Bio
Professor Ofer Raban received his B.A. from the City College of New York, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his doctorate in legal philosophy from Oxford 精东影业, where he was the recipient of the Oxford 精东影业 Law Faculty Award. Professor Raban worked as a prosecutor in New York before joining academia. His principal research interests concern the relationship between constitutional doctrine and judicial philosophy. He is the author of two books on legal philosophy, and of numerous law review articles dealing with constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, and legal theory. He also writes regularly for the popular press. Professor Raban lectures extensively both locally and internationally. His work has been translated into Chinese, Polish, Korean, Turkish, and Hebrew. He teaches Constitutional Law, Jurisprudence, Criminal Investigation, Criminal Law, and the LLM seminar.
Selected Publications:
2024听Missing the Forest for the Trees: Ronald Dworkin鈥檚 Excessive Morality听(鈥Law鈥檚 Empire at 35鈥 conference at Oxford 精东影业) (solicited) (peer reviewed) (forthcoming).
2024听Trump鈥檚 arguments for immunity not as hopeless as some claim听(The Conversation, January 8).
2023听Fired for political speech? Structuring the Pickering balancing test听(60 Hous. L. Rev. 653 (2023).
2023听Introduction to the U.S. Constitution, in Comparative Constitutional Law (Indonesia, 2023) (solicited book chapter).
2020听听(George Mason 精东影业 Press, 2020) (Monograph).
2020听听(The Conversation, September 20).
2020听听(with Professor Yuval Dor) (The Conversation, August 17).
2020听听(with Professor Yuval Dor) (op-ed, Haaretz, August 4; TheMarker, August 8; Maariv August 1).
2020听听(op-ed, The Oregonian, March 4).
2020听 听听听(Federal Law Review, Australia) (peer-reviewed) (solicited).
2019听听听听听(The Conversation, May 25).
2019听听听听听(The Conversation/ Salon.com, May 1).
2019 鈥斕(The Conversation/Salon. com, January 24).
2018 鈥斕(The Conversation/Salon.com, November 20).
2018 鈥斕(53 Tulsa Law Review 141).
2017 鈥斕(The Theory and Practice of Legislation Vol. 5, Iss. 2) (peer-reviewed) (solicited).
2017 鈥斕(The Oregonian, July 7).
2017 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, March 4).
2016 鈥斕, 49 Loyola L.A. Law Review 421.
2016 鈥斕, 7.2 Alabama Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review 219.
2016 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, December 31)
2016 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, November 14).
2016 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, July 6).
2015 鈥斕18 N.YU. Journal of Legislation & Public Policy 45.
Translated into Polish and reprinted in the Ruch Prawniczy, Ekonomiczny i Socjologiczny (Journal of Law, Economics and Sociology) (peer-reviewed), Adam Mickiewicz 精东影业 in Poznan and Poznan 精东影业 of Economics (2015).
2015 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, May 9).
2014 鈥斕8 N.Y.U. Journal of Law & Liberty 342.
2014 鈥斕The Supreme Court鈥檚 Endorsement of a Politicized Judiciary: A Philosophical Critique, (Translated into Korean and Reprinted) Soongsil Law Review, Vol. 31 (2014).
2014 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, December 20).
2014 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian,July 4).
2014 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, April 13).
2013 鈥斕听and Ashcroft v. al-Kidd, 1 Virginia. Journal of Criminal Law 446.
2013 鈥斕The Fallacy of Legal Certainty: Why Vague Legal Standards May Be Better for Capitalism and Liberalism (Translated into Polish and reprinted) Journal of Public Philosophy & Democratic Education听(peer-reviewed) (Institute of Philosophy at AMU).
2013 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, Dec. 21).
2013 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, June 30).
2013 鈥斕(op-ed, The Register Guard, June 17).
2013 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, Feb 12).
2012 鈥斕, 86 Tulane Law Review 1243.
2012 鈥斕, 64 Rutgers Law Review 381.
2011 鈥斕, 46 精东影业 of San Francisco Law Review 359 (solicited).
2011 鈥斕The Benefits and Dangers of Dual Constitutional Systems of Civil Rights Protections, in Rethinking the Philosophy of Law听(Maltepe 精东影业 Press) (solicited).
2011 鈥斕The Fallacy of Legal Certainty: Why Vague Legal Standards May Be Better for Capitalism and Liberalism(Translated into Chinese and reprinted),听Archives for Legal Philosophy and Sociology of Law听(Peking 精东影业 Press) (2011).
2011 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, July 8).
2011 鈥斕听(op-ed, The Register Guard,April 12).
2011 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, January 14).
2010 鈥斕19 Boston 精东影业 Public Interest Law Journal 175.
