Daniel R. Ortiz

  • Michael J. and Jane R. Horvitz Distinguished Professor of Law
  • Director, Supreme Court Litigation Clinic

Daniel Ortiz, who came to Virginia in 1985, has a wide variety of interests. A Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude Yale graduate, he earned a triple major in mathematics, English and history, the arts and letters. Now as a member of the Virginia law faculty, he teaches constitutional law, administrative law, electoral law, civil procedure and legal theory. In 1992 he received the Z Society Distinguished Teaching Award at the University of Virginia. He served as the Harrison Foundation Research Professor in 1992-95, the Elizabeth D. and Richard A. Merrill Research Professor in 1996-99, and the Joseph C. Carter, Jr., Research Professor in 2000-03.

After graduation from Yale, Ortiz spent two years on a Marshall Scholarship at the University of Oxford, where he completed a Master of Philosophy degree in English studies. Then he returned to Yale for law school and received his J.D. in 1983. He clerked for Judge Stephen G. Breyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. He was a visiting professor at the University of Southern California in 1991 and 1994-96 and at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) in 1999.

Scholarship Profile: On Democracy: Fair Elections are Freedom's First Bulwark (Virginia Journal 2001)

Education

  • J.D.
    Yale Law School
    1983
  • M.Phil.
    University of Oxford
    1980
  • B.A.
    Yale University
    1978

Books

To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).

Textbooks

Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook (edited with Anthony Corrado et al.), Brookings Institution Press (1997).

Book Chapters

Comparative Positive Political Theory and Empirics (with M. Elizabeth Magill), in Comparative Administrative Law, Edward Elgar (2 ed. 2017).
Discrimination in Employment – Description and Legal Responses, in Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, Wiley, 121–125 (2014).
El Procedimiento Administrativo en los Estados Unidos de América: Una Introducción a la Administrative Procedure Act (with Juan Cruz Azzarri), in Procedimiento Administrativo, La Ley, 1413–1443 (2012).
Comparative Positive Political Theory (with M. Elizabeth Magill), in Comparative Administrative Law, Edward Elgar, 134–147 (2010).
Democratic Norms, Structures, and Conflict, in International Election Principles: Democracy & the Rule of Law, American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice, 57–77 (2009).
Discerning Constitutional Meaning, in What Should I Read Next?, University Press of Virginia, 35–39 (2008).
Discrimination in Employment, in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management, Blackwell, 138–140 (2 ed. 2005).
The First Amendment and the Limits of Campaign Finance Reform, in The New Campaign Finance Sourcebook, Brookings Institution Press, 91–122 (2005).
The Paradox of Mass Democracy, in Rethinking the Vote: The Politics and Prospects of American Election Reform, Oxford University Press, 210–225 (2004).
Federal Legal Constraints on Profiling and Watch Lists (with Eric Braverman), in Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age: Report of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, Markle Foundation (2002).
Legal Authorities for All-Source Domestic Intelligence, in Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age: Report of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age, Markle Foundation (2002).
Limitations Upon Interagency Information Sharing: The Privacy Act of 1974 (with Sean Fogarty), in Protecting America's Freedom in the Information Age: Report of the Markle Foundation Task Force on National Security in the Information Age , Markle Foundation (2002).
Task Force on the Constitutional Law and Federal Election Law (with Melissa Cline et al.), in To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).
Congressional Authority to Regulate When Votes Can Be Counted, in To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).
The Federal Regulation of Elections (with others with), in To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).
Constitutional Farce (with Pamela S. Karlan), in Constitutional Stupidities, Constitutional Tragedies, NYU Press, 180–188 (1998).
Discrimination in Employment, in The Concise Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management , Blackwell Business, 163–164 (1998).
Self-Defeating Identities, in Race and Representation: Affirmative Action, Zone Books, 371–375 (1998).
The Reform Debate: Politics and the First Amendment: Introduction (with Anthony Corrado), in Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook, Brookings Institution Press, 61–92 (1997).
Discrimination in Employment, in The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Business Ethics, Blackwell Business, 170–172 (1997).
Phallocorporatism, in Women’s Studies and Business Ethics: Towards a New Conversation, Oxford University Press, 127–135 (1997).
Recent Innovations: Introduction (with Anthony Corrado), in Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook, Brookings Institution Press, 337–343 (1997).
The First Amendment at Work: Constitutional Restrictions on Campaign Finance Regulation: Introduction, in Campaign Finance Reform: A Sourcebook, Brookings Institution Press, 63–66 (1997).
The Price of Metaphysics: Deadlock in Constitutional Theory, in Pragmatism in Law and Society, Westview Press, 311–322 (1991).

