About
Professor Michael Smith is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. He writes and teaches in the areas of constitutional law, First Amendment law, criminal law, and criminal procedure. Professor Smith’s research has appeared or will appear in the Iowa Law Review, Georgia Law Review, Washington Law Review, and BYU Law Review, among others. His research covers topics ranging from constitutional interpretation, state constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, and lessons to be learned from unusual or forgotten crimes and causes of action.
Prior to joining the College of Law, Professor Smith was an Assistant Professor of Law and an Englehardt Research Fellow at St. Mary’s University School of Law where he taught criminal procedure and misdemeanor law. He also served as a temporary faculty member at the University of Idaho College of Law where he taught constitutional law, criminal procedure, and First Amendment law. Prior to entering academia, Professor Smith practiced law in California for nearly eight years, primarily as a civil litigation attorney. He earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law, and a B.S. in political science and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Iowa.
Additional Information
Relativity and Constitutional Time, 129 W.V. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2027).
Interpretive Facades, 77 Case West. Res. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2027).
Resisting Generative AI With Fake Scholarship, 58 U. Toledo L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2027).
In Praise of Generative AI, 112 Iowa L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
Species of State Constitutional Lockstepping, 71 Villanova L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
Bail and Time-Served Plea Offers, 91 Brooklyn L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
Holistic Constitutional Interpretation, 24 Geo. J. L. & Pub. Pol’y (Forthcoming 2026).
Indefensibly Erroneous Scholarship, 78 Okla. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
It’s a Taking!, 54 Cap. U. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
Certiorari Transparency, 2026 U. Ill. L. Rev. 599 (2026) (Coauthored with Alexandra L. Klein).
Requiring Written Bail Determinations, 58 Conn. L. Rev. 749 (2026).
The False Promise of Progressive Originalism, 56 N.M. L. Rev. 1 (2026).
The “First-Year Law Student” in Legal Rhetoric, 23 Legal Comm. & Rhetoric: JALWD (Forting 2026).
Pluralism in State Constitutional Law, 59 Georgia L. Rev. 1233 (2025).
Generative AI and the Purpose of Legal Scholarship, 21 U. Mass L. Rev. 29 (2026).
State Constitutional Due Process Protections After Dobbs, 16 Faulkner L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
Papering Justices, 50 B.Y.U. L. Rev. 681 (2025).
Judicial Courage, Contrarianism, and Candor, 53 Hofstra L. Rev. 679 (2025).
Is Originalism Bullshit?, 28 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 779 (2025).
Thayerian Deference and Constitutional Interpretation, 103 Tex. L. Rev. Online 220 (2025).
History as Precedent: Common Law Reasoning in Historical Investigation, 27 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 587 (2025).
Missouri’s Law of Constitutional Interpretation, 93 UMKC L. Rev. 703 (2025).
“Do Not Read”, 70 South Dakota L. Rev. 117 (2025).
Originalism in the Year Three Thousand, 43 Quinnipiac L. Rev. 309 (2025).
Moral Panic and the First Amendment, 72 Buffalo L. Rev. 455 (2024).
State Constitutional Prohibitions of Slavery and Involuntary Servitude, 99 Wash. L. Rev. 523 (2024).
Library Crime, 71 Drake L. Rev. 65 (2024).
Constitutional Crimes, 99 N.D. L. Rev. 379 (2024).
Constitutional Interpretation and Zombie Provisions, 40 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 603 (2024).
Disingenuous Interpretation, 93 Miss. L. J. 349 (2023).
Originalism and the Meaning of “Twenty Dollars”, 56 Creighton L. Rev. 499 (2023).
Idaho’s Law of Constitutional Interpretation: Lessons From Planned Parenthood Great Northwest v. State, 59 Idaho L. Rev. 411 (2023).
Idaho’s Law of Seduction, 59 Idaho L. Rev. 291 (2023).
Historical Tradition: A Vague, Overconfident, and Malleable Approach to Constitutional Law, 88 Brooklyn L. Rev. 797 (2023).
Abandoning Original Meaning, 86 Albany L. Rev. 43 (2023).
The Present Public Meaning Approach to Constitutional Interpretation, 89 Tennessee L. Rev. 885 (2023).
Shooting Fish, 12 Ky. J. Equine, Agric. & Nat. Resources L. 187 (2020).
Regulating Law Enforcement’s Use of Drones: The Need for State Legislation, 52 Harvard J. on Legis. 423 (2015).