2010 鈥斕37 American Journal of Criminal Law 53.
2010 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, September 12).
2010 鈥斕(op-ed, Register Guard, May 3).
2010 鈥斕(op-ed, Register Guard, April 25).
2009 鈥斕A Ratchet That Can Get Stuck: On the Relationship Between the Federal and States鈥 Constitutions, in BETWEEN COMPLEXITY OF LAW AND LACK OF ORDER: PHILOSOPHY OF LAW IN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION (eds. M. Zirk-Sadowski, B. Wojciechowski, M. Golecki) (2009) (solicited book chapter).
2009 鈥斕, 3 Journal of Jurisprudence 177.
2009 鈥斕(op-ed, Register Guard, Oct. 5).
2009 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, August 28).
2009 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, April 28) (extended versionpublished on SSRN).
2009 鈥斕(op-ed, RegisterGuard, March 30).
2009 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, March 12).
2008 鈥斕, 15 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 478.
2008 鈥斕4 Socio-Legal Review 9 (solicited).
2008 鈥斕Gerrymandering, in ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SUPREME COURT (Macmillan Reference, USA) (solicited encyclopedia entry).
2008 鈥斕(op-ed, The Oregonian, August 22).
2008 鈥斕(op-ed, Register Guard, June 26).
2008 鈥斕Law and moral reasons听(proceedings of The International Congress on the Philosophy of Law, Bar Association of Ankara and the Philosophical Society of Turkey).
2007 鈥斕, 16 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 497.
2007 鈥斕, 8 Journal of Law in Society 114.
2007 鈥斕An improper claim of executive privilege听(Detroit Legal News, March).
2006 鈥斕, 80 St. John’s Law Review 389.
2006 鈥斕Legislation, Adjudication, and Public Justification, Schriften zur Rechtstheorie, Volume 215/II (2006).
2005 鈥斕Why Harriet Miers should not be confirmed听(Detroit Legal News, October).
2004 鈥斕, 15 精东影业 of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy 205.
2003 鈥斕MODERN LEGAL THEORY AND JUDICIAL IMPARTIALITY听(Routledge-Cavendish, London) (book).
2003 鈥斕, 23 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 243.
2000 鈥斕?, 30 Seton Hall Law Review 551.
Appearances
Selected Presentations
2023 听听听Rape Law Past and Present, International Studies 精东影业 School of Law, Beijing, China.
2023 听听听Rape Law Past and Present, Beijing Technology 精东影业 School of Law, Beijing, China.
2023 听听听Rape Law Past and Present, Weiheng Law Firm, Beijing, China.
2023 听听听Rape Law Past and Present, Beijing Technology and Business 精东影业 School of Law, Beijing, China.
2023 听听听Rape Law Past and Present, Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China.
2023听听听 Introduction to American Criminal Law, Agriculture 精东影业 School of Law, Beijing, China.
2023听听听 Introduction to American Criminal Law, Geely 精东影业, Chengdu, China.
2023听听听听American Federalism, Brawijaya 精东影业 Law School, Malang, Indonesia.
2023听听听听The U.S. Constitution and Democracy, Brawijaya 精东影业 Law School, Malang, Indonesia.
2022听听听听Constitutional Law and Constitutional Philosophy, 精东影业 of Portland (Constitution Day Speech).
2022听听听听Introduction to American Constitutional Law, Brawijaya 精东影业 Law School, Malang, Indonesia.
2022听听听听Introduction to American Criminal Law, Airlangga 精东影业 Law School, Surabaya, Indonesia.
2021听听听听The Silent Prologue, Oregon Law Perspectives, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law.
2020听听听 Presidential Nuclear War Powers: A Commentary (with Professor Jane Cramer), 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, American Constitution Society Event.
2020听听听 The Judicial Confirmation Process: A Debate (with Professor Josh Blackman of South Texas College of Law), 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Federalist Society event.
2019听听听 The Constitutional Right Not to be Executed if Innocent, Beijing Institute of Technology, China.
2019听听听 Constitutional Protections of suspects in custodial Interrogations, Agriculture 精东影业 Law School, Beijing, China.
2019听听听 Constitutional Protections of suspects in custodial Interrogations, Technology and Business 精东影业 Law School, Beijing, China.
2019听听听 How Judicial Philosophies Shape the Right to Free Speech, Beijing International Studies 精东影业 School of Law.
2019听听听 A Historical Assessment of the U.S. Supreme Court and Its Implications for Judicial Review, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Constitution Day lecture.
2019听听听 Political Liberalism as a Paradigm of Substantive Due Process, 精东影业 of Nevada in Las Vegas, Symposium: Substantive Due Process.
