Dean Erwin Chemerinsky

University of California, Berkeley

While serving as dean of Berkeley’s law school, Erwin Chemerinsky continues as the author of the leading Constitutional Law textbook.  He also is the author most recently of the book Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism (Yale 2022), arguing against Justice Scalia’s version of originalism because, despite the facial allures of originalism, the theory is practically unworkable and conceptually incoherent, producing hypocritical outcomes and even morally abhorrent results if applied rigorously. 

Chemerinsky also comments occasionally on matters of contemporary constitutional significance, e.g., “A federal judge’s gag order against Trump may be satisfying.  But it isn’t constitutional,” L.A. Times, October 17, 2023.  Chemerinsky was president of the American Association of Law Schools during 2021-22, and has argued several cases at the United States Supreme Court.