James W. Fox Jr

James W. Fox Jr. is Professor of Law at Stetson University College of Law, where he has taught since 2000. His academic career includes significant administrative roles as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs (2018-19) and Associate Dean for Faculty Development (2009-12). Fox teaches Contracts, Constitutional Law, Poverty Law, and American Legal History.

His educational background includes a B.A. from the University of North Carolina and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School (1990), where he graduated magna cum laude, became a member of the Order of the Coif, and served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law Reform. Following law school, he clerked for Judge Phyllis Kravitch on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, practiced complex tort and insurance litigation at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., and served as a temporary staff attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services.

Professor Fox's research focuses on constitutional law, American legal history, and the intersection of African American history with constitutional development. His scholarly work examines how nineteenth-century African American thought expanded constitutional notions of freedom and citizenship, particularly through the Black Convention Movement. He investigates the relationship between civil society, public sphere theory, and citizenship, with special attention to the Reconstruction Era and Fourteenth Amendment.

His publications appear in prestigious journals including the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Yale Law Journal Forum, Constitutional Commentary, Alabama Law Review, Howard Law Journal, and Washington University Law Quarterly. His recent work includes 'A Historical and Originalist Defense of Abortion in Florida' (2023) and 'The Constitution of Black Abolitionism: Reframing the Second Founding' (2021), which explores African American contributions to constitutional ideas during the antebellum period.

Professional activities include service on the board of directors of Gulfcoast Legal Services (twice as President) and chairing the Section on Legal History of the Association of American Law Schools (2014-15). His scholarship demonstrates consistent engagement with the historical development of constitutional citizenship and the ongoing relevance of historical perspectives to contemporary constitutional interpretation.