University of St. Thomas

J.D., Yale Law School
M.A., Yale Divinity School
B.A., Northwestern University

Michael Paulsen received his B.A. degree with distinction from Northwestern University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received an M.A. degree in Religion from Yale Divinity School and a J.D. degree from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and a recipient of the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for appellate advocacy.  After graduation from law school, he joined the Department of Justice in the Criminal Division Honors Program, and has also served as staff counsel for the Center for Law & Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C. and as an attorney-advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel.

Prior to coming to the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Paulsen served as the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law and Public Policy, Briggs and Morgan Professor of Law, and Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship at the University of Minnesota Law School. 

Professor Paulsen is among the nation’s leading scholars of constitutional interpretation, and his publications include articles in the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Chicago Law Review, NYU Law Review, Texas Law Review, California Law Review, and the Georgetown Law Journal, among many others. 

Representative Scholarship

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Is St. Paul Unconstitutional? 23 Const. Comm. 1 (2006).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, How to Interpret the Constitution (and How Not To), 115 Yale L.J. 2037 (2006).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Emancipation Proclamation and the Commander in Chief Power, 40 Georgia L. Rev. 807 (2006).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Intrinsically Corrupting Influence of Precedent, 22 Const. Comm. 289 (2005) (symposium)

Michael Stokes Paulsen, “What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said” (Opinion of “Justice Paulsen”) (book chapter) in J. Balkin ed. What Roe v. Wade Should Have Said: The Nation’s Top Legal Experts Relate America’s Most Controversial Decision (2005).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Killing Terri Schiavo, 22 Const. Comm. 585 (2005) (symposium)

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Civil War as Constitutional Interpretation, 71 U Chi L Rev 691 (2004) (reviewing D. Farber, Lincoln’s Constitution).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Constitution of Necessity, 79 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1257 (2004) (symposium on “The Constitution after September 11").

Vasan Kesvan & Michael Stokes Paulsen, Let’s Mess With Texas, 82 Texas L. Rev. 1587 (2004).

Vasan Kesavan & Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Interpretive Force of the Constitution’s Secret Drafting History, 91 Georgetown L.J.1113 (2003).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Irrepressible Myth of Marbury, 101 Mich. L. Rev. 2706 (2003).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Marbury’s Wrongness, 20 Const. Comm. 343 (2003) (Symposium on 200th Anniversary of Marbury v. Madison).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, The Worst Constitutional Decision of All Time, 78  Notre Dame L. Rev. 995 (2003).

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Youngstown Goes to War, 19 Const. Comm. 215(2002) (Symposium on Fiftieth Anniversary of Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer).

Vasan Kesavan & Michael Stokes Paulsen, Is West Virginia Unconstitutional?, 90 Cal. L. Rev. 291 (2002).

Michael Seuss Paulsen, The Grinch Who Stole Legislation (A Sequel), 19 Const. Comm. 539 (2002).

Michael Seuss Paulsen, Green Eggs and Legislation, 18 Const. Comm. 1 (2001)

Michael Stokes Paulsen, Lawson’s Awesome (Also Wrong, Some), 18 Const. Comm. 231 (2001) (replying to Gary Lawson, Controlling Precedent: Congressional Regulation of Judicial Decision-Making, 18 Const. Comm. 191 (2001)).

At St. Thomas, Professor Paulsen will teach Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure.