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Neal Devins

Goodrich Professor of Law, Professor of Government, Director, Institute of Bill of Rights Law and Director, Election Law Program

Degrees: J.D., Vanderbilt; A.B., Georgetown
Email: [[nedevi]]
Office phone: (757) 221-3845
Office location: Room 254C

Areas of Specialization

Civil Rights Law; Constitutional Law

Currently Teaching

Constitutional Law; State Supreme Court "Bloginar"; Supreme Court Seminar

Representative Professional Activities and Achievements

Joined the faculty in 1987. Served as Assistant General Counsel for the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights and Project Director for the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies.

Author of Shaping Constitutional Values: The Supreme Court, Elected Government and the Abortion Dispute and articles in the Columbia, Stanford, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, California, William and Mary and Yale law reviews. Co-author of Political Dynamics of Constitutional Law and The Democratic Constitution. Editor of the book series, Constitutional Conflicts, published by Duke University Press.

Consultant to the ABA Central and Eastern European Law Initiative, reporter for the Congressional Process Committee of the ABA and serves on the Board of Directors of AVALON (battered women’s shelter). Faculty advisor to the William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal.

Scholarly Publications

Books

Co-editor and Contributor, Congress and the Constitution (Constitutional Conflicts Series, Duke U. Press 2005) (with Keith Whittington).
Co-editor and Contributor, A Year at the Supreme Court (Constitutional Conflicts Series, Duke U. Press 2004) (with Davison Douglas).
Co-author, The Democratic Constitution (Oxford U. Press 2004) (with Louis Fisher)
Co-editor and Contributor, Redefining Equality (Oxford U. Press 1998) (with Davison Douglas).
Editor and Contributor, Government Lawyering, 61 Law and Contemp. Probs., Vols. 1 & 2 (1998).
Shaping Constitutional Values: The Supreme Court, Elected Government, and the Abortion Dispute (Interpreting American Politics Series, Johns Hopkins U. Press 1996).
Co-editor, Federal Abortion Politics: A Documentary History (Garland Publ'g 1995) (with Wendy Watson)(five volumes).
Editor and Contributor, Elected Branch Influences in Constitutional Decisionmaking, Law & Contemp. Prob., Autumn 1993.
Co-author, Political Dynamics of Constitutional Law (West Pub. Co. 1992) (with Louis Fisher).
Editor and Contributor, Public Values, Private Schools (Stanford Series on Education & Public Policy, Falmer Press 1989).

Book Revisions and Supplements

Co-author, The Democratic Constitution (Oxford U. Press 2d ed., forthcoming 2013) (with Louis Fisher).
Co-author, Political Dynamics of Constitutional Law (West Pub. Co. 5th ed. 2011; 4th ed. 2006, 320 pp.; 3d ed. 2000, 325 pp.; 2d ed. 1996, 316 pp.) (with Louis Fisher).

