dortiz

/Dan Ortiz
Dan Ortiz

About Dan Ortiz

Dan Ortiz is the John Allan Love Professor of Law and the Edward F. Howrey Professor of Law at the University of Virginia, where he has taught, except for three visiting gigs in California, since 1985. His teaching and research focus on election law, administrative law, constitutional law, and legal theory. He is co-director of the University of Virginia’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and was chief legal advisor to the National Commission on Federal Election Reform chaired by Presidents Ford and Carter in 2001. He has also toiled in the legal vineyards, challenging state bans on the interstate shipping of wine, and enjoys a good glass occasionally. In his spare time, he reads Italian detective fiction and English-language detective fiction set in Italy, struggles to keep his Italian from slipping even further, and generally tries to keep himself out of trouble.
25 Jan, 2011

Keeping The House In Constitutional Order?

2019-03-18T18:48:07-05:00January 25th, 2011|

At the initiative of House Republicans, the House recently changed its rules to allow the reading of the whole Constitution on the floor on the House’s opening day and to require each bill introduced in the House to be accompanied by a statement in the Congressional Record “citing as specifically as practicable [...]

30 Dec, 2010

Snow Law

2019-03-18T18:48:09-05:00December 30th, 2010|Tags: , |

The recent blizzard in the Northeast and a funny article in the New York Times reminded me of a practice I had long forgotten.  When I lived in Boston many years ago, I always found snowfalls amazing.  The snow itself was wonderful, at least at first, but what really amused me was [...]

10 Nov, 2010

Divorce Italian Style

2019-03-18T18:48:11-05:00November 10th, 2010|Tags: , , , |

Courts often don’t get sex.  We know that.  But I had thought that this was a peculiarly American matter.  Not so, apparently.  British newspapers are reporting that Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation, its highest court for nonconstitutional issues, has civilly blessed an ecclesiastical court’s annulment of a marriage.  That, by itself, will [...]

8 Nov, 2010

Administrative Law’s Empire I

2019-03-18T18:48:11-05:00November 8th, 2010|Tags: , , , , |

Many have weighed in on Justice Breyer’s recent book, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View.  They understandably focus on the sexy topics—constitutional interpretation, Brown v. Board of Education, and judicial review generally; the topics most relevant to today’s political battles—statutory interpretation and the culture wars; and Breyer’s own big, nagging question—why [...]