Articles & Reviews

Voting Rights and the 1971 Virginia Constitution, 37 Journal of Law and Politics 155 (2022).
Advancing “A Charter for a Vibrant Democracy” (reviewing Monica Youn, ed., Money Politics, and the Constitution: Beyond <em>Citizens United</em>) 11 Election Law Journal 348–351 (2012).
Recovering the Individual in Politics, 15 NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy 263–287 (2012).
The Informational Interest, 27 Journal of Law & Politics 663–682 (2012).
Get a Life?, 97 Georgetown Law Journal 837 (2009).
The Difference Two Justices Make: FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. II and the Destabilization of Campaign Finance Regulation, 1 Albany Government Law Review 141–168 (2008).
Cultural Compactness, 105 Michigan Law Review First Impressions 48–53 (2006).
The Empirics of Campaign Finance, 78 Southern California Law Review 939–947 (2005).
Got Theory?, 153 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 459–502 (2004).
The Unbearable Lightness of Being McConnell, 3 Election Law Journal 299–304 (2004).
Drawing a Roadmap to Uphold BCRA, 6 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 106–112 (2003).
Democratic Values?, Boston Review (2001).
Duopoly Versus Autonomy: How the Two-Party System Harms the Major Parties, 100 Columbia Law Review 753–774 (2000).
Categorical Community, 51 Stanford Law Review 769–806 (1999).
From Rights to Arrangements, 32 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 1217–1226 (1999).
Governing Through Intermediaries (with Samuel Issacharoff), 85 Virginia Law Review 1627–1670 (1999).
Water, Water Everywhere, 77 Texas Law Review 1739–1749 (1999).
Constitutional Elitism?: Some Skepticism about Dogmatic Assertions (with Pamela S. Karlan), 30 McGeorge Law Review 117–124 (1998).
The Democratic Paradox of Campaign Finance Reform, 50 Stanford Law Review 893–914 (1998).
Introduction—Survivor Stories, 3 University of Chicago Law School Roundtable 115–119 (1996).
Cumulative Voting: Is It Wrong?, 19 Update on Law-Related Education 38–40 (1995).
Feminisms and the Family, 18 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 523–530 (1995).
Making Marriage, 81 Virginia Law Review 2157–2165 (1995).
Negative Political Theory (with Pamela S. Karlan), 68 Southern California Law Review 1691–1704 (1995).
The Engaged and the Inert: Theorizing Political Personality under the First Amendment, 81 Virginia Law Review 1–45 (1995).
Neoactuarialism: Comment on Kaplow (I), 23 Journal of Legal Studies 403–409 (1994).
Symposium on the Federal Election Commission: Introduction, 10 Journal of Law & Politics 369–372 (1994).
Creating Controversy: Essentialism and Constructivism and the Politics of Gay Identity, 79 Virginia Law Review 1833–1857 (1993).
In a Diffident Voice: Relational Feminism, Abortion Rights, and the Feminist Legal Agenda (with Pamela S. Karlan), 87 Northwestern University Law Review 858–896 (1993).
Review of Carter, Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby (reviewing Stephen L. Carter, Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby) 10 Constitutional Commentary 211–217 (1993).
Saving the Self?, 91 Michigan Law Review 1018–1022 (1993).
The Self-Limitation of Legislative History: An Intrainstitutional Perspective, 12 International Review of Law & Economics 232–236 (1992).
Pursuing a Perfect Politics: The Allure and Failure of Process Theory, 77 Virginia Law Review 721–745 (1991).
Privacy, Autonomy, and Consent, 12 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 91–97 (1989).
The Myth of Intent in Equal Protection, 41 Stanford Law Review 1105–1151 (1989).
Affirmative Action under the Constitution and Title VII: from Confusion to Convergence (with George Rutherglen), 35 UCLA Law Review 467–518 (1988).
Federalism, Reapportionment, and Incumbency: Leading the Legislature to Police Itself, 4 Journal of Law & Politics 653–695 (1988).
Note, Alternative Voting Systems as Remedies for Unlawful At-Large Systems, 92 Yale Law Journal 144–160 (1982).