Articles

Co-author, The Indefensible Duty to Defend, ___ Colum. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2012) (with Saikrisha Prakash).
Symposium Issue, Party Polarization and Congressional Committee Consideration of Constitutional Questions, 105 Nw. U. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2011).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, Public Opinion and State Supreme Courts, 13 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 455 (2011) (with Nicole Mansker).
Co-author, Why the Supreme Court Cares about Elites, Not the American People, 98 Geo. L.J. 1515 (2010) (with Lawrence Baum).
Symposium Issue, How State Supreme Courts Take Consequences Into Account, 62 Stan. L. Rev. 1629 (2010).
Symposium Issue, Talk Loudly and Carry a Small Stick: The Supreme Court and Enemy Combatants, 12 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 491 (2010).
Symposium Issue, Presidential Unilaterialism and Political Polarization, 45 Willamette L. Rev. 395 (2009).
Symposium Issue, How Planned Parenthood v. Casey (Pretty Much) Settled the Abortion Wars, 118 Yale L.J. 1318 (2009).
The More Things Change, 12 Green Bag 137 (2009).
Symposium Issue, Ideological Cohesion and Precedent, 86 N.C. L. Rev. 1399 (2008).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, Not-So-Independent Agencies, 88 B.U. L. Rev. 459 (2008) (with David Lewis).
Congress, the Supreme Court, and Enemy Combatants: How Lawmakers Buoyed Judicial Supremacy by Placing Limits on Federal Court Jurisdiction, 91 Minn. L. Rev. 1562 (2007).
Co-author, Law Review Article Placement: Benefit or Beauty Prize, 56 J. Legal Educ. 374 (2007) (with Dennis Callahan).
Symposium Issue, How Congress Paved the Way for the Rehnquist Court's Federalism Revival: Lessons from the Federal Partial Birth Abortion Ban, 21 St. John's J. Legal Comment. 461 (2007).
Symposium Issue, Constitutional Avoidance and the Roberts Court, 32 U. Dayton L. Rev. 339 (2007).
Book Review, The D'Oh! of Popular Constiutitonalism, 105 Mich. L. Rev. 1333 (2007).
Symposium Issue, Signing Statements and Divided Government, 16 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 63 (2007).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, Can We Make the Constitution More Democratic?, 55 Drake L. Rev. 971 (2007) (with Ilya Somin).
Symposium Issue, Smoke, Not Fire, 65 Md. L. Rev. 197 (2006).
Symposium Issue, Should the Supreme Court Fear Congress?, 90 Minn. L. Rev. 1337 (2006).
Symposium Issue, Tom Delay: Popular Constitutionalist?, 81 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 1055 (2006).
Symposium Issue, The Academic Expert Before Congress: Observations and Lessons from Bill Van Alstyne's Testimony, 54 Duke L.J. 1525 (2005).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, Judicial Review and Nongeneralizable Cases, 32 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 323 (2005) (with Alan J. Meese).
Symposium Issue, Congress and the Making of the Second Rehnquist Court, 47 St. Louis U. L.J. 773 (2003).
Symposium Issue, The Judicial Safeguards of Federalism, 99 Nw. U. L. Rev. 131 (2004).
Symposium Issue, Bring Back the Draft?, 19 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 1107 (2004).
Symposium Issue, The Majoritarian Rehnquist Court?, 67 Law & Contemp. Probs. 63 (2004).
Better Lucky Than Good, 8 Green Bag 33 (2004).
Explaining Grutter v. Bollinger, 152 U. Pa. L. Rev. 347 (2003).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, The Uneasy Case for Department of Justice Control of Government Litigation, 5 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 558 (2003) (with Michael Herz).
Essay, Congress, Civil Liberties, and the War on Terror, 11 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 1139 (2003).
Reply, Principle and Politics: An Alternative Take on Seth P. Waxman's Defending Congress, 81 N.C. L. Rev. 2061 (2003).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, The Steel Seizure Case: One of a Kind?, 19 Const. Comment. 63 (2002) (with Louis Fisher).
Reply, Symposium Issue, Misunderstood, 82 B.U. L. Rev. 293 (2002).
