Faculty and Staff

Professor Lee J. Strang joined the faculty in 2008 and was granted tenure in 2010. Before that, he was a visiting Professor at Michigan State University College of Law and an Associate Professor at Ave Maria School of Law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was Articles Editor of the Iowa Law Review and Order of the Coif, Professor Strang also holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.

Prior to teaching, Professor Strang served as a judicial clerk for Chief Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation.

A prolific scholar, Professor Strang has published in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, and religion and the First Amendment. His most recent article, Originalism and the Aristotelian Tradition: Virtue’s Home in Originalism, was published in the Fordham Law Review. Among other scholarly projects, he is currently editing a case book on constitutional law for LexisNexis, drafting a book proposal tentatively titled Originalism: Its Promise and Limits, and writing a book on the history of Catholic legal education. 

Professor Strang is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences. He is also a regular participant in debates at law schools across the country, contributor to the media, and speaker to political, civic, and religious groups. 

Professor Strang’s course offerings include Constitutional Law, Constitutional Interpretation, Property Law, Administrative Law, Business Associations, Federal Courts, and Appellate Practice.

Professor Strang's CV

 

Selected Publications

Casebook

Lee J. Strang, Cases and Materials on Federal Constitutional Law: Federalism Limits on State and Federal Power (LexisNexis 2011) (Volume 4 in the Modular Casebook Series)

Lee J. Strang, Cases and Materials on Federal Constitutional Law: The Reconstruction Amendments (LexisNexis 2012) (Volume 5 in the Modular Casebook Series). 

Lee J. Strang, Cases and Materials on Federal Constitutional Law: The First Amendment (forthcoming LexisNexis 2013) (Volume 6 in the Modular Casebook Series). 

Law Review Articles

Originalism and the Aristotelian Tradition: Virtue’s Home in Originalism, 80 Fordham L. Rev. 1997 (2012)

Originalism as Popular Constitutionalism?: Theoretical Possibilities and Practical Differences, 87 Notre Dame L. Rev. 253 (2011).

The Road Not Taken: Catholic Legal Education at the Middle of the Twentieth Century, 51 Am. J. Legal Hist. 553 (2011) (peer reviewed) (with John M. Breen). 

The Most Faithful Originalist?: Justice Thomas, Justice Scalia, and the Future of Originalism, 88 U. Det. Mercy L. Rev. 873 (2011) (invited symposium piece)

An Originalist Theory of Precedent: The Privileged Place of Originalist Precedent, 2010 BYU L. Rev. 1729.

Originalism and the “Challenge of Change”: Abduced-Principle Originalism and Other Mechanisms by Which Originalism Sufficiently Accommodates Changed Social Conditions, 60 Hastings L.J. 927 (2009)

The Historical (In)Accuracy of the Brandeis Dichotomy: An Assessment of Justice Brandeis’
Claim in Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., that the Supreme Court’s Historical Practice was
to Give Constitutional Precedent Less Deference than Statutory Precedent, 86 N.C. L. Rev. 969 (2008) (with Bryce G. Poole)

Damages as the Appropriate Remedy for “Abuse” of an Easement: Moving Toward Consistency,
Efficiency, and Fairness in Property Law, 15 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 933 (2008)

Originalism, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution: A Unique Role in
Constitutional Interpretation?, 111 Penn. St. L. Rev. 413 (2006)

The (Re)Turn to History in Religion Clause Law and Scholarship, 81 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1697 (2006)

An Originalist Theory of Precedent: Originalism, Nonoriginalist Precedent, and the Common
Good, 36 N.M. L. Rev. 419 (2006)

The Role of the Christian Legal Scholar: The Call for a Modern Saint Benedict, 20 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol’y 59 (2006) (invited symposium piece)

The Role of the Common Good in Legal and Constitutional Interpretation, 3 U. St. Thomas L.J. 48 (2005)

The Clash of Rival and Incompatible Philosophical Traditions in Constitutional Interpretation: Originalism Grounded in the Central Western Philosophical Tradition, 28 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 909 (2005).

The Clash of Rival and Incompatible Philosophical Traditions in Constitutional Interpretation: Originalism and the Aristotelian Tradition, 2 Geo. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 523 (2004)

When a “Rule” Doesn’t Rule: The Failure of the Oregon Employment Division v. Smith, “Hybrid Rights Exception”, 108 Penn. St. L. Rev. 573 (2003) (with Steven H. Aden)

The Meaning of “Religion” in the First Amendment, 40 Duq. L. Rev. 181 (2002) (cited in Van Orden v. Perry, 545 U.S. 677, 727 (2005) (Stevens, J., dissenting)

Originalism and Legitimacy, 11 Kan. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 657 (2002)

Book Chapters

Originalism’s Limits: Interposition, Nullification, and Secession, in Union and States’ Rights: 150 Years After Sumter, Interposition, Nullification, and Secession (Neil H. Cogon ed., Univ. of Akron Press, forthcoming 2012)

Book Reviews

Mark Strasser, Religion, Education and the State: An Unprincipled Doctrine in Search of Moorings (Ashgate 2011), 55 J. of Church and State __ (forthcoming 2013) (book review), for the current citation on the webpage.

Richard Thompson Ford, Rights Gone Wrong: How Law Corrupts the Struggle for Equality (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2011), Library of Law and Liberty (2012)

Donald L. Drakeman, Church, State, and Original Intent (Cambridge 2010), On the Square, First Things,(July 21, 2010)

Bradley C.S. Watson, Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence (ISI Books 2009), First Things, Jan. 2010, at 59-60