Lynda Dodd
Assistant Professor of Law
Office: Room 387
Phone: 202-274-4431
E-mail: ldodd@wcl.american.edu
Lynda Dodd teaches and specializes in constitutional law and theory, constitutional tort litigation, and jurisprudence. Professor Dodd received her JD from Yale Law School in 2000, and completed her PhD in Politics at Princeton University in 2004. She is currently working on a book manuscript that examines the history of Sec. 1983, from its origins in the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to the contemporary era, with a special focus on the political debates regarding civil rights enforcement strategies. Her most recent research is is titled "Presidential Leadership and Civil Rights Lawyering in the Era Before Brown," Indiana Law Journal, forthcoming.
Currently Teaching
Areas of Specialization
- Constitutional Law and Theory
- Constitutional Tort Litigation
- Judicial Politics
- American Political Development
Degrees & Universities
- Ph.D., Politics, Princeton University 2004
- J.D., Yale University School of Law 2000
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Selected Publications- Lynda Dodd, Parades, Pickets, and Prison: Alice Paul and the Virtues of Unruly Constitutional Citizenship, 24 J.L. & Politics 339 (2008).
- Lynda Dodd, DeShaney v. Winnebago County: Governmental Neglect and the 'Blessings of Liberty', in Civil Rights Stories (Myriam Gilles & Risa Goluboff, eds., Foundation Press 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Implementing the Rule of Law: The Role of Citizen-Plaintiffs, in The Good Society: A PEGS Journal (Fall 2004).
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Selected Works in Progress
- Lynda Dodd, To Secure the Blessings of Liberty: The History and Politics of Constitutional Torts Litigation, (forthcoming).
- Lynda Dodd, Presidential Leadership and Civil Rights Lawyering in the Era Before Brown, __ Ind. L.J. __ (forthcoming).
- Lynda Dodd, The Role of 'Strategic Capacity' in the Campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment, in Feminist Legal History (T.J. Boisseau & Tracy A. Thomas, eds., forthcoming).
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Selected Presentations
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Looking Ahead to the Supreme Court Term (Program on Law & Government, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Oct. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, A Roundtable on Constitutional Interpretation and Litigation After Heller (American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Sept. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Parades, Pickets, and Prison: Alice Paul and the Virtues of Unruly Constitutional Citizenship (with commentary by Professor Robyn Muncy, University of Maryland, D.C. Area Legal History Roundtable, Georgetown University Law Center, Sept. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Organizer & Moderator, Election Day and Constitution Day: The Stakes for Justice in 2008 (American University’s Constitution Day Panel, Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Sept. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Torts in the Modern Era (with commentary by Professor Vicki Jackson, Georgetown University, Workshop on Federal Judges and Judging, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Sept. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Law and Inequality (Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Aug. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Parades, Pickets, and Prison: Alice Paul and the Virtues of Unruly Constitutional Citizenship (Junior Faculty Workshop, American University Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Apr. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Civil Rights and the Court (Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Apr. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd & Mary L. Clark, Presentation, What Third-Wave Feminism Can (and Should) Learn from First-Wave Feminism (Conference on Feminisms and Feminist Legal Theory, University of Baltimore School of Law, Balt. Md., Mar. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Parades, Pickets, and Prison: Alice Paul and the Virtues of Unruly Constitutional Citizenship (Maryland/Georgetown Discussion Group on Constitutionalism, Mar. 2008).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Constitutional Law: The Role of Everybody (American University’s Constitution Day Panel, Washington College of Law, Wash., D.C., Sept. 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Section 1983 Actions: An Overview (Appellate Judges Education Institute, Wash., D.C, Sept. 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Reassessing the Theory of Partisan Entrenchment: Reconstruction and the Politics of Supreme Court Appointments (Southeastern Association of Law Schools Annual Meeting, July 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, The Truman Committee on Civil Rights and the Rise of a Civil Rights Support Structure (Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, July 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Defending the ‘Living Constitution’: A Response to Justice Scalia (American University’s Washington Semester Program, Apr. 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Organizer, The Courts, the Constitution, and Social Change (American University Washington College of Law's Founders' Conference, Wash., D.C., Apr. 2007).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, DeShaney and the Lost Promise of Progressive Constitutionalism (Junior Faculty Colloquium, Washington & Lee University School of Law, Lexington, Va., Oct. 2006).
- Lynda Dodd, Organizer & Moderator, Progressive Liberalism and the ‘Culture Gap’: A Roundtable on the Future of the Democratic Party (Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Aug. 2005).
- Lynda Dodd, Organizer, Regime Politics and the Supreme Court: New Institutionalist Perspectives (Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Aug. 2005).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Constitutional Torts in the Modern Era (Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Mar. 2005).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Implementing the Rule of Law: The Role of Citizen-Plaintiffs (Conference on Democracy and the Rule of Law, sponsored by Democracy Collaborative at the University of Maryland, June 2004).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Constitutional Torts in the Forgotten Years (Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Mar. 2004).
- Lynda Dodd, Organizer, The Constitution of the Welfare State (Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Sept. 2002).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Courts and Policy (Annual meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 2001).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, The Politics of Constitutional Interpretation (Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Mar. 2001).
- Lynda Dodd, Presentation, Securing the Blessings of Liberty: Affirmative Duties and the Rise of the Positive State (Annual Meeting of the New England Political Science Association, Mar. 2000).