Richard E. Levy

J.B. Smith Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law

Contact Info

rlevy@ku.edu

785-864-9220

309C Green Hall

CV with complete publications list (.pdf) CV with complete publications list (.pdf)

Biography —

Richard Levy is a nationally and internationally known teacher and scholar in the field of American public law, including constitutional law, administrative law and legislation. He joined the KU Law faculty in 1985, having received his law degree with honors from the University of Chicago Law School. Before joining the faculty, he served as a clerk for Judge Richard Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. As a teacher, Levy emphasizes active learning and strives to integrate the development of analytical and problem-solving skills into the coverage of substantive material using a variety of innovative teaching methods.

Levy is a prolific scholar with an extensive publication record in leading journals on a wide array of topics, including pioneering work applying collective action theory to federalism and leading articles on judicial review of administrative agencies. He was named the inaugural J.B. Smith Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law in 2007.

Levy has also given extensive service to the state, including work on comprehensive reform of the state's administrative procedure and child in need of care codes, as well as offering expert testimony for various legislative committees. In recognition of this service, he received the Steeples Award for Service to Kansas in 2010. Within the university, Levy has occupied various positions of leadership, including service as president of the Faculty Senate, chair of the University Judicial Board and leadership of various successful committees and task forces charged with policy reform. Levy is fluent in German and has studied in Germany and served as an exchange professor at the University of Vienna.

Education —

J.D., University of Chicago Law School, 1984
University of Chicago Law Review

M.A., University of Kansas, 1980

B.A., University of Kansas, 1978

Research —

Governmental institutions
Federalism
Legislation
The legislative process
Judicial review of administrative agencies
Comparative constitutional law and legal systems

Admitted

Kansas 1988

Career History

Clerk, Judge Richard Posner, U.S. Court of Appeals, 7th Circuit, 1984-85; Associate Professor, Kansas 1985-90; Professor, 1990-present; J.B. Smith Distinguished Professor of Constitutional Law, 2007-present.

Teaching —

Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Legislation and Statutory Interpretation

Selected Publications —

Books

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: AGENCY ACTION IN LEGAL CONTEXT (with Robert L. Glicksman) (Foundation Press, 3rd Ed. 2020)
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: AGENCY ACTION IN LEGAL CONTEXT (with Robert L. Glicksman) (Foundation Press, 2nd Ed. 2014)
STATUTORY ANALYSIS IN THE REGULATORY STATE (with Robert L. Glicksman) (Foundation Press 2014)
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: AGENCY ACTION IN LEGAL CONTEXT (with Robert L. Glicksman) (Foundation Press, 2010)
THE POWER TO LEGISLATE: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO THE U.S. CONSTITUTION (Praeger/Greenwood Press, 2006)
EXPERIENCING CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: USING DOCTRINE AND SKILLS IN PROFESSIONAL CONTEXT (forthcoming, under contract with West Publishing)

