Justin Levitt is an American

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

scholar and professor at

Loyola Law School Loyola Law School is the law school of Loyola Marymount University, a private Jesuit university in Los Angeles, California. Loyola was established in 1920. Academics Degrees offered include the Juris Doctor (JD); Master of Science in Legal ...

. In September 2015, he left Loyola Law School to become the Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the

United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

. He returned to the faculty of Loyola in early 2017. He then returned to government from 2021-2022, serving as the first Senior Policy Advisor for Democracy and Voting Rights under the

Biden Administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

before returning once again to the Loyola faculty.

Education

Levitt received his BA

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

and his MPA and JD from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Career

Levitt served as the National Voter Protection Counsel in 2008. He began teaching at Loyola Law School in 2010, where he originally focused on electoral

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

and administration. While there, he directed the school's Practitioner Moot Program, which allowed new attorneys to practice their arguments. He has also served as a law clerk to

Stephen Reinhardt Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro; March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal ...

, a judge from the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

, as well as on advisory committee for the voting system InkaVote. On September 10, 2015,

announced that Levitt would go on leave from their school to join the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division as their Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He is expected to return to Loyola in early 2017. After he had been appointed to this position, he said that the Department of Justice is hampered by the Supreme Court's 2013

Shelby County v. Holder ''Shelby County v. Holder'', 570 U.S. 529 (2013), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and ...

decision, and that this decision is unquestionably "the biggest change since the last presidential election."

Work on election law

Levitt is an academic researcher on

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

and constitutional law. In 2014, he reported on

Wonkblog Wonkblog was a blog, hosted by ''The Washington Post'', that was dedicated to domestic policy, economics and politics. It was started by Ezra Klein, originally as a solo venture, but, by February 2013, had grown to employ a staff of five people. T ...

that there had only been 31 credible cases of voter impersonation from 2000 to August 2014, out of more than 1 billion ballots cast during this period. He also runs a blog about redistricting. Levitt has also authored work in coordination with the

Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a liberal or progressive nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. The Brennan Cente ...

. In 2021, he was hired by the Biden Administration as an adviser to strengthen voting rights. He served until 2022.

Honors and awards

Levitt received Loyola's Excellence in Teaching Award for 2013-14.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levitt, Justin Loyola Law School faculty United States Department of Justice officials Living people American scholars of constitutional law Harvard Kennedy School alumni Harvard Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)