Symposium Issue, The Federalism-Rights Nexus: Explaining Why Senate Democrats Can Tolerate Rehnquist Court Decisionmaking But Not the Rehnquist Court, 73 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1307 (2002).
Symposium Issue, Congressional Factfinding and the Scope of Judicial Review: A Preliminary Analysis, 50 Duke L.J. 1169 (2001).
Symposium Issue, Congress as Culprit: How Lawmakers Spurred on the Court's Anti-Congress Crusade, 51 Duke L.J. 435 (2001).
Symposium Issue, The Social Meaning of School Vouchers, 42 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 919 (2001).
Symposium Issue, Abdication by Another Name: An Ode to Lou Fisher, 19 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 65 (2000).
Symposium Issue, Reanimator: Mark Tushnet and the Second Coming of the Imperial Presidency, 34 U. Rich. L. Rev. 359 (2000).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, The Consequences of Department of Justice Control of Litigation Authority on Agency Programs, 52 Admin. L. Rev. 1345 (2000) (with Michael Herz).
Asking the Right Questions: How the Courts Honored the Separation of Powers by Reconsidering Miranda, 149 U. Pa. L. Rev. 251 (2000) (point/counterpoint).
Symposium Issue, On Casebooks and Canons or Why Bob Jones University Will Never Be Part of the Constitutional Law Canon, 17 Const. Comment. 285 (2000).
Colloquy, How Constitutional Law Casebooks Perpetuate the Myth of Judicial Supremacy, 3 Green Bag 259 (2000).
Bearing False Witness: The Clinton Impeachment and the Future of Academic Freedom, 148 U. Pa. L. Rev. 165 (1999).
Symposium Issue, Reflections on "Coercing Privacy," 40 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 795 (1999).
Book Review, I Love You Big Brother, 87 Cal. L. Rev. 1283 (1999) (reviewing Malcolm M. Feeley & Edward L. Rubin, Judicial Policy Making and the Modern State (1998)).
Book Review, The Democracy-Forcing Constitution, 97 Mich. L. Rev. 1971 (1999) (reviewing Cass R. Sunstein, One Case at a Time (1999)).
Co-author, Essay, Judicial Exclusivity and Political Instability, 84 Va. L. Rev. 83 (1998) (with Louis Fisher).
Co-author, Symposium Issue, The Battle that Never Was: Congress, the White House, and Agency Litigation Authority, 61 Law & Contemp. Probs. 205 (1998)(with Michael Herz).
Symposium Issue, Foreword: Government Lawyering, 61 Law & Contemp. Probs. 1 (1998).
Symposium Issue, How Not to Challenge the Court, 39 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 645 (1998).
Co-author, The Triumph of Timing: Raines v. Byrd and the Modern Supreme Court's Attempt to Control Constitutional Confrontations, 86 Geo. L.J. 351 (1997) (with Michael A. Fitts).
Symposium Issue, In Search of the Lost Chord: Reflections on the 1996 Item Veto Act, 47 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 1605 (1997).
Book Review, The Interactive Constitution: An Essay on Clothing Emperors and Searching for Constitutional Truth, 85 Geo. L.J. 691 (1997) (reviewing Louis Michael Seidman & Mark V. Tushnet, Remnants of Belief (1996)).
Book Review, Government Lawyers and the New Deal, 96 Colum. L. Rev. 237 (1996) (reviewing William E. Leuchtenburg, The Supreme Court Reborn (1995)).
Essay, Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena and the Continuing Irrelevance of Supreme Court Affirmative Action Decisions, 37 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 673 (1996).
Symposium Issue, Congressional-Executive Information Access Disputes: A Modest Proposal -- Do Nothing, 48 Admin. L. Rev. 109 (1996).
Essay Review, The Countermajoritarian Paradox, 93 Mich. L. Rev. 1433 (1995) (reviewing David J. Garrow, Liberty and Sexuality (1994)).
Tempest in an Envelope: Reflections on the Bush White House's Failed Takeover of the U.S. Postal Service, 41 UCLA L. Rev. 1035 (1994).
Symposium Issue, Interest Balancing and Judicially Managed Equal Educational Opportunity, 45 Mercer L. Rev. 1017 (1994).
Unitariness and Independence: Solicitor General Control Over Independent Agency Litigation, 82 Cal. L. Rev. 255 (1994).
Essay Review, Through the Looking Glass: What Abortion Teaches Us About American Politics, 94 Colum. L. Rev. 293 (1994) (reviewing Barbara Hinkson Craig & David M. O'Brien, Abortion and American Politics (1993)).
