Karsh Center Leadership

Bertrall Ross

Director

Bertrall Ross

Bertrall Ross is the director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy and the Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law. Ross' research focuses on democratic responsiveness and accountability, as well as the inclusion of marginalized communities in administrative and political processes.

Ross joined the UVA Law faculty in 2021. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, constitutional theory, election law, administrative law and statutory interpretation. Ross earned his undergraduate degree in international affairs and history from the University of Colorado, Boulder; his graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and Princeton University's School of Public and International Affairs; and his law degree from Yale Law School. In addition to his UVA Law roles, Ross is serving on the Administrative Conference of the United States and the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court. 


Micah Schwartzman

Director

Micah Schwartzman

Micah Schwartzman ’05 is the director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy and the Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law. A scholar who focuses on law and religion, jurisprudence, political philosophy and constitutional law, Schwartzman joined the UVA Law faculty in 2007.

Schwartzman received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. During law school, he served as articles development editor of the Virginia Law Review and received numerous awards, including the Margaret G. Hyde Award, the Daniel Rosenbloom Award, and the Hardy Cross Dillard Scholarship. After graduating, Schwartzman clerked for Judge Paul V. Niemeyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining the faculty, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities.

Schwartzman’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Constitutional Commentary, Law & Philosophy, Journal of Political Philosophy, and Political Theory. He co-edited “The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty” (Oxford University Press) and is co-authoring a forthcoming casebook on “Constitutional Law and Religion.”

Q&A With Micah Schwartzman on the Karsh Center’s Goals


John J. Martin

Karsh Center for Law and Democracy Fellow

John J. Martin

John Martin’s research focuses on election law, primarily campaign finance law and election administration law. He is interested in whether and to what extent such laws advance democracy on the federal, state and local levels, assessing them through the lens of various democratic theories. His recent publications have appeared in the Cornell Law Review, the Stanford Law Review Online, the Alabama Law Review and the Virginia Law Review Online, and have been cited by, among others, a federal District Court and the January 6th Committee Final Report.

Martin joined UVA Law School in the fall of 2023 as a research assistant professor of law and fellow within the school’s Karsh Center for Law and Democracy. Prior to joining UVA, Martin clerked for Judge Edward G. Smith of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Before that, he worked as a legal fellow within the Brennan Center for Justice’s Elections and Government Program. Martin served as an articles editor on the Columbia Law Review during law school.