Prof. Richard Primus teaches the law, theory, and history of the U.S. Constitution. In 2008, he won the first-ever Guggenheim Fellowship in Constitutional Studies for his work on the relationship between history and constitutional interpretation. His scholarship has been cited in opinions of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Prof. Primus works with constitutional law on the state level as well as the federal. He has helped state governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses solve practical problems involving state-level constitutional law, both in Michigan and in other states.
The students of Michigan Law School have given Prof. Primus the L. Hart Wright Award for Excellence in Teaching on four separate occasions: in 2004, 2007, 2010, and 2011.
Prof. Primus graduated from Harvard College in 1992 with an AB, summa cum laude, in social studies. He then earned a DPhil in politics at Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar and the Jowett Senior Scholar at Balliol College. After studying law at Yale, Prof. Primus clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi on the Second Circuit and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He then practiced law at the Washington, D.C., office of Jenner & Block before joining the Michigan faculty in 2001.
Myths and Relatives of the Judicial Power: A Case for Originalism/Textualism
Michigan Student Chapter
University of Michigan Law School100 Hutchins Hall
Ann Arbor , MI 48109
Should the Supreme Court Bring Back the Privileges & Immunities Clause?
Michigan Student Chapter
University of Michigan Law School625 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
The Constitutionality of the Travel Ban
Michigan Student Chapter
University of Michigan Law School625 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
2013 National Lawyers Convention
Textualism and the Role of Judges
The Mayflower Hotel1127 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
2008 Annual Student Symposium
The People and the Courts
University of Michigan Law School625 South State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Showcase Panel II: Textualism and Constitutional Interpretation - Event Audio/Video
2013 National Lawyers Convention
This panel will examine the growth of interest in recent years in original public meaning...
An Originalist Judge and the Media - Event Audio/Video
2008 Annual Student Symposium
The Federalist Society's Student Division presented this speech and commentary at the 2008 Annual Student...