Vanderbilt University Law School
Robert Mikos
Professor of Law
Voice: 615-343-7184
Fax: 615-322-6631
Email: robert.mikos@vanderbilt.edu
Office: Room 293-A
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
Links
Research Interest(s)
Federalism, constitutional law, federal criminal law, crime policy, law and economics
Education
J.D. University of Michigan Law School
A.B. Princeton University
Biography
Rob Mikos is one of the nation’s top emerging scholars of federalism. His most recent scholarship analyzes the unanticipated – and often harmful – influence of federal law on state policy, including ways in which federal law distorts state criminal proceedings, weakens state supervision of risky behavior, and undercuts state efforts to control state agents. He has also written on the political safeguards of federalism, the economics of private precautions against crime, and remedies in private law. Professor Mikos earned his J.D. summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School, where he served as Articles Editor on the Michigan Law Review and won numerous awards, including the Henry M. Bates Memorial Scholarship, the law school's highest honor. After graduation, he clerked for Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Professor Mikos has taught at the University of California at Davis, where he was twice nominated for the school’s Distinguished Teaching Award, as well as at Notre Dame and the University of Michigan. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in fall 2008 and teaches federalism, constitutional law, federal criminal law and drug law and policy.
Representative Publications
Articles
"Optimizing Sanctions in a Federal System,” in Criminal Law & Economics (forthcoming 2010) (Keith Hylton & Alon Harel, eds.)
"Legalizing Federal Crime: The Example of State Medical Marijuana Laws,” 63 Vanderbilt Law Review ___ (forthcoming October 2009)
"United States v. Butler," in Encyclopedia of the United States Supreme Court (2008)
"The Populist Safeguards of Federalism," 68 Ohio State Law Journal 1669 (2007)
“Do Citizens Care about Federalism: An Experimental Test,” 4 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 589 (2007) (with Cindy D. Kam)
“’Eggshell Victims,’ Private Precautions, and the Societal Benefits of Shifting Crime,” 105 Michigan Law Review 307 (2006)
“Enforcing State Law in Congress’s Shadow,” 90 Cornell Law Review 1411 (2005)
“The (Legal) Value of Chance: Distorted Measures of Recovery in Private Law,” 7 American Law and Economics Review 484 (2005) (with Omri Ben-Shahar)
Working Papers
"Co-optive Federalism"
"Commandeering State Secrets"
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