Suzanna Sherry

Herman O. Loewenstein Professor of Law Harvie Branscomb Distinguished University Professor
Voice: (615) 322-0993
Fax: (615) 322-6631
Email: suzanna.sherry@vanderbilt.edu
Office: Room 238
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
Links
- SSRN Page
- Bibliography
- Program in Law and Government
- Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program
Research Interest(s)
Constitutional law, including constitutional history and constitutional theory; federal courts; civil procedure; judicial behavior
Education
J.D. University of Chicago
A.B. Middlebury College
Biography
Suzanna Sherry's work in the area of constitutional law has earned her national recognition as one of the most well-known scholars in the field. The author of more than 75 books and articles, she also writes extensively on federal courts and federal court procedures. After graduating from law school, Professor Sherry was a clerk for the Honorable John C. Godbold of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Montgomery, Alabama, and then served as an associate with the law firm of Miller Cassidy Larroca & Lewin in Washington, D.C. She joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2000 as the inaugural holder of the Cal Turner Chair, having previously served on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School since 1982. She was named to the Herman O. Loewenstein Chair in Law in 2006. She is a member of the American Law Institute, the American Society for Legal History, and Phi Beta Kappa.
Representative Publications
Books
Judgment Calls: Principle and Politics in Constitutional Law (2009) (with Daniel A. Farber)
Desperately Seeking Certainty: The Misguided Quest for Constitutional Foundations (2002) (with Daniel A. Farber)
Beyond All Reason: The Radical Assault on Truth in American Law (1997) (with Daniel A. Farber)
Civil Procedure (3rd edition 2012 plus annual supplements) (with T.D. Rowe Jr. & J. Tidmarsh)
Federal Courts: Cases, Comments, and Questions (7th edition 2011 plus annual supplements) (with M. Redish and J. Pfander)
What Every Law Student Really Needs to Know: An Introduction to the Study of Law (2009) (with Tracey E. George)
A History of the American Constitution (2nd edition 2005) (with Daniel A. Farber)
Articles
"Hogs Get Slaughtered at the Supreme Court," 2011 Supreme Court Review 1
"Wrong, Out of Step, and Pernicious: Erie as the Worst Decision of All Time," 39 Pepperdine Law Review 129 (2011)
"Democracy’s Distrust: Contested Values and the Decline of Expertise," 125 Harvard Law Review Forum 7 (2011)
“Foundational Facts and Doctrinal Change,” 2011 Illinois Law Review 145
“The First Amendment and the Freedom to Differ,” in The Bill of Rights in Modern America, David J. Bodenhamer & James W. Ely Jr., eds. (revised & expanded edition 2008)
Working Papers
“Why We Need More Judicial Activism,” in Constitutionalism, Executive Power, and Popular Enlightenment, Giorgi Areshidze, Paul Carrese, & Suzanna Sherry, eds. (forthcoming 2014)
Presentations
Courts & Legal Process Workshop, Columbia Law School, December 2011.
"Four Pillars and Four Failures: The Constitutional Lapses of the Roberts Court," 2010 Uri & Caroline Bauer Lecture, Cardozo Law School, April 2010 (published as “The Four Pillars of Constitutional Doctrine,” 32 Cardozo Law Review 969 (2011))
"A Review of the Supreme Court's 2009 Term," United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Annual Judicial Conference, August 2010
“Executive Power and the War on Terror,” at the Supreme Court Preview, Institute of Bill of Rights Law, William & Mary School of Law, September 2007
“Democracy and the Death of Knowledge,” 2006 William Howard Taft Lecture in Constitutional Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law, November 2006 (published in 75 University of Cincinnati Law Review 1053, 2007)
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