The United States Constitution has endured for over 230 years. Its long life span could be an indicator of constitutional success. But my colleague Sandy Levinson thinks otherwise. Since even before the publication of his classic book “Our Undemocratic Constitution” in 2006, he has argued that the Constitution is outdated, ill-suited to the challenges of the 21st century, and should be replaced. Sandy was once a lone voice making these claims. No longer. Others are increasingly finding fault in the Constitution, describing it as broken, terrible, perhaps dangerous and even a threat to the United States. If a constitutional convention is called to rewrite the Constitution, Sandy Levinson will have to be credited (or criticized, depending on your perspective) for initiating the debate years ago in the public square.

Meet the Fall 2024 Class of Distinguished Senior Research Fellows in the Constitutional Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

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Cora Chan | Hong Kong SAR
University of Hong Kong

 

Franciska Coleman | United States

University of Wisconsin

 

Jorge Madrazo | Mexico

Attorney General of Mexico (ret.)

 

Allan Rock | Canada

Attorney General of Canada (ret.)

 

Kevin Frazier | United States

St. Thomas University

 

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We look forward to deepening our scholarly collaborations with these outstanding constitutionalists.

 

Frederick Schauer passed away last week. He was 78. A brilliant and influential thinker, Schauer published works in many areas of public law, including constitutional theory, philosophy of law, freedom of expression, and legal reasoning. Here are three of my favorites:

I also recommend The Unwritten Foundations of (All) Written Constitutions, which he published in a book I co-edited in 2022. 

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Frederick Schauer's ideas will continue to shape the work of scholars for years to come. His academic home, the University of Virginia, recently published a touching tribute to him. May he rest in peace, and may his loved ones find comfort in their joyful memories of him.

My new paper will be published in the Chicago Journal of International Law in 2025. A draft is available here. In the paper, I define “decolonial constitutionalism” as “the use of legal, legitimate, and non-violent means to assert sovereignty, to secure rights, or to achieve recognition for a people, nation, or state that is legally or politically subordinate to domestic or foreign actors.” I illustrate the forms of decolonial constitutionalism in relation to constitution-making and constitutional reform, judicial enforcement and judicial interpretation, as well as supra-constitutionalism and sub-constitutionalism. The abstract and table of contents are below.

Join us for the 2025 Global Summit on Constitutionalism here at the University of Texas at Austin on March 20-22, 2025. The Global Summit is an international conference showcasing all areas of constitutionalism. There is no cost to register. Group meals are provided. The first edition was held in 2021. The second in 2023. The 2025 Global Summit will be the third edition. All are welcome! Details and registration here.

The Supreme Court of Brazil has upheld a ban on Twitter | X. Brazilian users have therefore been forced to migrate to other social media platforms. The Twitter ban is commonly described as a battle between sitting Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes and Elon Musk. But as my colleagues Thomas Bustamante and Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer explain, the Twitter ban in Brazil has an older political ancestry.

The Caribbean Court of Justice has a new judge: Dr. Chantal Ononaiwu, a litigator, government advisor, university lecturer, and expert in international law. Dr. Ononaiwu will take the judicial oath of office next month. She holds degrees from the University of the West Indies, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford.

Wen-Chen Chang has been nominated to preside over the Judicial Yuan and the Constitutional Court of Taiwan. If confirmed by the Legislative Yuan, Professor Chang will become the first woman ever to lead the judiciary and the Constitutional Court. Professor Chang has built a distinguished record in comparative constitutionalism, with important publications in Asian constitutional law and human rights. Each is worth reading. Professor Chang published a chapter on the migration of Canadian case law to Asia for a book I co-edited a few years ago.

Later this month, Bloomsbury will release The Dynamics of Powers in the European Union, edited by Christina Eckes, Päivi Leino-Sandberg, and Anna Ghavanini. The book assembles 20 scholars to explore how the separation of powers fails and succeeds in the European Union.

Last week, the football team here at the University of Texas at Austin played its first game of the season. Texas defeated Colorado State, 52-0. The football team here is the richest in America. In 2023, it earned over $180 million in revenue. A lot of this money is invested in the University to support student scholarships, faculty research, and capital projects. Without football, this University would not be the same.

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Here are some photos I took at the game last week. There were 100,000 fans inside the stadium, and thousands more outside.