2019听听听 Originalism: A Debate (with Professor Ilan Wurman of Arizona State 精东影业), 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Federalist Society event.
2018听听听 Police Interrogations and the Development of the Miranda Doctrine, Public Security 精东影业 of China.
2018听听听 The War on Terror and the Freedom of Speech, Beijing Technology and Business 精东影业 Law School.
2018听听听 The Right to Counsel in Police Interrogations, China 精东影业 of Petroleum-Beijing Law School.
2018听听听 The Fallacy of Legal Certainty, Beijing International Studies 精东影业 School of Law.
2018听听听 Judicial Review and the U.S. Supreme Court, Beijing International Studies 精东影业 Diplomatic School.
2018听听听 The War on Terror and the Freedom of the Press in the Trump Era, School of Journalism and Communication Research Seminar Series, 精东影业 of Oregon.
2018听听听 U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, American Constitution Society event.
2018听听听 Free Speech on Campus, A debate, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Federalist Society event.
2018听听听 More Harm than Good? On Erwin Chemerinsky鈥檚 Critical Review of the U.S. Supreme Court, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Lectures & Awards.
2018听听听 The Freedom of Speech at the Dawn of the Trump Administration, Resistance in the Courts and in the Streets: Legal and Activist Responses to a Year of Living Dangerously, American Constitution Society CLE event, Portland, Oregon.
2017听听听 Government Leakers, Secret Surveillance, and Terror-Related Speech, Lane County Bar Association CLE (guest lecture), Eugene Oregon.
2017听听听 The First Amendment and the War on Terror, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Constitution Day lecture.
2017听听听 Between Conservatism and Formalism, XXVIII World Congress of the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, Lisbon, Portugal.
2016听听听 Textualism and the Theory of Separation of Powers, Pacific North West Political Science Association, Portland, Oregon.
2016听听听 Campaign Finance. A debate with William Maurer of the Institute for Justice, 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Federalist Society Event.
2016听听听 The War on Terror and the Freedom of Speech in the Internet Era, Legal and Policy Dimensions of Cybersecurity, George Washington 精东影业, Washington D.C.
2016听听 Some Observations Regarding the First Amendment and the War on Terror, Korean Constitutional Court (Guest Lecturer).
2016听听 Some Observations Regarding the First Amendment and the War on Terror, Freedom of Expression Conference, Chung鈥怉ng Law School, Seoul, Korea.
2016听听 U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS-sponsored event)
2016听听 Abortion: Past, Present, and Future. A debate with Mary Rice Hasson, Director, Catholic Women’s Forum (Federalist Society Event).
2016听听听 Is Textualism Required by Constitutional Separation of Powers? (Willamette 精东影业 College of Law, Faculty Forum Guest Lecturer).
2016听听听 Is Textualism Required by Constitutional Separation of Powers? (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Lectures & Awards)
2015听听听 U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS event)
2015听听听 Textualism and Separation of Powers, (Loyola Constitutional Law Colloquium, Chicago).
2015听听听 When the Federal Constitution Limits Civil Rights and Liberties (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Constitution Day Event).
2014 听 听U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS-sponsored event)
2014 听 听The Rule of Law, Democracy, and Rationality (PNW Political Science Association, Bend, Oregon).
2014 听 听The First Amendment in the 2014-15 Supreme Court docket (Lane County Bar Association).
2014 听 听‘Judicial Activism, Judicial Engagement, and Judicial Restraint: What They Are and What They Are not.’ A debate with Clark Neily of the Institute of Justice (Federalist Society Event).
2014 听 听The Rationalization of Policy: On the Relation Between Democracy and the Rule of Law (Guest Lecturer, 精东影业 of Warsaw Faculty of Law, Faculty of Law and Administration, Adam Mickiewicz 精东影业).
2014 听 听U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS event).
2013 Judicial Elections, Legal Positivism, and the U.S. Supreme Court (Seoul National 精东影业 Foreign Lecturer Series, Seoul, South Korea).
2013 Capitalism, Liberalism, and the American Constitution (Kodang International Conference, Soongsil 精东影业, Seoul, South Korea).
2013 The Roberts Court鈥檚 Formalism (Loyola Constitutional Law Colloquium, Chicago).
2013 Political Liberalism and the Constitutional Right to Privacy (Pacific North-West Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Vancouver BC, Canada).
2013 The Constitution and Homelessness (Eugene City Club).
2013 National Security and the Constitution: Recent Developments (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Constitution Day Event).
On the Relation Between Democracy and the Rule of Law (26th World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy, Belo Horizonte, Brazil) (2013 forthcoming).
U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (2013 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS event).
Conflict of Rights (2013 精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Lectures & Awards).
