• Associate Professor, School of Law

Richards

• B.A. at George Washington University
• J.D. at University of Virginia
• M.A. at University of Virginia

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

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Saggy pants laws: First Amendment expert available for comment Are these indecent exposure laws a fad or are they here to stay? Sept. 21, 2007 -- "I always thought the fashion police were a myth, but they seem to be real," Richards says. A growing number of cities have enacted laws that would make wearing saggy or low-slung pants indecent exposure. "It's an interesting question whether these laws would violate the First Amendment as currently understood," says Neil Richards, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. "Saggy pants laws form a hybrid case. They are regulating in terms of indecent exposure but seem to be directed at the expression of identity through clothing." Richards is available to discuss the constitutional issues surrounding these laws.

The Rehnquist Court Development of First Amendment law to be discussed at Nov. 18 conference; MCLE credit available Nov. 7, 2005 -- First Amendment and public law scholars from around the country will come together during "The Rehnquist Court and the First Amendment" conference from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Nov. 18 in Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 309. The conference, sponsored by the Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, will examine the development of First Amendment law over the past two decades under Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

Remembering Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist Former Rehnquist law clerk available to discuss the Chief Justice?s legacy and the future of the Supreme Court Sept. 6, 2005 -- Chief Justice Rehnquist administers the oath of office to President Bill Clinton. The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist marks the second major change to the membership of the Supreme Court and the end of a tremendously successful and dedicated career in public service. "As an associate justice and later Chief Justice of the United States, William Rehnquist was one of the leading figures in American law for over three decades," says Neil M. Richards, former law clerk for Chief Justice Rehnquist and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. "He will be remembered as one of the great Chief Justices in American history, and deservedly so. He was a warm, gentle, funny, conscientious, and brilliant man and judge."

Nomination of John Roberts Ideological disagreements aside, a long confirmation fight would be a mistake, says Supreme Court expert July 20, 2005 -- Richards Download President Bush's nomination of John Roberts to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Sandra Day O'Connor's retirement has the potential to spark a messy confirmation process. "I think that both sides have been preparing for a war that seems inevitable regardless of whomever was nominated," says Neil Richards, former law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. "On a personal level, I know John fairly well, and really like him. I'd imagine that he and I would disagree about many basic ideological and interpretive questions of law, but he's very smart and a very decent human being who has the right sort of personality to do the job in a collegial and effective manner. So I strongly support his nomination, especially when I consider some of the other names on the shortlist, who lacked either John's qualifications, his intellect, or his judicious temperament."

The future of the Supreme Court Ability and personality must outweigh politics when selecting justices, says former law clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist July 7, 2005 -- The retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor from the Supreme Court will probably be the first of many changes in the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court. "These changes would undoubtedly have an impact on how the Court decides its cases," says Neil Richards, former law clerk for Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. "In choosing future justices, I think that it's important to focus not just on the outcomes of cases, but on how the Court does its business more broadly."

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Saggy Pants Bans May Not Be Lawful Associated Press and 74 others Dec. 3, 2007 -- Pine Lawn, a mostly black municipality outside St. Louis, is among a growing number of U.S. cities enacting laws that ban low-slung pants. Critics say the bans amount to government attacks on youthful fashion that some find offensive. And constitutional scholars say they may not be lawful. WUSTL law professor and First Amendment expert Neil Richards comments.

Court Settles Fight Between Boehner, McDermott NPR: All Things Considered May 2, 2007 -- A 10-year-old case about politics, free speech and privacy rights that started with an illegally recorded telephone conversation, was resolved at the D.C. federal appeals court. WUSTL law professor Neil Richards, an expert in First Amendment and privacy law, comments on the court's decision.

Documents Leaked to Web Prompt First-Amendment Debate NPR Morning Edition (transcript) and 1 others Jan. 18, 2007 -- Transcript of Morning Edition program on the free speech rights of bloggers that came before a federal court on Wednesday. WUSTL law professor Neil Richards comments on whether individual bloggers deserve the same protections as the established media.

Neil Richards

In addition to clerking for Rehnquist, Richards clerked for Judge Paul V. Niemeyer on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. After his clerkships, Richards was the inaugural Hugo Black Faculty Fellow at the University of Alabama School of Law, where he taught courses on property and the First Amendment. He then practiced law for several years in Washington, D.C. with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, in that firm's appellate litigation and electronic commerce practice. Richards was named Professor of the Year during his first year at Washington University School of Law.

Richards is the author of "Reconciling Data Privacy and the First Ammendment" (UCLA Law Review), "The Information Privacy Law Project and the Limits of Metaphor" (Georgetown Law Journal, forthcoming), " 'The Good War,' The Jehovah's Witnesses and the First Amendment" (Virginia Law Review), "Clio and the Court: A Reassessment of the Supreme Court's Uses of History" (Journal of Law and Politics), "The Supreme Court Justice and 'Boring' Cases" (The Green Bag), "The Electronic Communications Privacy Act and Internet Privacy Litigation" (Libel Defense Resources Council Cyber Space Project), and "U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton and Competing Notions of Federalism" (Journal of Law and Politics). He is a frequent commentator on his areas of research in a variety of national media.

Richards graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in History with Special Honors from George Washington University in 1994, where he was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Richards then attended the University of Virginia, where he received both a J.D. and an M.A. in History in 1997. While in law school, he served as Executive Editor of the Virginia Law Review, was elected to the Order of the Coif, and was a recipient, among other awards, of the Slaughter Honor Prize and the Davis Prize in Constitutional Law. His master's thesis examined the extent to which the Supreme Court's uses of history in the 1990s had changed since the Court's often-criticized use of similar historical materials in the key cases of the Warren Court.