Constitutional Law

“The long history of racial discrimination in America and current inequalities in educational opportunity make affirmative action essential,” writes Dean Chemerinsky. “Affirmative action works.”

David A. Carrillo, executive director of the California Constitution Center at UC Berkeley School of Law discusses the California Supreme Court.

Dean Chemerinsky discusses the Supreme Court’s six Republican-appointed justices and weighs in on who is the conservative wing’s true leader.

Dean Chemerinsky’s opinion on Propostion 1 is cited in an article on the California gubernatorial debate. UC Berkeley Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky told The Chronicle in September, “ I think that the clear intent is to protect current law, which protects abortions until viability. It does not create an absolute right to abortion; just as other rights in the state Constitution are not absolute.”

Dean Chemerinsky discusses whether the Interstate Commerce Clause restricts states from regulating in-state conduct that has a substantial impact on mostly out-of-state producers.

Dean Chemerinsky discusses California’s Proposition 1, the ballot measure to add abortion rights directly into the state Constitution.

“Not remotely a surprise,” tweeted Orin Kerr, a criminal law professor at the University of California’s Berkeley Law and former Supreme Court law clerk. “Still, it’s good not to be surprised.”

“It was stunning that it was her second day of oral arguments as a justice,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of Berkeley Law. “No one was more active in questioning. I also had the sense in that case that she was very conscious of her role as a Black justice and the importance of being a voice against discrimination and for remedies.”

UC Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges was a guest speaker at the inaugural Berkeleyside Idea Makers event where she spoke about the movement for reproductive justice and the consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson.

“Last term showed six conservative justices who have a very conservative agenda for the law and are aggressively implementing it,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. “I think we’ll see that again this year.”