James E. Fleming is an American legal scholar who serves as the

Paul J. Liacos Paul Julian Liacos (November 20, 1929 – May 6, 1999) was the chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1989 to 1996. Biography He was born in Peabody, Massachusetts to James and Pitsa Liacos, Greeks, Greek immigrants. ...

Professor of Law at the

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

. He is a scholar in standard

constitutional theory Constitutional theory is an area of constitutional law that focuses on the underpinnings of constitutional government. It overlaps with legal theory, constitutionalism, philosophy of law and democratic theory. It is not limited by country or juri ...

and

constitutional interpretation A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

, with special attention to criticizing

originalism In the context of United States law, originalism is a theory of constitutional interpretation that asserts that all statements in the Constitution must be interpreted based on the original understanding "at the time it was adopted". This conce ...

and defending moral readings of the

U.S. Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...

, developing a civic

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

concerned with protecting rights and instilling civic virtues, and justifying rights to

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one's ...

and

equality Equality may refer to: Society * Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing ** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...

as central to constitutional

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

Early life and education

Fleming received an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

in 1977. He earned his J.D. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1985. At Harvard, he was a teaching fellow for

Michael Sandel Michael Joseph Sandel (; born March 5, 1953) is an American political philosophy, political philosopher and the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government Theory at Harvard University Law School, where his course Justice was the unive ...

. He then attended Princeton University, earning a master's degree and, in 1988, completed a Ph.D. in politics with the dissertation, "Constitutional Constructivism," under the supervision of

Walter F. Murphy Walter Francis Murphy, Jr. (November 21, 1929 – April 20, 2010) was an American political scientist and writer. Early life and education Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Murphy won a Distinguished Service Cross and was awarded a Purple ...

and

Sanford Levinson Sanford Victor Levinson (born June 17, 1941) is an American legal scholar known for his writings on constitutional law. A professor at the University of Texas Law School, Levinson is notable for his criticism of the United States Constitution as ...

. In his dissertation, Fleming developed a constitutional constructivism analogous to John Rawls's political constructivism. Before becoming a law professor, Fleming was an attorney in the litigation department at

Cravath, Swaine & Moore Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP (known as Cravath) is an American white-shoe law firm with its headquarters in New York City, and an additional office in London. The firm is known for its complex and high profile litigation and mergers & acquisitions ...

in New York City from 1986 to 1991.

Academic career

Fleming taught at

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

from 1991 to 2007, and was appointed the Leonard F. Manning Distinguished Professor of Law in 2006. He joined the faculty of

in 2007 as The Honorable Frank R. Kenison Distinguished Scholar, and was appointed The Honorable Paul J. Liacos Professor of Law in 2015. He has served as Associate Dean for Intellectual Life at Boston University School of Law and is the Faculty Advisor for the ''

Boston University Law Review Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States an ...

''. At Fordham and Boston University, Fleming has organized, co-organized and published numerous conference volumes in

and

legal philosophy Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal vali ...

, including volumes on the work of John Rawls and

Ronald Dworkin Ronald Myles Dworkin (; December 11, 1931 – February 14, 2013) was an American philosopher, jurist, and scholar of United States constitutional law. At the time of his death, he was Frank Henry Sommer Professor of Law and Philosophy at New Yo ...

. Fleming was the Editor of ''Nomos'', the annual book of the

American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy The American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (ASPLP) is a learned society founded in 1955 by political theorist Carl Friedrich. Its aim is to bring together scholars in political science, law, and philosophy who are interested in inter ...

. In that capacity, he published four interdisciplinary volumes with

New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University. History NYU Press was founded in 1916 by the then chancellor of NYU, Elmer Ellsworth Brown. Directors * Arthur Huntington Nason, 1916–1932 ...

: ''Nomos L: Getting to the Rule of Law'' (2011); ''Nomos LII: Evolution and Morality'' (with Sanford Levinson) (2012); ''Nomos LIII: Passions and Emotions'' (2013); and ''Nomos LV: Federalism and Subsidiarity'' (with

Jacob T. Levy Jacob T. Levy is an American Political philosophy, political theorist and Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory at McGill University. Levy is the Chair of the Department of Political Science at McGill, as well as the coordinator of McGill's Resea ...

) (2014). He has also served as the society's president and as of June 2021, is the Secretary-Treasurer.

References

External links

Curriculum Vitae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, James E. Living people Boston University faculty University of Missouri alumni Princeton University alumni Harvard Law School alumni 1954 births