Symposium Issue, Reagan Redux: Civil Rights Under Bush, 68 Notre Dame L. Rev. 955 (1993).
Co-author, Committee Leadership and Statutory Interpretation, 45 Admin. L. Rev. 239 (1993) (with Larry Evans and Jarrell Wright).
Symposium Issue, Political Will and the Unitary Executive: What Makes an Independent Agency Independent?, 15 Cardozo L. Rev. 273 (1993).
Symposium Introduction, Foreword: Elected Branch Influences in Constitutional Decisionmaking, Law & Contemp. Prob., Autumn 1993, at 1.
Symposium Issue, Congress, the FCC, and the Search for the Public Trustee, 56 Law & Contemp. Prob. 145 (1993).
Symposium Issue, A Symbolic Balanced Budget Amendment, 9 J.L. & Pol. 61 (1992).
Symposium Issue, Christian Educators v. State: An Inevitable Compromise, 60 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 818 (1992).
Symposium Introduction, Where's the Politics?, 34 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1 (1992).
Correspondence: The Stuff of Constitutional Law, 77 Iowa L. Rev. 1795 (1992).
Essay Review, Judicial Matters, 80 Cal. L. Rev. 1027 (1992).
The Rhetoric of Equality, 44 Vand. L. Rev. 15 (1991).
Essay Review, The Civil Rights Hydra, 89 Mich. L. Rev. 1723 (1991).
Budget Reform and the Balance of Powers, 31 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 993 (1990).
Metro Broadcasting v. F.C.C.: Requiem for a Heavyweight, 69 Tex. L. Rev. 125 (1990).
Affirmative Action After Reagan, 68 Tex. L. Rev. 353 (1989).
Editor, Private Schools and Public Values, in Public Values, Private Schools (Falmer Press 1989).
Symposium Issue, Appropriations Redux: A Critical Look at the Fiscal Year 1988 Continuing Resolution, 1988 Duke L.J. 389.
Co-author, Judicial Vigilantism: A Comment on Young v. United State ex rel Vuitton, 76 Ky. L.J. 861 (1988) (with Steven Mulroy).
Review, The Constitution Between Friends, 67 Tex. L. Rev. 213 (1988).
Essay Review, Gender Justice and its Critics, 76 Cal. L. Rev. 1377 (1988).
Averting Government by Consent Decree: Constitutional Limits on the Enforcement of Settlements with the Federal Government, 40 Stan. L. Rev. 203 (1987) (with Jeremy Rabkin).
Symposium Issue, The Regulation of Government Agencies through Appropriation Riders, 1987 Duke L.J. 456.
Essay Review, Centralization in Education: Why Johnny Can't Spell Bureaucracy, 75 Cal. L. Rev. 759 (1987).
Co-author, How Successfully Can the States' Item Veto be Transferred to the President, 76 Geo. L.J. 159 (1986) (with Louis Fisher).
Book Review, 54 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 661 (1986) (reviewing John Agresto, The Supreme Court and Constitutional Democracy (1984)).
Essay Review, On the Limits of Court-ordered Social Change: A Critical Look at Dimond's Beyond Busing, 1986 Am. B. Found. Res. J. 559.
Book Review, Defining Effective Civil Rights Enforcement in Education, 85 Colum. L. Rev. 1093 (1986).
The Trouble with Jaycees, 34 Cath. U. L. Rev. 901 (1985).
Religious Symbols and the Establishment Clause, 27 J. Church & St. 19 (1985).
A Constitutional Right to Home Instruction?, 62 Wash. U. L.Q. 435 (1985).
Book Review, 11 Hastings Const. L.Q. 505 (1985) (reviewing John W. Whitehead, The Second American Revolution (David C. Cook Publ'g Co. 1982)).
Symposium Issue, New Federalism in Education: The Meaning of Chicago School Desegregation, 59 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1243 (1984) (with James B. Stedman).
School Desegregation Law in the 1980's: The Court's Abandonment of Brown v. Board of Education, 26 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 7 (1984).
Co-author, Standing and Adverseness on the Issue of Tax Exemptions for Discriminatory Private Schools, 52 Fordham L. Rev. 441 (1984) (with Thomas McCoy).
A Political Analysis of Bob Jones University v. U.S., 1 J.L. & Pol. 403 (1984).
Tax Exemptions for Racially Discriminatory Private Schools: A Legislative Proposal, 20 Harv. J. on Legis. 153 (1983).
State Regulation of Christian Schools, 10 J. Legis. 351 (1983).
Tax Policy Analysis of Bob Jones University v. U.S., 36 Vand. L. Rev. 1353 (1983) (with Charles O. Galvin).

