About
David Strauss serves as the Gerald Ratner Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School. He has been an active contributor to constitutional law scholarship, particularly in the areas of constitutional interpretation, judicial review, and originalism.
Professor Strauss's research interests focus on constitutional law, with particular emphasis on how constitutional meaning evolves over time. His work challenges originalist approaches to constitutional interpretation, arguing instead for a common law model of constitutional development. He has written extensively about how judicial review functions as a mechanism for constitutional modernization, responding to changing social values while maintaining legal continuity.
His scholarship demonstrates a consistent theme of constitutional evolution through judicial interpretation, examining landmark cases involving capital punishment, equal protection, and substantive due process. Strauss argues that constitutional law develops through precedent and normative reasoning rather than strict adherence to historical understandings.
Professor Strauss has engaged in significant scholarly debates with other prominent constitutional scholars, including Jack Balkin, on the proper methodology for constitutional interpretation. His work represents a major contribution to ongoing discussions about the nature and legitimacy of judicial review in American constitutional democracy.
