Reva B. Siegel (born 1956) is the Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor of Law at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

. Siegel's writing draws on legal history to explore questions of law and inequality, and to analyze how courts interact with representative government and popular movements in interpreting the Constitution. She is currently writing on the role of social movement conflict in guiding constitutional change, addressing this question in recent articles on reproductive rights,

originalism Originalism is a legal theory in the United States which bases constitutional, judicial, and statutory interpretation of text on the original understanding at the time of its adoption. Proponents of the theory object to judicial activism ...

and the Second Amendment, the "de facto ERA," and the enforcement of Brown. Her publications include Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (with Brest, Levinson, Balkin & Amar, 2014); The Constitution in 2020 (edited with Jack Balkin, 2009); and Directions in Sexual Harassment Law (edited with Catharine A. MacKinnon, 2004). Professor Siegel received her B.A., M.Phil, and J.D. from Yale University, clerked for Judge

Spottswood William Robinson III Spottswood William Robinson III (July 26, 1916 – October 11, 1998) was an American civil rights lawyer, jurist, and educator who served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ...

on the

D.C. Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, ...

, and began teaching at the University of California at Berkeley. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is active in the American Society for Legal History, the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 175 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non- ...

, the American Constitution Society, in the national organization and as faculty advisor of Yale's chapter. She was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 2018.

Scholarship

One of her most notable works is "She the People: The Nineteenth Amendment, Sex Equality,

Federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

, and the Family," 115 Harv. L. Rev. 947 (2002), which argues that the history leading up to the enactment of the

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...

, guaranteeing

woman suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during ...

, should serve as the foundation for a more robust jurisprudence of sex equality. Siegel's most recent work focuses on popular constitutionalism and Section Five of the

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments. Considered one of the most consequential amendments, it addresses Citizenship of the United States ...

, how social movements shape constitutional law, the rise of the New Right, and the popularization of antiabortion arguments that focus on protecting women.

Career

Siegel graduated from

in 1986, where she was an editor of ''The

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

''. She joined the Yale faculty in 1994 after teaching at the

Boalt Hall School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was never the official name. This cam ...

. She serves on the boards of the American Society for Legal History, the Center for WorkLife Law, and the Harvard Law & Policy Review. She is an active member of the

American Constitution Society American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and faculty advisor to the ACS chapter at Yale Law School.

Selected works

Articles

* * * * * * * * * *

Books

* Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking (6th ed., 2014) (with Paul Brest, Sanford Levinson, Jack Balkin, and

Akhil Amar Akhil Reed Amar (born September 6, 1958) is an American legal scholar known for his expertise in U.S. constitutional law. He is a Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he is a leading scholar of originalism, ...

) * Before ''Roe v. Wade'': Voices that Shaped the Abortion Debate Before the Supreme Court's Ruling (Kaplan Publishing, 2010) (with Linda Greenhouse). * The Constitution in 2020 (forthcoming) (edited with Jack Balkin), including an essay by Professors Siegel and Balkin on ''Remembering How to Do Equality'' and an essay co-authored with Robert Post on ''Democratic Constitutionalism'' * Directions in Sexual Harassment Law, co-edited with Catharine A. MacKinnon (Yale University Press, 2004). Collection of 40 essays, including authored introductory essay, ''A Short History of Sexual Harassment''

References

External links

Reva Siegel faculty profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siegel, Reva American women lawyers American legal scholars Feminist studies scholars 1956 births Living people Yale Law School alumni Yale Law School faculty Members of the American Philosophical Society American women legal scholars Harvard Law School people American women academics 21st-century American women