Reports & Datasets

The Federal Regulation of ElectionsTo Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform  , Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).
What Counts as a Vote?To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process: Task Force Reports to Accompany the Report of the National Commission on Federal Election Reform , Miller Center of Public Affairs (2001).
Testimony8 Investigation of Illegal or Improper Activities in Connection with the 1996 Federal Election Campaign—Part VIII , US Government Print Office 130–132, 138 (1998).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

From Selma to Shelby County in Three Generations, UVA Lawyer 89 (2015).
Doctrina CHEVRON: Su Significado en el Derecho Estadounidense y Su Aplicabilidad en la Argentina (with Juan Cruz Azzarri), El Derecho 1 (May 16, 2012).
Las asociaciones y su legitimación activa: una comparación entre el sistema estadounidense y el argentino (with Juan Cruz Azzarri), El Derecho 1 (October 22, 2010).
Viewing the Cathedral, Virginia Law School Report 6–7 (1989).
Professor Ortiz Addresses Incoming Students on Task of Criticizing the Law as “Legal Anthropologists”, Virginia Law Weekly 3–4 (August 25, 1989).
Legal Anthropology, Virginia Law School Report 6–8 (1989).
Affirmative Action: Confusion, Compromise, or Consensus? (with George Rutherglen), Virginia Law School Report 17–21 (1987).

Current Courses

Seminar in Ethical Values (1-Term)
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic (YR)
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic (YR)
Wine and the Law

All Courses

Administrative Law
Administrative Law Theory and Practice
Civil Procedure
Current Legal Ideas (Seminar)
Cyberlaw/Internet law
Regulation of the Political Process
Seminar in Ethical Values

