Daniel Epps is a professor of law at
Washington University in St. Louis. Epps teaches first-year criminal law, upper-level courses in criminal procedure, and a seminar on public law theory. His scholarship has appeared in the ''Harvard Law Review'',
the ''Yale Law Journal'',
the ''Michigan Law Review'',
and the ''NYU Law Review'', and his writing for popular audiences has appeared in the ''New York Times'', the ''Washington Post'', ''Vox'', and ''The Atlantic''.
His and
Ganesh Sitaraman
Ganesh Sitaraman is an American legal scholar. He is a professor of law at Vanderbilt University, where he has also been a Chancellor Faculty Fellow and the director of the Program in Law and Government. He studies constitutional and foreign ...
's proposal to expand the size of the Supreme Court was endorsed by Mayor
Pete Buttigieg
Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg ( ; ; Sometimes pronounced or , but not by Buttigieg himself. born January 19, 1982) is an American politician and former military officer who is currently serving as the United States secretary of transp ...
during his run for the 2020 Democratic Presidential nomination. His and William Ortman's proposal to create a "Defender General" for criminal defendants at the Supreme Court was the subject of an article in the ''New York Times''.
Supreme Court Experience
Epps is a nationally recognized expert on the
Supreme Court. An experienced Supreme Court litigator, he served as co-counsel for the defendant in ''
Ocasio v. United States
''Ocasio v. United States'', 578 U.S. ___ (2016), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court clarified whether the Hobbs Act's definition of conspiracy to commit extortion only includes attempts to acquire property from someone ...
'', 136 S. Ct. 1423 (2016), which addressed the scope of criminal conspiracy liability for public-sector extortion. His other notable prior work includes the successful petition for certiorari and merits briefing in ''
Walden v. Fiore
''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...
'', 133 S. Ct. 1493 (2014); a brief for the Court-appointed amicus curiae in ''
Millbrook v. United States
''Millbrook v. United States'', 569 U.S. 50 (2013), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that holds that the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) waives the sovereign immunity of the United States for certain intentional torts commi ...
'', 133 S. Ct. 1441 (2013); and an amicus brief for criminal law and procedure scholars in ''
United States v. Davila
''United States v. Davila'', 569 U.S. 597 (2013), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that when a federal judge Federal judges are judges appointed by a federal level of government as opposed to the state/provincial/lo ...
'', 133 S. Ct. 2139 (2013). He also served as co-counsel on the brief of Prof. Stephen E. Sachs as amicus curiae in ''
Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
'', 134 S. Ct. 568 (2013) (with Jeffrey S. Bucholtz & Stephen E. Sachs), which ''The Green Bag Almanac & Reader'' included on its list of “Exemplary Legal Writing” for 2013.
Publications
Articles & Essays
* "Designing Supreme Court Term Limits," 95 ''Southern California Law Review''__(forthcoming) (with Adam Chilton, Kyle Rozema & Maya Sen)
* "Checks and Balances in the Criminal Law," 73 ''Vanderbilt Law Review'' 1 (2021)
* "The Defender General," 168 ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' 1469 (2020) (with William Ortman)
* "How to Save the Supreme Court," 129 ''Yale Law Journal'' (2019) (with
Ganesh Sitaraman
Ganesh Sitaraman is an American legal scholar. He is a professor of law at Vanderbilt University, where he has also been a Chancellor Faculty Fellow and the director of the Program in Law and Government. He studies constitutional and foreign ...
)
* "Harmless Errors and Substantial Rights," 131 ''Harvard Law Review'' 2117 (2018)
* "The Lottery Docket," 116 ''Michigan Law Review'' 705 (2018) (with William Ortman)
* "Adversarial Asymmetry in the Criminal Process," 91 ''New York University Law Review'' 762 (2016)
* "One Last Word on the Blackstone Principle," 101 ''Virginia Law Review Online'' 34 (2016)
* "The Consequences of Error in Criminal Justice," 128 ''Harvard Law Review'' 1065 (2015)
* Note, "Mechanisms of Secrecy," 121 ''Harvard Law Review'' 1556 (2008)
Selected Commentary
* "The Supreme Court is Leaking. That's a Good Thing." 'Washington Post' (Aug. 3, 2020)
* "Abolishing Qualified Immunity Is Unlikely to Alter Police Behavior," 'New York Times (June 16, 2020)
* "One Change That Could Make American Criminal Justice Fairer," 'The Atlantic' (Mar. 16, 2020) (with William Ortman)
* "How to Save the Supreme Court," ''Vox'' (Oct. 10, 2018) (with Ganesh Sitaraman)
* "Police Officers Are Bypassing Juries to Face Judges," ''Washington Post'' (Sept. 21, 2017)
* Contributor, “An Annotated Constitution," ''New York Times Magazine'' (July 2, 2017)
* "In Health Care Ruling, Roberts Steals a Move from John Marshall’s Playbook," ''The Atlantic'' (June 28, 2012)
Podcasts
Epps co-hosts ''Divided Argument'' with law professor
William Baude on which they discuss recent Supreme Court decisions.
Epps previously co-hosted ''First Mondays'' with law professor Ian Samuel on which they discussed events at the Supreme Court.
Awards and honors
* Honorable Mention, Scholarly Papers Competition, American Association of Law Schools (2018) (for ''The Lottery Docket'')
* Finalist, Junior Scholars Paper Competition, Criminal Justice Section, American Association of Law Schools (2016) (for ''Adversarial Asymmetry in the Criminal Process'')
* Exemplary Legal Writing, ''The Green Bag Almanac & Reader'' (2013) (for Brief of Professor Stephen E. Sachs as Amicus Curiae, ''Atlantic Marine Construction Co. v. U.S. District Court'', 134 S. Ct. 568 (2013) (as co-counsel with Jeffrey S. Bucholtz & Stephen E. Sachs)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Epps, Daniel
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
American lawyers
Washington University in St. Louis faculty
Duke University alumni
Harvard Law School alumni