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Jonathan Marshfield

Jonathan Marshfield

Professor of Law

352-273-0940

marshfield@law.ufl.edu

SSRN

Jonathan Marshfield

Professor of Law

Professor Marshfield teaches and writes in the areas of local government law, state constitutional law, and constitutional change.  His research has appeared in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, Boston University Law Review and the Michigan Law Review, among others.  His state constitutional law research has been cited by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and his research into constitutional change has been cited by leading scholars in law reviews, textbooks, and academic journals.  Professor Marshfield has also served as a consultant to foreign officials regarding issues of constitutional revision, and he has advised public policy groups regarding voter awareness and ballot issues.

Before joining the University of Florida, Professor Marshfield taught at the University of Nebraska College of Law, where he twice won Professor of the Year for this teaching.  Professor Marshfield also taught at the University of Arkansas School of Law and practiced as a commercial litigator with Latham & Watkins LLP and Saul Ewing LLP.  He clerked for Judge Robert B. Kugler, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, and Chief Justice James R. Zazzali of the Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey.

Education

B.A., Cedarville University
J.D., Rutgers School of Law
LL.M., New York University School of Law


Expertise

Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Local Government, Local Government Law, State Constitutional Law


Courses

  • Civil Procedure
  • State & Local Government Law


Publications

Law Review Articles      

  • American Democracy and the State Constitutional Convention, 92 Fordham L. Rev. (forthcoming 2024).
  • America’s Other Separation of Powers Tradition, 74 Duke L. J. (forthcoming 2023).
  • America’s Misunderstood Constitutional Rights, 170 U. Pa. L. Rev. 853 (2022).
  • Forgotten Limits on the Power to Amend State Constitutions, 114 Nw. U. L. Rev. 65 (2019).
  • The Amendment Effect, 98 B.U. L. Rev. 55 (2018).
  • Amendment Creep, 115 Mich. L. Rev. 215 (2016).
  • Decentralizing the Amendment Power, 19 Lewis & Clark L. Rev. 963 (2016).
  • Models of Subnational Constitutionalism, 115 Penn St. L. Rev. 1151 (2011).
  • Federalism and Political Competition in Emerging Democracies, 10 Wash. U. Glob. Stud. L. Rev. 297 (2011).
  • Evaluating South Africa’s Post-Apartheid Democratic Prospects through the Lens of Economic Development Theory, 9 Rich. J. Global L. & Bus. 431 (2010).                 
  • Providing Meaningful Judicial Review of Municipal Redevelopment Designations:  Redevelopment in New Jersey Before and After Gallenthin Realty Development, Inc. v. Borough of Paulsboro, 40 Rutgers L. J. 451 (2009) (with Hon. James R. Zazzali).
  • Authorizing Subnational Constitutions in Transitional Federal States:  South Africa, Democracy, and the KwaZulu-Natal Constitution, 41 Vand. J. Transnat’l L. 585 (2008).

Symposium Articles, Essays, and Book Chapters      

  • State Constitutional Rights, State Courts, and the Future of Substantive Due Process Protections, 76 SMU L. REV. (forthcoming 2023) (solicited symposium article).
  • Political Functions and Limitations of Contemporary State Constitutions in the United States, in A Written Constitution for Quebec? (Richard Albert ed., McGill-Queen’s Univ. Press) (2023) (solicited).
  • State Constitutions and the Interaction between Formal Amendment and “Unwritten” Constitutions, in Amending America’s Unwritten Constitution (Richard Albert, Ryan Williams, Yaniv Roznai, eds., Cambridge University Press 2022) ( solicited).
  • The Single-Subject Rule and the Politics of Constitutional Amendment in Initiative States, 101 Neb. L. Rev. 101 (2022) (symposium article).
  • Popular Regulation?  State Constitutional Amendment and the Administrative State, 8 Belmont L. Rev. 342 (2021) (solicited symposium article).
  • Professor Robert F. Williams – Teacher, Mentor, Scholar & Friend, 72 Rutgers L. Rev. 1219 (2020).
  • Unpacking America’s Constitutional Layers, 55 Tulsa L. Rev. 239 (2019).
  • The People and Their Constitutions, 71 Rutgers L. Rev. 1233 (2019).
  • Courts and Informal Constitutional Change in the States, 52 New Eng. L. Rev. (2018) (invited keynote article for paper symposium).
  • Respecting the Mystery of Constitutional Change, 65 Buff. L. Rev. 1057 (2018) (solicited).
  • Improving Amendment, 69 Ark. L. Rev. 477 (2016) (symposium).
  • Foreign Precedent in State Constitutional Interpretation, 53 Duq. L. Rev. 413 (2015) (solicited).
  • Dimensions of Constitutional Change, 43 Rutgers L.J. 593 (2013) (invited book review).
  • A Tribute to Chief Justice James R. Zazzali:  More Than a “Caretaker”, 59 Rutgers L. Rev. 667 (2007) (with Gregory L. Acquaviva & David M. Stauss).