Kermit Roosevelt
Professor of Law
Kermit Roosevelt works in a diverse range of fields, focusing on constitutional law and conflict of laws. His latest book, Conflict of Laws (Foundation Press 2010) offers an accessible analytical overview of conflicts.
Kermit Roosevelt works in a diverse range of fields, focusing on constitutional law and conflict of laws. His latest book, Conflict of Laws (Foundation Press 2010) offers an accessible analytical overview of conflicts. His prior book, The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions (Yale, 2006) sets out standards by which citizens can determine whether the Supreme Court is abusing its authority. He has also published in the Virginia Law Review, the Michigan Law Review, and the Columbia Law Review, among others. He represents a detainee in the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He also is the author of a novel, In the Shadow of the Law (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005).
Expertise
- Constitutional Law
- Conflict of Laws
- Federal Jurisdiction
Books
CONFLICT OF LAWS: CASES, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS (West 8th ed. 2010) (with DAVID CURRIE, ET AL.)
CONFLICT OF LAWS: CONCEPTS AND INSIGHTS (Foundation Press 2010).
THE MYTH OF JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: MAKING SENSE OF SUPREME COURT DECISIONS (Yale Univ. Press 2006).
IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005).
Articles and Book Chapters
Reconstruction and Resistance, 91 TEX. L. REV. 121 (2012).
Choice of Law in Federal Courts, 106 NW. U. L. REV. 1 (2012).
Cooper v. Aaron, in OXFORD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN POLITICAL AND LEGAL HISTORY (Donald T. Critchlow & Philip R. VanderMeer eds., 2012).
What if Slaughterhouse Had Been Decided Differently?, 45 IND. L. REV. 61 (2011).
Judicial Activism and Judicial Restraint, ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA (2010).
Clerking for Justice Souter, 35 J. S.CT. HIST. 7 (2010).
Deal or No Deal, L. LEADER Q. (Summer 2009).
Walter Wheeler Cook, in the YALE BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN LAW (Yale U. Press, Roger K. Newman, ed., 2009).
Polyphonic Stare Decisis: Listening to Non-Article III Actors, 83 NOTRE DAME L. REV. 1303 (2008)
Aspiration and Underenforcement, 119 HARV. L. REV. F. 193 (2006),
Forget the Fundamentals: Fixing Substantive Due Process, 8 U. PA. J. CONST. L. 983 (2006).
Constitutional Calcification: How the Law Becomes What the Court Does, 91 VA. L. REV. 1649 (2005).
Guantanamo and the Conflict of Laws: Rasul and Beyond, 153 U. PA. L. REV. 2017 (2005).
Justice Scalia’s Constitution – and Ours, 8 U. PA. J. L. & SOC. CHANGE 27 (2005).
The Future of Filtering, Invited Testimony Before the COPA Commission, July 20, 2000 (copacommission.org/meetings/hearing2/additional.shtml).
Understanding Lockups: Effects in Bankruptcy and the Market for Corporate Control, 17 YALE J. ON REG. 94 (2000).
More publications can be found here.
Working Papers
Bait and Switch: Why United States v. Morrison is Wrong About Section 5, U of Penn Law School, Public Law Research Paper No. 14-4
[View Document/Abstract]
Research Areas
- Conflict of Laws
- Constitutional Law
- Law and Technology
Positions
Penn Law - Professor (2007- ); Assistant Professor (2002-05)
Associate - Mayer, Brown & Platt, Chicago (2000-02)
Yale Law - Fellow, Information Society Project (1998- )
Law Clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David H. Souter (1999-2000)
Law Clerk to the Hon. Stephen F. Williams, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (1997-98)
Professional Activities
Member, American Law Institute
Chair-Elect, AALS Section on Conflict of Laws, 2009-10; Chair, 10-11; Executive Board 10-11
Ad Hoc Peer Reviewer: Journal of Empirical Legal Studies; Public Administration Review; Polity; Yale University Press; Oxford University Press; Aspen; West.
Advisory Board, Law Leader Quarterly
Advisory Board, Roosevelt Institution
Courses
- Conflict of Laws
- Constitutional Law