IN THE NEWS

05/26/2023
Gorsuch, Jackson Form Unusual Alliance Against Government Power (Bloomberg Law)
03/22/2023
Could Trump Still Become President If He’s Charged With or Convicted of a Crime? (CBS News)
11/02/2022
In Habeas Case, the Liberal Justices Try To Untangle a Complex Statute (SCOTUSBlog)
11/01/2022
SCOTUS Weighs Rights of Federal Prisoners To Challenge Convictions (Cox Media Group)
10/28/2022
Habeas Case May Open Prison Door For Retroactive Innocents (Law360)
09/28/2022
Bump Stocks, Trump Backer Highlight Court’s ‘Long Conference’ (Bloomberg Law)
07/11/2022
McGuireWoods Asks En Banc 4th Circuit to Nix Attorney Fees Limitation (The National Law Journal)
06/03/2022
Biden’s Worker Rights Views Show In Supreme Court Briefs (Law360)
05/20/2022
Should Law School Supreme Court Clinics Take Cases That Could Make ‘Bad’ Law? (The National Law Journal)
05/16/2022
Justices To Weigh Reach Of Habeas ‘Safety Valve’ (Law360)
11/03/2021
Poll Watchers Flood Virginia as GOP Raises Doubts About 'Election Integrity' (TIME)
04/01/2021
Big Pharma Tells Justices To Keep Assignor Estoppel (Law360)
11/10/2020
UVA Hosts Virtual Panel About Ongoing Election Lawsuits (CBS19)
11/10/2020
How Biden Could Challenge the Trump Administration’s Block on the Transition (The National Law Journal)
11/09/2020
Experts: Trump Lawsuits Unlikely To Affect Election Results (The Daily Progress)
11/09/2020
Litigating the Election: A special Institute of Democracy/Karsh Center Event (Miller Center of Public Affairs)
11/06/2020
Voter Fraud? We Asked an Expert. (Rappahannock News)
09/30/2020
Candidate Bob Good Lists No Assets or Unearned Income on Financial Report (CBS19)
09/08/2020
Supreme Court Round Up - Fall 2020 (The Federalist Society at UVA Law)
10/30/2019
Justices Asked To Take Depressed Worker’s Bias Case (Law360)
10/06/2019
Supreme Court to Weigh Hot-Button Issues Against Tense Political Backdrop (The Wall Street Journal)
05/05/2019
How A Fee Win For Lawyers May Help Disabled Workers (Law360)
04/10/2019
Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry’s News Event Raises Questions About Election Law (Martinsville Bulletin)
01/08/2019
High Court Grants Win To Social Security Attorney In Fee Row (Law360)
10/13/2018
Kavanaugh Saga Amplifies Call for Supreme Court Term Limits (Bloomberg Law)
09/13/2018
It Ain't Over Till It's Over (Isthmus)
02/20/2018
Supreme Court to Hear Hays Case (The Hutchinson News)
09/18/2017
Kirkland's Paul Clement Gets Nod to Argue Key Labor Cases at Supreme Court (National Law Journal)
01/20/2017
Law School Clinic Case Advances to Supreme Court (The Cavalier Daily)
10/18/2016
Who Will Be the First Openly LGBTQ Supreme Court Justice? (Vice)
09/30/2016
Supreme Court Faces Historic Transformation After Election (USA Today)
09/30/2016
Supreme Court Continues to Steer Clear of Ideological Disputes (The Wall Street Journal)
05/15/2016
Possible Deadlocks Looming Over US Supreme Court (Leader-Telegram)
09/01/2015
U.Va.'s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic Wins Big (UVA Magazine)
05/18/2015
Students Catch the Supreme Court's Attention (The National Law Journal)
05/18/2015
Supreme Court Allows Convicted Felons to Sell Firearms (National Law Journal)
05/18/2015
Supreme Court Rules Felons May Sell, Transfer 'Clean' Guns (The Wall Street Journal)
04/27/2015
Taming the Butterflies Before a Supreme Court Argument (National Law Journal)
04/27/2015
Same-sex marriage: US supreme court has few choices but to 'end the debate' (The Guardian)
04/18/2015
Supreme Court Arguments with Daniel Ortiz (WTJU)
03/06/2015
Rubio's Presidential Choice Could Muddle Senate Race (Orlando Sentinel)
02/25/2015
Argument Analysis: A Controlled Implosion (SCOUTS blog)
02/24/2015
Justices in a Muddle Over Felons' Firearm Rights" (The National Law Journal)
02/24/2015
High Court Appears Ready to Allow Felon to Sell Gun Collection (The Wall Street Journal)
02/24/2015
High Court Weighs Right of Convicted Felon to Sell Guns in Case Argued by UVa Scholar (The Associated Press)
02/04/2015
Some Va. lawmakers call for a convention of states (The Virginian-Pilot)
10/27/2014
UVA Law School Plays Strong Role in Supreme Court Cases' (The Daily Progress)
10/23/2014
Supreme Court Grants Law School Clinic Petition (The Cavalier Daily)
09/10/2014
Same-Sex Marriage at the Supreme Court: A Matter of When, Not If (The Guardian)
08/23/2014
It's as Simple as L-O-V-E: Gay Marriage is Equality Under the Law (The Virginian-Pilot)
04/21/2014
Law professors, including 2 from UVa, back Herring in same-sex marriage case (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
01/15/2014
Anonymous Police Tips Face High Court Scrutiny (The National Law Journal)
11/20/2013
Candidate Planning Run for Congress in Four States (PolitiFact)
06/24/2013
U.S. Supreme Court limits supervisor liability under Title VII (Lawyers USA)
06/24/2013
U.S. Supreme Court Rules Ball State Not Liable for Alleged Hostile Work Environment (The Indianapolis Star)
06/09/2013
Justices' Gay Clerks Provide Evidence of Change (The Boston Globe)
06/08/2013
Exhibit A for a Major Shift: Justices' Gay Clerks (The New York Times)
05/22/2013
BSU Defends Sex-Discrimination Lawsuit (The Star Press)
03/25/2013
How Much Does a Big Supreme Court Case Like Gay Marriage Cost? (Marketplace)
12/03/2012
Justices Hear Argument on Which Employees Qualify as Supervisors for Title VII Purposes (Bloomberg BNA)
11/27/2012
Supreme Court Weighs Who Qualifies as Workplace Supervisor (Los Angeles Times)
11/27/2012
Supreme Court Turns to Workplace Harassment (AFP)
11/26/2012
Supreme Court: When is an Employer Liable For Harassment? (CBS News)
11/26/2012
U.S. Supreme Court Examines Role of Supervisor in Workplace Suits (CNN)
11/26/2012
Court: Who Counts as a Supervisor?
11/26/2012
Supreme Court Hears Case Asking: Who's a Boss? (NPR)
11/26/2012
In Harassment Case, Who Qualifies as a Supervisor? (The Washington Post)
11/26/2012
Supreme Court Struggles Over Workplace Harassment Standard (Reuters)
11/26/2012
Job-Supervisor Harassment Rules Confound U.S. High Court (Bloomberg Businessweek)
11/26/2012
Justices Consider Definition of Supervisor in Job Discrimination Case (The New York Times)
11/26/2012
Supreme Court To Look At Who Is A 'Supervisor' In Harassment Cases (NPR)
11/23/2012
Supreme Court To Consider Workplace Harassment Rules (Reuters)

