Classes began last week here at the University of Texas at Austin. Our first-year law students will take a combination of required courses in Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Legal Analysis and Communication, Property, and Torts. 

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Every year, I am deeply impressed by the high quality of students who enroll here at the Law School with big dreams to make a meaningful impact in law, policy, and beyond. I wish all of them great joy and success as they begin their journey in law!

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I had the pleasure of hosting a BBQ dinner for first-year students in the Thurgood Marshall Legal Society. Welcome to Donovan, Bobbie, Alexis, Clemon, Isaiah, Ryan, Jalen, Kiara, Sure, Darren, and Kojo – and thank you to Thomas and Kayla for serving as their 1L advisors! We are all pictured below at Rudy's “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a new school at the University of Texas at Austin. The School of Civil Leadership welcomed its historic inaugural class this week at a special Convocation. (The ceremony is pictured above.) Each of the 108 students signed the School registry and received a commemorative pin as they walked from one side of the stage to the other, marking a new beginning in their academic career. Justin Dyer, founding Dean of the School of Civic Leadership, gave an inspiring address challenging students to pursue truth, to seek and nurture meaningful relationships, and to be their authentic selves. I am very pleased to be a faculty affiliate at the new School of Civic Leadership, where I will teach a course on the U.S. Constitution.

Last week on August 27, Kenya observed Katiba Day, a national day to commemorate the enactment of the Constitution. President William Ruto proclaimed the creation of Katiba Day a couple of days prior on August 25. In his Presidential Proclamation, the President observes that Katiba Day offers the people of Kenya “a unique opportunity for celebration of our Constitution which is universally acclaimed as one of the most transformative and progressive in human history.” The Constitution was approved 15 years ago in 2010 in a national referendum. (Then-President Mwai Kibaki is pictured below signing the document into law.)

Comprehensive, illuminating and crystal clear, Principles of French Constitutional Law opens a window into the doctrine, history, and theory of one of the world’s most fascinating and influential constitutions. I recommend it enthusiastically for comparatists. It is authored by Marie-Luce Paris.

The new and historic Constitution Drafting Committee of Palestine began its work last week to create an Interim Constitution in anticipation of Palestine's transition from Authority to State. Convened by President Mahmoud Abbas, the Constitution Drafting Committee is expected to establish the parameters for a modern democratic system based on the rule of law, separation of powers, and fundamental rights and freedoms, consistent with international law and human rights. The Committee, chaired by Mohammad Al-Haj Qasem, is pictured below at its first meeting.

There are three major global rankings of universities: (1) Times Higher Education; (2) QS World University Rankings; and (3) Academic Ranking of World Universities. These rankings are usually dominated by universities in the United States. But what would the rankings look like if U.S. universities were removed? The chart below shows how the top-ranked non-U.S. universities fare across all three major rankings.

Congratulations to Paz Avila, the newest doctoral graduate from the Department of Government here at the University of Texas at Austin. Her doctoral dissertation titled When Politics Break Down: The Dynamics of Constitutional Legitimacy and Constitutional Change in Latin America introduces a new and important performance-based theory of constitutional legitimacy. I was delighted to attend her doctoral defense, attended also by Daniel Brinks (supervisor), Zachary Elkins, Ran Hirschl, Gary Jacobsohn, David Landau, and Raul Madrid. (We are all pictured below with Dr. Avila on the day of her defense.) Since completing her dissertation, Dr. Avila has added a new title to her record of achievement: she is now Professor Avila, just recently appointed Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the George Washington University. Congratulations!

Some countries have adopted supermajority requirements to enact certain parliamentary laws. Those countries are scattered across Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas. Their supermajority laws require a higher degree of legislative approval than is commonly required for a statute. The result is a curious form of legislation that sits hierarchically above an ordinary law and below a constitutional law. How should we understand these supermajority laws: their nature, their status, and their effect in law and politics? A new book by Boldizsár Szentgáli-Tóth examines the theory and application of supermajority laws: The Past, Present, and Future of Legislation with Supermajority, published in the Springer series Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice. 

I am delighted to introduce you to Jorge Barrera-Rojas, Olin Searle Fellow and Associate Research Scholar at the Yale Law School, and formerly a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. A double doctoral graduate – he holds a J.S.D. from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in International and European Law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne – his research focuses on comparative constitutional law, education law, law and religion, and international human rights.

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My current project is titled Comparative Law by Exclusion. I argue that American actors, drafters, legislators, and courts often engage foreign models seriously, then deliberately reject them to define institutional identity. I show that this rejection after substantive engagement – from the Philadelphia Convention to modern Supreme Court opinions – is comparativism in action, not parochialism.

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Two projects. First, a subsidiarity-based framework for deeper family participation in state-level education decision making, extending my work on American cooperative federalism. Second, a book project comparing how jurisdictions reconcile educational rights and educational freedoms, showing how international human rights norms permit diverse, locally grounded solutions.

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I recommend my recent article Cooperative Federalism and Coordinated Rulemaking in American K 12 Education. It shows how conditional funding and regulatory ambiguity foster coercive convergence during state plan drafting, and proposes structural reforms, such as block grants, state led peer review, and Congress approved interstate compacts to address this problem. The article launches a research agenda on how subsidiarity can reconcile state autonomy with modern regulatory federalism.

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Editor's Note: If you would like to nominate someone for a future edition of “Three Questions,” please let me know!

I traveled home to Canada last week to wish my niece great luck as she begins her bachelor's degree in criminal justice. She is very excited about this new chapter – and so is the rest of the family! My mother joined us as well. (The two of us are pictured immediately below.) My niece is into fitness and weightlifting. I accompanied her to one of her early morning workouts. We are pictured further down below at the gym. (I mostly watched and encouraged her while she exercised, as I injured my back earlier this month, sadly. But I am on the mend and getting good medical care!)