Articles and Book Chapters

The New Separation of Powers Formalism and Administrative Adjudication, 90 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1088 (2022) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
Restoring ALJ Independence, 105 Minn. Lev. 1 (2020) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
Constitutional Rights in Kansas After Hodes & Nauser, 68 Kan L. Rev. 743 (2020)
Presidential Power in the Obama and Trump Administrations, 87 KBA JOURNAL 46 (2018)
The War of Judicial Independence: Letters from the Kansas Front, 65 Kan. L. Rev. 725 (2017)
Postracial Remedies, 50 Mich. J. L. Ref. 387 (2016) (with Derrick Darby), reprinted in 33 CIVIL RIGHTS LITIGATION AND ATTORNEYS FEES ANNUAL HANDBOOK 763 (Steven Saltzman ed. 2017).
The Nonpartisanship Principle, 25 Kansas J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 377 (2016)
The Law and Economics of Supranationalism: The European Union and the Subsidiarity Principle in Collective Action Perspective, 43 Eur. J. L. & Econ., 441 (2015)
Federalism and Polarization in the United States (.pdf), THE IMPACT OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS ON CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION IN THE ADVANCED NATIONS, (Toru Yamada ed., forthcoming 2015) (translated into Japanese by Naoka Shibata)
The “Tweet” Hereafter: Social Media and the Free Speech Rights of Kansas Public University Employees, 24 Kansas J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 78 (2014)
Recent Developments in Federal State, and Local Power in the United States, in RECENT TRENDS IN DECENTRALIZATION REFORM IN THE ADVANCED NATIONS -- JAPAN, USA, ITALY, GERMANY, AND KOREA, at 15-43 (Toru Yamada ed. 2012) (translated into Japanese by Naoka Shibata)
Slaying the Inequality Villain in School Finance: Is the Right to Education the Silver Bullet?, 20 Kan. J. L & Pub. Pol’y 351 (2011) (with Derrick Darby).
Agency-Specific Precedents, 89 Texas L. Rev. 499 (2011) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
An Introduction to Federal, State, and Local Power in the United States (in Japanese), 43 (No. 2) Kanagawa L. Rev. 75 (2010) (translated into Japanese by Naoka Shibata), also published in 2010 Annual Report of the Institute for Legal Studies, Kanagawa University
Political Process and Individual Fairness Rationales in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Suspect Classification Jurisprudence, 50 Washburn L. Rev. 33 (2010)
Access to Courts and Preemption of State Remedies in Collective Action Perspective, 59 Case Western L. Rev. 1 (2009) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
A Collective Action Perspective on Ceiling Preemption By Federal Environmental Regulation: The Case of Global Climate Change, 102 N.W.L. Rev. 579 (2008) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
Gunfight at the K-12 Corral: Legislative vs. Judicial Power in the Kansas School Finance Litigation, 54 Kan. L. Rev. 1021 (2006)
Government Benefits and the Rule of Law: Toward a Standards-Based Theory of Judicial Review, 58 Admin. L. Rev. 499 (2006) (with Sidney A. Shapiro)
Government Benefits and the Rule of Law: Toward a Standards-Based Theory of Due Process, 57 Admin. L. Rev. 107 (2005) (with Sidney A. Shapiro)
Of Two Minds: Charitable and Social Insurance Models in the Veterans Benefit System, 13 Kans. J. Law & Pub. Pol’y 303 (2004)
Administrative Procedure and the Decline of the Trial, 51 Kan. L. Rev. 473 (2003) (with Sidney A. Shapiro)
Die Europäische Union aus der Perspektive Kollectiven Handelns, in EUROPÄISCHE INTEGRATION UND ERWEITERUNG: EINE HERAUSFORDERUNG FÜR DIE WISSENSCHAFTEN, at 279 (2001)
Paradoxical Parallels in the American and German Abortion Decisions, 9 Tul. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 109 (2001) (with Alexander Somek)
Federalism: The Next Generation, 33 Loyola (L.A.) L. Rev. 1629 (2000)
Defining Express Advocacy for Purposes of Campaign Finance Reporting and Disclosure Laws, 8 Kans. J. Law & Pub. Pol’y 90 (Spring 1999)
The Constitutional Parameters of Campaign Finance Reform, 8 Kans. J. Law & Pub. Pol’y 43 (Winter 1999)
Federalism and Collective Action, 45 Kan. L. Rev. 1241-1274 (1997)
Judicial Incentives and Indeterminacy in Substantive Review of Administrative Decisions, 44 Duke L.J. 1051 (1995) (with Sidney A. Shapiro)
An Unwelcome Stranger: Congressional Individual Rights Power and Federalism, 44 Kan. L. Rev. 61 (1995)
Escaping Lochner’s Shadow: Toward a Coherent Jurisprudence of Economic Rights, 73 N.C.L. Rev. 329 (1995)
Written Testimony of Richard E. Levy Before the House Agriculture Committee, State of Kansas, 42 Kan. L. Rev. 265 (1994) (annotated testimony on federal court decision declaring means of selecting State Board of Agriculture unconstitutional)
New York v. United States: An Essay on the Uses and Misuses of Precedent, History, and Policy in Determining the Scope of Federal Power, 41 Kan. L. Rev. 493 (1993)
Social Security Claimants with Developmental Disabilities: Problems of Policy and Practice, 39 Kan. L. Rev. 529 (1991)
Report, Social Security Disability Determinations: Recommendations for Reform, prepared for the Federal Courts Study Committee, reprinted in 1990 B.Y.U.L. Rev. 461
Judicial Activism and Restraint in the Supreme Court's Environmental Law Decisions, 42 Vand. L. Rev. 343 (1989) (with Robert L. Glicksman)
International Law and the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident: Reflections on an Important but Imperfect System, 36 Kan. L. Rev. 81 (1987), reprinted in 1989 Land Use and Environment Law Review 617
Heightened Scrutiny of the Fourth Branch: Separation of Powers and the Requirement of Adequate Reasons for Agency Decisions, 1987 Duke L.J. 387 (with Sidney A. Shapiro)
Comment, Federal Preemption, Removal Jurisdiction and the Well Pleaded Complaint Rule, 51 U. Chi. L. Rev. 634 (1984)

