معرفی
Donald A. Dripps serves as the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he has been a faculty member since 2004. His academic career includes previous appointments as assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, visiting professor at Duke University School of Law, visiting professor at Cornell University Law School, and James Annenberg Levee Professor of Criminal Procedure at the University of Minnesota Law School. He clerked for the Honorable Amalya Kearse of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City.
Dripps earned his JD from the University of Michigan in 1983, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. He received his BA from Northwestern University in 1980.
His research focuses on the theoretical foundations of constitutional criminal procedure, with particular emphasis on plea bargaining, the void for vagueness doctrine, and the historical evolution of privacy rights. Dripps frequently examines how historical legal contexts inform contemporary constitutional interpretation, especially regarding the Fourth Amendment in the digital age. His work bridges doctrinal analysis with practical criminal justice concerns, exploring systemic feedback loops in criminal justice reform and the philosophical basis of constitutional rights.
Dripps's scholarship reveals consistent engagement with emerging challenges in constitutional interpretation, including undefined consent in sexual assault statutes, federalism issues in criminal jurisdiction, and the constitutional dimensions of police surveillance. His publications demonstrate a methodological approach that combines historical analysis with contemporary doctrinal challenges to develop more coherent frameworks for constitutional criminal procedure.
- Editor-in-chief of the Michigan Law Review
- Member of the Order of the Coif
As a leading scholar in criminal procedure, Dripps has shaped academic and practical understanding through his influential casebooks and law review articles. His work on institutional reform injunctions represents a significant contribution to one of the most dramatic developments in the field in recent decades. His scholarship consistently addresses the relationship between procedural rules and substantive justice outcomes in the criminal justice system.
