Michael Curtis

Professor Emeritus

Michael Kent Curtis is one of the foremost constitutional historians in the United States. His book "Free Speech: The People's Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History" won the Playboy Foundation Heffner First Amendment Award for the best book of its year on the subject of the 1st Amendment. The North Carolina Literary and Historical Society also chose the book as the best non-fiction book of the year by a North Carolina author. Professor Akhil Amar of Yale Law School described Michael Curtis's book "No State Shall Abridge: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights" as "one of the most important and most impressive … Read more »

Michael Kent Curtis is one of the foremost constitutional historians in the United States. His book "Free Speech: The People's Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History" won the Playboy Foundation Heffner First Amendment Award for the best book of its year on the subject of the 1st Amendment. The North Carolina Literary and Historical Society also chose the book as the best non-fiction book of the year by a North Carolina author. Professor Akhil Amar of Yale Law School described Michael Curtis's book "No State Shall Abridge: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights" as "one of the most important and most impressive works of constitutional scholarship of the late twentieth century." Professor Curtis has also received the Frank Porter Graham Award from the North Carolina Civil Liberties Union for achievement in defending and advancing civil liberties in North Carolina. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina with his wife Deborah Maury, who is also an attorney. Deborah Maury retired from law practice after a serious horse accident which left her with incomplete quadriplegia. He has one son, Matthew Fontaine Curtis-Maury.


Education

  • MA in Political Science, University of Chicago, 1990
  • JD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1969
  • AB, summa cum laude, University of the South, 1964

Publications

Books

  • Constitutional Law in Context, 4th ed. with annual supplements since 2001 (Carolina Academic Press 2018) (with J. Parker, William Ross, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).
  • 2018 Supplement to Constitutional Law in Context (2018) (with James Parker).
  • Constitutional Law in Context, 2011 supplement (Carolina Academic Press 2011).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2011) (with James Parker, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman, William Ross).
  • Constitutional Law in Context vol. 1 (2010).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2006) (with James Parker, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2003) (with James Parker, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).
  • Free Speech: The People's Darling Privilege: Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History (Duke University Press 2000).
  • The Constitution and the Flag: Vol. 1, The Flag Salute Cases, Vol. 2, Flag Burning (Garland Press 1993).
  • No State Shall Abridge: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights (Duke University Press 1986).

Book Chapters

  • Lincoln and Executive Power During the Civil War: A Case Study, in Extra Legal Power and Legitimacy 139-165 (Clement Fatovic and Benjamin A. Kleinerman 2013).
  • The Alien and Sedition Acts, in 357-366 (Paul Finkelman & Bruce A. Lesh 2008).
  • Barron v. Baltimore, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States 131-132 (David S. Tanenhaus 2008).
  • Alien and Sedition Acts, in Milestone Documents in American History (2008).
  • Saenz v. Roe, in Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (2008).
  • Incorporation Doctrine, in Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court (2005).
  • Fourteenth Amendment, in Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court (2005).
  • Democratic Ideas and Media Realities: A Puzzling Free Press Paradox, in Free Speech (Paul, Miller, and Paul, eds. 2004).
  • Barron v. Baltimore, in Encyclopedia of Law and Religion 25-27 (Paul Finkelman, ed. 2000).
  • Slavery and Civil Liberties, in Encyclopedia of the American Constitution 2424 (2000).
  • Incorporation of the Bill of Rights and the Religion Clauses, in Encyclopedia of Law and Religion 236-39 (Paul Finkelman, ed. 2000).
  • Incorporation Doctrine and Original Intent, in Encyclopedia of American Constitution 1356 (2000).
  • Fourteenth Amendment, Section 5, in Encyclopedia of American Constitution 1087 (2000).
  • The Fourteenth Amendment (Enactment), in The Constitution and Its Amendments (1999).
  • Albion Tourgee, in American National Biography 769 (1999).
  • The 1859 Crisis over Hinton Helper's Book The Impending Crisis: Slavery, Free Speech, and the Meaning of the First Section of the Fourteenth Amendment, in The Law of Slavery (1997).
  • Fourteenth Amendment, in The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (1993).
  • The Incorporation Doctrine, in The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (1993).
  • Reading the First Amendment by the Light of the Burning Flag, in The Constitution and the Flag (1993).

Articles

Other

Media

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Contact Information

Expertise
  • Election Law & Gerrymandering
  • Freedom of Expression
  • Legal History