Selected Presentations —

Webinar, The Central Panel Model, in Symposium on Federal Agency Adjudication, Panel 4: Alternatives to Traditional Agency Adjudication (August 2020) (co-sponsored by the Administrative Conference of the United States, Center for Progressive Reform, and George Mason University's C. Boyden Gray Center for the Study of the Administrative State)
Postracial Remedies (with Derrick Darby);, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, University of Michigan School of Law (February 2017) University of Chicago Law and Philosophy Workshop, University of Chicago Law School (February 2016) (with Derrick Darby); Legal Research Workshop, University of Kansas, Lawrence Kansas (December 2015)
Ends-Means Scrutiny in United States Constitutional Law, Legal Research Workshop, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina (March, 2015)
Social Media and the Free Speech Rights of Kansas Public University Employees, Legal Research Workshop, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (September 2014)
Academic Freedom, Social Media, and First Amendment Rights, presented at Joint Council of Distinguished Professors Conference: Academic Freedom and Responsibility in the Era of Social Media, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas (April 2014)
Panel Moderator, Governmental Needs and Challenges Faced by the Rural Community, in 2014 Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy Symposium, Preventing the Ghost Town: What Rural Communities Need to Do to Survive in the Modern Economy (February 2014)
Federalism and Polarization in the United States, conference paper, the Impact of the Financial Crisis on Centralization and Decentralization in the Advanced Nations, Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Japan (November 2013) (presented in absentia by Professor Toru Yamada), also presented as a Legal Research Workshop, University of Kansas School of Law (October 2013)
The Affordable Care Act and the Future of United States Federalism, Research Workshop, University of Trento, Trento, Italy (May 2012)
The Three Faces of Ends-Means Scrutiny, Workshop Before Writing, University of Kansas School of Law (January 2012)
Agency-Specific Precedents, George Washington University Law School Legal Research Workshop (March 2010) (with Robert Glicksman)
An Introduction to Federal, State, and Local Power in the United States, presented at the Kanagawa University, Yokohama, Japan, Conference: Federalism and Regionalism in the Advanced Nations (November 2009)
The Rule of Law and Human Rights in the “War on Terrorism,” University of Kansas Human Rights Symposium: “National Security and Individual Liberty: Whose Rights at What Cost?” (January 2009)
The Tie That Binds: Some Thoughts about the Rule of Law, Law and Economics, Collective Action Theory, Reciprocity, and the Heisenberg Principle, Inaugural Lecture, J.B. Smith Distinguished Professorship (March 2008)
Preemption and the Purposes of Federal Environmental Law, presented at the Northwestern University Law Review Symposium titled Ordering State-Federal Relations Through Preemption Doctrine (April 2007) (with Robert Glicksman)
Federalism as a Collective Action Problem: The US Experience and its Implications for Europe, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, November 2006, Wake Forest University Law School (October 2006)
Gunfight at the K-12 Corral: Legislative vs. Judicial Power in the Kansas School Finance Litigation, University of Kansas School of Law, Faculty Colloquium (February 2006)
Necessary and Proper Legislation, University of San Diego School of Law, Faculty Colloquium (April 2005)
Triangulating the Federal Legislative Power, University of Iowa College of Law, Faculty Colloquium (April 2004)
Of Two Minds: Charitable and Social Insurance Models in the Veterans Benefit System, Symposium: The Veterans Benefit System: Is It Broke and Can It Be Fixed?, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy (November 2003)
Fulfilling Marbury’s Promise: Government Benefits and the Rule of Law, University of Colorado School of Law, Faculty Colloquium (February 2003)
Workshop Before Writing, A Legal Science?, University of Kansas (March 2001)
The Rule of Law in the Welfare State, University of Cincinnati School of Law Faculty Workshop (February 2000)
Das Rechtsstaatsprinzip als Bindungsmechanismus der Europäischen Gemeinschaften, International Symposium, Europäische Integration und Erweiterung: Eine Herausforderung für die Wissenschaften, Vienna, Austria (October 1998)
Rethinking the Regulatory State, Symposium: Recent Developments in Public Affairs, Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey (May 1996)
Judicial Incentives and Indeterminacy in Substantive Review of Agency Decisions, Annual Duke Law Journal Administrative Law Symposium (March 1995)
Panel Moderator, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy Symposium on Law and the Mass Media, University of Kansas School of Law (April 1995)
Judicial Incentives and Legal Doctrine, Faculty Colloquium (with Sidney A. Shapiro), University of Kansas School of Law (November 1994)
Political Legitimacy and European Unification, University of Vienna School of Law, April 1994; Frankfurt University School of Law (May 1994)
Panel Moderator, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy Health Care Symposium (February 1993)
Judicial Appointments and the Clinton Administration, Central States Association of Law Schools (April 1993)
European Unification: A Case Study in Global Interdependence and the Teaching and Practice of Law, Mid-Continent Association of Law Schools Convention (July 1991)
Article III and Administrative Adjudication, Faculty Colloquium, University of Kansas School of Law (April 1991)
Panel Moderator, The Distributional Consequences of Domestic Environmental Policy, Kansas Journal of Law and Public Policy Symposium (March 1991)
Integration of European Legal Systems: Lessons from the U.S. Experience, paper for “Europe: Unity and Diversity,” Faculty Seminar, University of Kansas (January 1991)
Environmental Activism and Restraint, Faculty Colloquium, Emory University School of Law (March 1989)
Judicial Review of Agency Decisions, Faculty Colloquium, IIT Chicago-Kent School of Law (September 1986)
Panel Moderator, International Law and the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident, Sixth Annual Conference on International Affairs, University of Kansas (October/November, 1986)

Memberships —

Order of the Coif; Consultant, Federal Courts Study Commission, 1989; Juvenile Justice Reform Advisory Committee, Kansas Judicial Council; Administrative Procedure Advisory Committee, Kansas Judicial Council.