Dr. Roger Roots, J.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Roger Roots is a nationally recognized criminologist, legal scholar and civil liberties activist, as well as the founder of Lysander Spooner University. He is active in libertarian politics, and in the promotion of a freer, fairer and more just world. Author of more than two dozen noteworthy scholarly articles and a recently published book, some of Dr. Roots’ research has been relied on by federal courts. In recent years, Roots has focused his work and advocacy on three areas: the fully informed jury movement, the reestablishment of Fourth Amendment protections and the establishment of a fair and equal court system for all participants.

Although he began his adult life as a high school dropout and an ex-convict, he now holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Montana State University—Billings, a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice Science from Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island, a law degree from Roger Williams University, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). Roots was an honor student throughout higher education, and kept a Dean’s Scholarship in all three years of law school. On two occasions, he entered and won national legal writing competitions.

In addition to his work in higher education and as a lawyer in private practice, he enjoys mountaineering, zip-lining, mashing up calisthenics with board games, building his home on the Bozeman Pass, and being an ever-present irritant to those in political power by running for office, drafting legislation, and writing and speaking truth to power.

Courses

Legal Research
Mountaineering