Book Chapters

Congress and Judicial Supremacy, in The Politics of Judicial Independence: Courts, Politics, and the Public (Bruce Peabody ed., Johns Hopkins U. Press 2011).
The Supreme Court, Social Psychology, and Group Formation, in The Psychology of Judicial Decision Making (David Klein & Greg Mitchell eds., Oxford U. Press, 2010) (with Will Federspiel).
Same-Sex Marriage and the New Judicial Federalism: Why State Courts Should Not Consider Out-of-State Backlash, in New Frontiers of State Constitutional Law: Dual Enforcement of Constitutional Norms (James Gardner & Jim Rossi eds., Oxford U. Press, 2010).
Co-author, The Constitution and Congressional Committees, 1971-2000, in The Least Examined Branch: The Role of Legislatures in the Constitutional State 396 (Richard W. Bauman and Tsvi Kahana eds., Cambridge U. Press 2006) (with Keith Whittington & Hutch Hicken).
Substantive Due Process, Public Opinion, and the Right to Die, in The Rehnquist Legacy 327 (C. Bradley ed., Cambridge U. Press 2005).
Co-author, Alexander Bickel and the New Judicial Minimalism, in The Judiciary and American Democracy (Ken Ward ed., SUNY Press 2005) (with C.J. Peters).
Congressional Factfinding and the Scope of Judicial Review, in Congress and the Constitution (Neal Devins and Kevin Whittington eds., Constitutional Conflicts Series, Duke U. Press 2005).
Is Judicial Policy-Making Countermajoritarian?, in Making Policy, Making Law: An Interbranch Perspective 189 (Georgetown U. Press 2004).
Executive Privilege and Congressional and Independent Investigations, in Separation of Powers: Documents and Commentary (Katy Haringer ed., C.Q. Press 2003).
Government Lawyering, in Oxford Companion to American Law (Kermit Hall ed., Oxford 2002).
The Last Word Debate Revisited, in The Constitutionalism of Louis Fisher (Robert Spitzer ed., SUNY Press 2000).
Co-author, The Pursuit of Equality, in Redefining Equality (Oxford U. Press 1998) (with Davison Douglas).
The Judicial Role in Equality Decisionmaking, in Redefining Equality (Neal Devins and Davison Douglas eds., Oxford U. Press 1998).
Toward an Understanding of Legal Policymaking at Independent Agencies, in Government Lawyers (Cornell Clayton ed., U. Press of Kansas 1995).
Home Instruction, in School Law Update 1986 (Thomas Jones ed., NOLPE 1986).
Nebraska and the Future of State Regulation of Christian Schools, in Government Intervention in Religious Affairs (Dean Kelly ed., Pilgrim Press 1986).
Co-author, The State and the Christian Day School, in Religion and the State: Essays in Honor of Leo Pfeffer (James E. Wood ed., Baylor Univ. Press 1985) (with James C. Carper).

