Nathaniel Persily is the James B. McClatchy Professor of Law at
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...
, where he has taught since 2013. He is a scholar of constitutional law, election law, and the democratic process.
["Nathaniel Persily"]
Stanford Law School. Retrieved 27 June 2015
Education and early career
Persily received his B.A./M.A. in
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
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 1992; his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1998, where he served as president of the ''
Stanford Law Review
The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces six ...
''; and his Ph.D. in political science from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, in 2002.
[ Following law school, Persily clerked for the Honorable ]David S. Tatel
David S. Tatel (born March 16, 1942) is an American lawyer who serves as a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Education and career
Tatel received his Bachelor of Arts ...
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...
.[
]
Career
Following his clerkship, Persily worked for two years as associate counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Generally considered Modern liberalism in th ...
at the New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...
.[ Persily then joined the faculty of the ]University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...
, where he was an assistant professor of law from 2001 to 2005 and a professor of law from 2005 to 2007.[ At the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Persily won the ]Robert A. Gorman
Robert A. Gorman (born April 22, 1937) is the Kenneth W. Gemmill Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Biography
Gorman was born in New York City.
Gorman obtained an A.B. ''summa cum laude'' from Harvard College in 195 ...
Award for Excellence in
Teaching in 2005.
In 2007, Persily moved to Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
, where he was a professor of law from 2007 to 2008 and the Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science from 2008 to 2013.[
Persily joined the Stanford Law School faculty in 2013. At Stanford, Persily teaches courses on constitutional law, the law of democracy, and the legal regulation of the political process. He also co-teaches an advanced seminar on law and politics with ]Goodwin Liu
Goodwin Hon Liu (born October 19, 1970; Chinese: 劉弘威) is an American lawyer, educator and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. Before his appointment by California Governor Jerry Brown, Liu was Associate Dean and Profes ...
, Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...
of the California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacra ...
.
Due to his expertise in voting rights, Persily has also served as a court-appointed expert on legislative districting for Georgia, Maryland, and New York,[ and in 2012, was appointed by the ]Supreme Court of Connecticut
The Connecticut Supreme Court, formerly known as the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors, is the highest court in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It consists of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices. The seven justices sit in Hartford, acr ...
as a special master for redistricting of Connecticut's congressional districts.["Nathaniel Persily CV"]
Retrieved 27 June 2015. From 2013 to 2014, Persily served as a Senior Research Director for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration.[ In 2021, Persily was appointed again as a special master to redraw Connecticut's congressional maps by the Connecticut Supreme Court.
In 2022 he was appointed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court to draw districts because the Governor and state legislature failed to agree on a new map.
]
Publications
Persily is the editor of three books: ''Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy'' (Oxford UP, 2008), ''The Health Care Case: The Supreme Court's Decision and Its Implications'' (Oxford UP, 2013), and ''Solutions to Polarization'' (Cambridge UP, 2015).[ He is currently editing a leading casebook on law and democracy (with ]Samuel Issacharoff
Samuel Issacharoff (born 1954) is an American law professor, whose scholarly work focuses on constitutional law, voting rights and civil procedure.
Career
Issacharoff graduated from Binghamton University in 1975 and Yale Law School in 1983. He ...
, Pamela S. Karlan
Pamela Susan Karlan (born 1959) is an American legal scholar who is the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. She is on a leave of absence from Stanford Law School. A ...
& Richard Pildes).[
Persily's scholarship has appeared in the '']Columbia Law Review
The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes.
It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...
'', the ''New York University Law Review
The ''New York University Law Review'' is a bimonthly general law review covering legal scholarship in all areas, including legal theory and policy, environmental law, legal history, and international law. The journal was established in 1924 as a ...
'', the ''Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
'', the ''Southern California Law Review
The ''Southern California Law Review'' is the flagship scholarly journal of the USC Gould School of Law
The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law s ...
'', the ''Michigan Law Review
The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American law review and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School.
History
The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department ...
'', the ''Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
'', and the ''Georgetown Law Journal
''The Georgetown Law Journal'' is a student-edited scholarly journal published at Georgetown University Law Center. It is the flagship law review of the Georgetown University Law Center.
Overview
The ''Georgetown Law Journal'' is headquartered ...
''. Persily has also written on election law for ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', and ''Politico
''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...
''.
A 2014 study found that between 2009 and 2013, Persily was the eighth most widely cited legal scholar in election law.[Hasen, Rick]
"Top Ten Law Faculty in Election Law by Scholarly Impact, 2009-2013. Election Law Blog. 14 July 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persily, Nathaniel
Living people
Stanford Law School alumni
Stanford Law School faculty
Year of birth missing (living people)
University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty