Glenn C. Smith

Professor of Law
Chair, J.D./Ph.D. Dual Degree Program
in Political Science
Visiting Professor of Political Science, University of California, San Diego

Office Hours

LL.M. Georgetown University 
[public interest law]
J.D. New York University [Order of the Coif]
B.A. George Washington University [valedictorian, interdisciplinary public affairs]

Courses Taught:  Administrative & Legislative Law, Constitutional Law
I & II, Current Issues in Constitutional Law

Professor Smith's background reflects a continuous interest in "the intersection of law, government, and politics." As an undergraduate at George Washington and a Root-Tilden Scholar at New York University, he pursued this interest in the classroom and through internships with a national political party and two members of Congress. After law school Smith served as a legal counsel to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee.  A past Chair of the Section on Legislation of the Association of American Law Schools, he participates frequently in media interviews and public affairs programs about constitutional controversies and the Supreme Court. He has published articles on free speech issues involved in medical research, privacy concerns posed by emerging telecommunication technologies, and on the proper interpretation of federal statutes.  His most recent article, appearing in the University of Colorado Law Review, proposed a new approach to judicial interpretation of legislation passed by voter initiative.

Smith is the creator of a nationally-recognized seminar in which law students learn about the Supreme Court by role-playing as lawyers arguing before it and current justices. He has worked on a program for enhancing high school students' knowledge of constitutional law, and he was national president of Prison Possibilities, Inc., which sponsored innovative training programs to reduce prison inmate recidivism. In addition to his regular law school courses, Smith teaches the special Summer Enrichment Program for newly admitted students.

Selected Publications

• "Solving the 'Initiatory Construction' Puzzle (and Improving Direct Democracy) by Appropriate Refocusing on Sponsor Intent," 78 University of Colorado Law Review (forthcoming, Fall 2006).
• "Respecting the Constitution: Mount Soledad Cross is a Test of Our Convictions", San Diego Union-Tribune, June 8, 2006, at B9.
• "Avoiding Awkward Alchemy - In the Off-label Research Context and Beyond," 34 Wake Forest Law Review 963 (1999).
• “Off-Label” Research Ruling Missteps," National Law Journal, Aug. 31, 1998, at A19.
• "Piscataway Is the Wrong Title VII Test Case," National Law Journal, Oct. 13, 1997, at A23.
• "National Guard Training During Peacetime: When Uncle Sam Says "Go" But The Governor Says "No"," 1989-90 Preview of U.S. Supreme Court Cases 373 (June 1, 1990).

Professor Smith's Media Appearances - 2005, 2006

Class Webpages:

Political Science 104A (Supreme Court & the Constitution) Fall 2009
Political Science 104D (Judicial Politics) Fall 2009
Con Law II Spring 2010
Con Law I Spring 2010
Political Science 40 (Into to Law and Society) Winter 2010

gsmith@cwsl.edu 
619-525-1495
225 Cedar Street
San Diego, CA 92101

Publications

Class Webpages

The "First Monday" Spreadsheets:  A Statistical Look at Cases accepted for Supreme Court Review, October 2008. 

Audio Lectures