Other

Co-author, Do Judicial Elections Facilitate Popular Constitutionalism; Can They?, 111 Colum. L. Rev. Sidebar 27 (2011) (with Nicole Mansker).
Congressional Responses to Judicial Decisions, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court (Mark Graber et al. eds., Gale MacMillan 2008).
Symposium Issue, Politique partisane et independence judiciare, 7 Politique Americaine 103 (2007).
Bob Jones University v. U.S., in Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberty (Routledge Press 2006).
Zelman v. Sommers-Harris, in Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States 1115 (K. Hall ed., Oxford U. Press 2005).
Symposium Issue, Working with Congress: The Warren-Rehnquist Court Connection, Bull. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci., Summer 2004, at 15.
What Brown Teaches Us About the Rehnquist Court's Federalism Revival, PS, Apr. 2004, at 211.
Defending Congress’s Interests in Court: How Lawmakers and the President Bargain over Department of Justice Representation, 32 Pres. Stud. Q. 157 (2002).
Co-author, Sign Them Up, Legal Times, July 24, 2000, at 62 (with John McGinnis).
William Jefferson Clinton, in Encyclopedia of the American Constitution (Leonard Levy et. al eds., Macmillan 2000).
Bob Jones University v. United States, in Religion and American Law: An Encyclopedia (2000).
State Regulation of Religious Education, in Religion and American Law: An Encyclopedia (Paul Finkelman ed., Garland 2000).
A Loss of Control, ABA J., Oct. 1998, at 26.
Co-author, Don't Rush the Court, N.Y. Times, Feb. 16, 1998, at A15 (with Michael Fitts).
The Last Word Debate, ABA J., Oct. 1997, at 46 (reprinted in The Supreme Court and Its Justices (J. Choper ed., ABA 2001)).
Philadelphia Plan, in Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (Leonard Levy & Louis Fisher eds., Simon & Schuster 1993).
1991 Civil Rights Act, in Encylopedia of the American Presidency (Leonard Levy & Louis Fisher eds., 1993).
Affirmative Action, in Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (Leonard Levy & Louis Fisher eds., Simon & Schuster 1993).
Continuing Resolutions, in Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (Leonard Levy & Louis Fisher eds., 1993).
Appropriation Riders, in Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (Leonard Levy & Louis Fisher eds., 1993).
Review, Groups Versus Individuals, Pub. Int. L. Rev. 115 (1992) (reviewing Herman Belz, Equality Transformed (1991)).
Lessons of Founding Fatherhood, Chicago Trib., Nov. 16, 1991, at C21.
The Civil Rights Commission, Wall St. J., Oct. 19, 1990, at A14.
Don't Write Off the Reagan Social Agenda, ABA J., Feb. 1987, at 42.
Co-author, Constitutional Rights Without Remedies: Judicial Review of Underinclusive Legislation, Judicature, Oct.-Nov., 1986, at 151 (with Bruce Miller).
Co-author, A Welcome Retreat from Government by Consent Decree, Wall St. J., Apr. 10, 1986, at 32 (with Jeremy Rabkin).
Co-author, Reading the Establishment Clause, Commonweal, Sept. 20, 1985, at 492 (with Benjamin Feder).
Can a Unitary District Choose Neighborhood Schools?, Educ. Week, May 15, 1985, at 17.
N.H. Bar's Residency Requirement Faces a Constitutional Challenge, Nat'l L.J., Nov. 12, 1984, at 24.
Seniority Rights v. Racial Quotas, Christian Sci. Monitor, Aug. 22, 1984, at 14.
Closing the Classroom Door on Civil Rights, Hum. Rts., Winter 1984, at 26.
Who's to Blame for Judicial Activism?, Wall St. J., Apr. 17, 1984, at 34.
Federal Courts are Becoming Reluctant to Take the Lead in Civil Rights Reform, Chron. Higher Educ., Nov. 28, 1984, at 88.
The Supreme Court and Private Schools: An Update This World, Spring 1984, at 13.
Inconsistent Standards of Review in Last Term's Establishment Clause Cases, Nat'l L.J., Oct. 3, 1983, at 22.
Fundamentalist Schools v. The Regulators, Wall St. J., Apr. 14, 1983, at 28.
Did the High Court Go Too Far to Make a Politically Popular Ruling, Nat'l L.J., June 20, 1983, at 13.
Review, Integration and Local Politics, 73 Pub. Int. 175 (Fall 1983).
Co-author, The Injustice of the Death Penalty, Christian Sci. Monitor, Apr. 20, 1983, at 23, (reprinted in Readings in Argument (J. Fahnestock & M. Secor eds., Random House 1985)) (with Roy Herron).
Plagiarism at Princeton: An Academic Judgment or a Discplinary Procedure, Lex Collegi, Winter 1983, at 1.
How Secular is Georgetown University?, Wash. Post, Sept. 12, 1982, at B8.

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