Education
- B.A. & B.S., University of Iowa
- J.D., UCLA School of Law
Research Interests
- Constitutional Law
- State Constitutional Law
- Criminal Procedure
- Criminal Law
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 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
J.D.:
- Constitutional Law 5134
- First Amendment 5450
- Second Amendment 6100
Certiorari Transparency, 2026 Ill. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026) (Coauthored with Alexandra L. Klein).
Requiring Written Justifications for Bail Determinations, 56 Conn. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
The False Promise of Progressive Originalism, 56 N.M. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2026).
The “First-Year Law Student” in Legal Rhetoric, 23 Legal Comm. & Rhetoric: JALWD (Forthcoming 2026).
Pluralism in State Constitutional Law, 59 Georgia L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2025).
Generative AI and the Purpose of Legal Scholarship, 21 U. Mass. L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2025).
State Constitutional Due Process Protections After Dobbs, 16 Faulkner L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2025).
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).
Law and Technological Innovations: Three Reasons to Pause, 12 Belmont L. Rev. 308 (2025).
Social Media Regulation and Expressive Conduct After 303 Creative v. Elenis, 18 St. Thomas J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 555 (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).
Public Accommodations Laws, Free Speech Challenges, and Limiting Principles in the Wake of 303 Creative, 84 La. L. Rev. 565 (2024).
Disingenuous Interpretation, 93 Miss. L. J. 349 (2023).
Originalism and the Meaning of “Twenty Dollars”, 56 Creighton L. Rev. 499 (2023).
Using Bruen to Overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, 2022 Pepperdine L. Rev. 80 (2023) (coauthored with Alexander Hiland).
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).