AT UVA LAW

Professor Concludes 17-Year Run as Director of Supreme Court Clinic
Clinic To Argue Habeas Case at Supreme Court on Tuesday
Pride: A Short History of LGBTQ Rights at UVA Law and Beyond
Supreme Court Takes Clinic Case on Challenges to Convictions
Justice Breyer’s Legacy: Four Decades on the Bench
The Civil Rights Movement and the Role of Race in the 1971 Virginia Constitution
Roundup of the 2020 Supreme Court Term
Clinics Adapt To Serve Their Clients
Clinic Wins Attorneys’ Fees Case at U.S. Supreme Court
The Future of Law
Clinic to Argue Attorneys’ Fees Case Before the Supreme Court Next Week
2018 Supreme Court Roundup
Faculty on the Vanguard of the First Amendment
Clinic Brings Attorneys’ Fees Case to Supreme Court
Clinic Loses Epic Supreme Court Case in 5-4 Decision
UVA Law Second in Lawyers Arguing at Supreme Court This Term
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at UVA Law
Law Clinic Director Preparing for 'Epic' Labor Law Showdown
An Overview of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
Clinic Brings 'Epic' Case to Supreme Court
Clinic Brings 'Epic' Case to Supreme Court
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic Celebrates a Decade of Wins and Influence
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic Celebrates a Decade of Wins and Influence
Professors Show Grounds to Restore Felon Voting Rights in Court Filing
Andrew Ferguson '12 to Clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
UVA Law Symposium to Examine Privacy on Social Media
Inside the Classroom: 6 Questions With Professor Dan Ortiz, Director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
Clinics Turn Doctrine and Policy Into Practice
Supreme Court Will Hear UVA Law Clinic Case Involving Felons and Firearms Tuesday
Andrew Kilberg '14 Is Fourth UVA Law Graduate Named to Clerk at Supreme Court Next Term, Tying School Record
"Democracy as Consumption," with Professor Dan Ortiz
Ortiz Reacts to Supreme Court's Decision in Employment Discrimination Case
A Discussion of Lawrence v. Texas with Professor Daniel Ortiz
UVA Law Professor Argues Workplace Harassment Case Before Supreme Court
"Voter ID Laws in the 2012 Election"
Ortiz on Citizens United and the Supreme Court's Shift Away from Protecting Voters
Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Clinic Case
Justice Breyer’s Legacy: Four Decades on the Bench

Featured Scholarship