Center for Constitutional Law
One of four centers established by Congress
Congress established the Center for Constitutional Law (CCL) at The University of Akron in 1986 as one of four national resource centers dedicated to legal research on constitutional issues. Akron Law created the John F. Seiberling Chair of Constitutional Law to fulfill this mission. The Center has hosted visiting U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Arthur Goldberg. The Center fosters scholarly research, public education, and student engagement on current topics of constitutional import.
The Center for Con Law at Akron sponsors annual symposia of leading national scholars and papers are published in its faculty-edited journal, ConLawNOW. The Center hosts speakers from the judiciary, who have included U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Arthur Goldberg, as well as Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the federal Sixth Circuit and Nancy Abudu, now judge on the Eleventh Circuit. It also sponsors a distinguished lecturer series that has welcomed Professors Larry Solumn, Reva Siegel, Ernie Young, Julie Suk, Maggie Blackhawk, Katie Eyer, Mary Anne Franks, and Paula Monopoli, among others. The Center partners with Akron’s renowned Bliss Institute of Applied Politics for law and politics programming.
The Center facilitates research by its affiliated faculty in a variety of constitutional subjects including federal courts, civil rights, criminal justice, the U.S. Supreme Court, and constitutional theory. It has a recognized legacy of scholarship in constitutional history on the Fourteenth Amendment including amicus briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. Collectively, the Center scholars’ research has appeared in leading law journals such as the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, Iowa Law Review, Harvard Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, and University of Pennsylvania Constitutional Law Journal.
Faculty Experts
Director of Center for Constitutional Law
Tracy Thomas
EVENTS
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 at 12:15 p.m.
Supreme Court Review, Constitution Day Program
University of Akron, McDowell Law Center room 180
Call for Papers, SCOTUS Blockbuster Cases 2025 (deadline 8/25/2025). Details here.
ACADEMICS
Constitutional Law is the study of the U.S. Constitution and its provision of individual civil rights and government powers. Akron Law offers a Certificate of Study in Constitutional Law allowing students to concentrate their elective studies in the field. a. We also offer fellowships for law students to conduct research and programming for the Center and provide opportunities for individual research and publication. A joint degree of a JD/Master of Applied Politics is also available. A wide variety of student organizations facilitate discussion and engagement with current issues.