2012 听 听Supreme Court Review/Preview (a discussion with Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Paula Abrams) (Oregon Bar Association) (Constitution Law Section, Oregon Bar, Portland).
2012 听 听Judicial Fundamentalism, the Fourth Amendment, and Ashcroft v. al-Kidd (Constitutional Law Colloquium, Loyola Univ. School of Law, Chicago).
2012 听 听‘Is Citizens United Good for Democracy?’ (a debate with Professor Bradley Smith, former Chair of the Federal Elections Commission) (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law).
2012 听 听The Constitution and the War on Terror (a debate with Professor Stephen F. Knott) (Linfield College, Oregon).
2012 听 听Constitution Day Presentation (commentary on a lecture by David Frohnmayer) (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law).
2012 听 听Citizens United鈥檚 Vision of Democracy (O鈥機onnell Conference, 鈥淔irst Amendment Protections Now: ‘Speech鈥 鈥楶ress鈥 and 鈥楢ssembly鈥,鈥 Portland OR).
2012 听 听Constitutionalizing Corruption (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, Lectures & Awards).
2012 听 听U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS event)
2012 听 听The Fallacy of Legal Certainty (精东影业 of Warsaw, 精东影业 of Lodz, Polish Judges Association, Poland).
2012 听 听Legal Positivism and Textualism (精东影业 of Warsaw).
2011 听 听U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (Oregon Bar Association, Portland)
2011 听 听U.S. Supreme Court Preview/Review (精东影业 of Oregon School of Law, ACS event
2011 听 听Capitalism, Liberalism, and Substantive Due Process (Constitutional Law Colloquium, Loyola Univ. School of Law, Chicago).
2011 听 听The Legal Principle of Public Justification (XXIII World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy) (Frankfurt, Germany).
2011 听 听Political Liberalism and the Constitutional Right to Privacy (XXIII World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy) (Frankfurt, Germany).
2011 听 听Citizens United and Judicial Elections (Democracy, Inc?, Law Review Symposium) (精东影业 of San Francisco).
2011 听 听Capitalism, Liberalism, and the Right to Privacy (Lectures & Awards) (Univ. of Oregon).
The Federal Constitution As a Ceiling, Not Just a Floor (Constitutional Law Colloquium, Loyola Univ. School of Law, Chicago) (2010)
Federal Constitutional Limitations on State Constitutional Right (O鈥機onnell Conference for Appellate Judges) (Portland, OR) (2010).
2010 The Gun Debate (A debate with Supreme Court litigator Alan Gura, The Federalist Society) (Univ. of Oregon)
2010 On Suggestive and Necessary Identification Procedures (CLE, Public Defenders Services of Lane County) (Eugene, OR).
2009 Supreme Court Review/Preview (American Constitution Society) (Univ. of Oregon)
2009 On Bright-Line Rules and Vague Standards (Wayne Morse Center Politics and Policy Colloquium) (Univ. of Oregon).
2009 Capitalism, Liberalism, Democracy, and Legal Certainty (24th IVR World Congress) (Beijing).
2009 Dual Systems of Civil rights Protection (Symposium: Rethinking the Philosophy of Law: Legal Theory, Human Rights and Constitutions) (Istanbul).
2009 Democracy and the Rule of Law (Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference) (Chicago).
2009 The Natural Law Foundations of the Constitution: Antiquated or More Needed than Ever? (A debate with Dr. Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute) (Univ. of Oregon).
2008 Who Cares About Legal Theory, and Why? (International Law Society) (Univ. of Oregon).
2008 On the Relation between Law and Politics (A debate with Professor Mark Graber, American Constitution Society) (Univ. of Oregon).
2008 Judicial elections and the Supreme Court’s Misguided Legal Theory (O’Connell Conference) (Univ. of Oregon).
2008 Law and Moral Reasons (International Congress on the Philosophy of Law, Bar Association of Ankara and the Philosophical Society of Turkey) (Ankara, Turkey).
2007 Politicized Legal Interpretation, XXIII World Congress of Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (Krakow. Poland).
2007 What is Legal Theory? (International Law Society) (Detroit).
2006 Is President Bush’s Surveillance Program Constitutional? (Constitution Week Lecture) (Detroit).
2006 The U.S. Supreme Court and the Notion of Judicial Impartiality (Association for Legal and Social Philosophy, Annual Conference) (Dublin).
2006 Textualism and Judicial Independence (American Constitution Society, Symposium on Judicial Independence) (Detroit).
2003 Reason and Legislative Intent (Oxford Jurisprudence Colloquium) (Oxford, England).
2002 Law and Justification, (2nd Euroconference in Legal Philosophy: The Judiciary and the European Construction Process) (Gerona, Spain).