Skip to main content
Jonathan Marshfield

Jonathan Marshfield

marshfield@law.ufl.edu

352-273-0940

CV

SSRN

Google Scholar

Jonathan Marshfield

Professor of Law

Professor Marshfield is a leading expert in state constitutional law, theory, and history. His research has been cited by various state high courts, including the New York Court of Appeals and the New Jersey Supreme Court. He is co-author of the casebook State Constitutional Law: Institutions, Powers, and Rights, which is forthcoming with West Academic in 2026. 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. Professor Marshfield previously taught at the University of Nebraska College of Law, where he twice won the Professor of the Year award, and at the University of Arkansas School of Law. He practiced commercial litigation with Latham & Watkins LLP and Saul Ewing LLP and clerked for Judge Robert B. Kugler, United States District Judge for the District of New Jersey, and Chief Justice James R. Zazzali, New Jersey Supreme Court.

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      

  • Against the Single-Subject Rule for the Citizen Initiative, 111 Iowa L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026)
  • American Democracy and the State Constitutional Convention, 92 Fordham L. Rev. 2555 (2024).
  • America’s Other Separation of Powers Tradition, 73 Duke L. J. 545 (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      

  • Rethinking Structural Injunctions in State Constitutional Litigation, 85 La. L. Rev. 491 (2025) (solicited symposium article).
  • State Constitutional Rights, State Courts, and the Future of Substantive Due Process Protections, 76 SMU L. REV. 519 (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).