 He joined the faculty of Harvard Law School in 1967 where he was one of the few faculty members who was not an attorney.With his role as research director of Harvard's Center for Criminal Justice, Ohlin focused on investigating the risks that imprisonment poses, especially for young people.In a February 1968 speech in Boston delivered at the 15th annual Legislative Clearing House, Ohlin made the point by stating that "by doing nothing but processing children who get into trouble routinely through an overcrowded correctional system, we do more to develop than to stop career criminals".