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About the Horvitz Program

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The Richard A. Horvitz Program in Constitutional & Public Law promotes better understanding of our nation’s public institutions, of the Constitutional framework in which they function, and of the principles and laws that apply to the work of public officials.

The Horvitz Program sponsors conferences, workshops, and informal brown bag lunches on topical constitutional and public law issues, sponsors visits by present or past elected officials, judges, and constitutional and public lawyers, and raises the visibility of constitutional and public lawyering as an option for law students to pursue at some time in their careers. To reach a broader audience, the Horvitz Program supports, encourages, and disseminates constitutional and public law scholarship and commentary by Duke faculty and others.

The Horvitz Program is supported generously by Richard A. Horvitz, a member of the Duke Law Class of 1978, and his wife, Erica Hartman Horvitz. Rick is a longtime donor to Duke Law School who has made previous gifts to help establish the Fund for Faculty Excellence, endow a professorship currently held by Professor Matthew D. Adler, endow a scholarship, provide fellowships to support students whose summer positions are unpaid, and create “Marcy’s Garden,” the lawn and garden area along the front of the Law School named for his late first wife.

Faculty Directors

  • Picture of Ernie Young

    Ernest A. Young

    Alston & Bird Distinguished Professor of Law

      919-613-8506

      young@law.duke.edu

    Professor Young teaches constitutional law, federal courts, and foreign relations law. He is one of the nation's leading authorities on the constitutional law of federalism, having written extensively on the Rehnquist Court's "Federalist Revival" and the difficulties confronting courts as they seek to draw lines between national and state authority. He also is an active commentator on foreign relations law, where he focuses on the interaction between domestic and supranational courts and the application of international law by domestic courts.

Recent Events

Spinning Judicial History in Social Media Gold

In this episode of the Duke Law podcast, Professor Marin K. Levy gives an inside look at her successful Twitter account and its engaging and insightful threads spotlighting hidden gems from judicial history and little-known facts about the bench, including firsts for women and people of color. Levy, a scholar of judicial administration and federal courts, shares how she's learning to navigate social media as a law professor.

 

Administrative Adjudication and Arthrex

In United States v. Arthrex, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled on the application of the Appointments Clause to judges of the Patent Trial and Appeals Board, a tribunal established by Congress in 2012 within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and whether they were principal officers under the Constitution. Commentators include a Federal Circuit judge and renowned academics whose scholarship has focused on the issues. 

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Constitutional Law and Civil Rights at Duke
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The U.S. Constitution is the cornerstone of all the nation’s laws, individual rights, and structure of government. It is also an important focus of Duke Law School's teaching and research. Read more about opportunities to pursue this area of interest as a student.

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Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy
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The student-edited Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy examines legal issues at the intersection of constitutional litigation and public policy with articles aimed at practitioners, judges, and legislators confronting new constitutional issues and examining the constitutional and policy dimensions of court decisions and legislation.