice Arena
As technology transforms how criminal cases are prosecuted, the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic helps defense attorneys scrutinize the evidence presented against their clients.
Berkeley Law Clinics Host First Convening on Electronic Monitoring of Youth
More than 50 researchers, public defenders, journalists, activists, and impacted young people probed the role of GPS tracking in juvenile court.
Clinic Presses Government to Release Documents About Prison Email Monitoring
Prison employees can monitor the contents of inmate email messages—including those to or from their attorneys.
Shelby Nacino ’18, Alison Ganem ’18 Honored for Stellar Clinical Advocacy
The students were hailed for their work ethic and legal acumen at Berkeley Law’s East Bay Community Law Center and Death Penalty Clinic, respectively.
New Report Faults California’s Electronic Monitoring of Youth
A new report analyzes juvenile electronic monitoring programs across California.
Alumni and Student Land Plum DOJ Positions
Six Berkeley Law alums and one student selected for the prestigious program learn their offers will be honored despite announcements of a governmental hiring freeze.
Symposium: Legal Implications of a New Administration
The event tackled issues ranging from immigration and domestic surveillance to women’s rights and race relations.
Media Advisory: Court Ruling Protects Privacy Rights
A ruling by the Supreme Court of California in People v. Macabeo strengthens privacy rights and curtails unlawful police searches.
No Tape, No Testimony: How Courts Can Ensure Responsible Use of Body Cameras
Police departments are not the only institutions capable of assuring the effective use of body-worn cameras. Courts can do it, too.
Pioneering Samuelson Clinic Celebrates 15-year Anniversary
The Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic celebrates its 15th anniversary.
Californians’ Privacy Rights May Hinge on High Court Case
Clinic students join legal battle to protect Californians’ Fourth Amendment rights.
Alex Kaplan ’16 Wins Sax Prize for Clinical Advocacy
Kaplan was honored for his extraordinary work with Berkeley Law’s Policy Advocacy Clinic and East Bay Community Law Center.