Ryan D. Doerfler
Professor of Law
Ryan Doerfler’s research focuses on the role of the judiciary within a democratic system. His recent work includes a critical reassessment of the embrace of judicial review within the liberal legal tradition and an analysis of the relationship between theories of statutory and constitutional interpretation and a fundamental commitment to democratic self-rule. Ryan’s academic work has been published in numerous leading law journals. His popular writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Dissent, Jacobin, the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.
Ryan graduated from Wake Forest University with a BA in philosophy. He then received a PhD in philosophy from Harvard University and a JD from Harvard Law School. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty, Ryan taught at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.
Education
- B.A. Philosophy Wake Forest University, 2004
- Ph.D. Philosophy Harvard University, 2011
- J.D. Harvard Law School, 2013
Recent Publications
- Ryan Doerfler & Samuel Moyn, After Courts: Democratizing Statutory Law, Mich. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2025).
- Ryan Doerfler & Samuel Moyn, We Are Already Defying the Supreme Court, 70 Dissent 108 (2024).
- Ryan D. Doerfler, How Clear Is "Clear"?, 109 Va. L. Rev. 651 (2023).
- Ryan D. Doerfler & Samuel Moyn, With This Supreme Court, the Way Liberals Dissent Matters, N.Y. Times (Dec. 20, 2022).
- Ryan Doerfler & Samuel Moyn, A Plea to the Liberals on the Supreme Court: Dissent with Democracy in Mind, N.Y. Times (Dec. 20, 2022).