Office Hours:
Tuesday,
2 -3:30 p.m.

Contact Info:
Professor Spencer Overton
The George Washington University Law School
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052

(202)994-9794
soverton@law.gwu.edu

Updated
12 April, 2005

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

The George Washington University - Washington, D.C. Associate Professor of Law, July 2002 - Present. Teaching Property, Campaign Finance Law, and Civil Rights Legislation. Member of Academic Integrity Committee.

University of California, Davis - Davis, CA. Acting Professor of Law, August 2000 - June 2002. Taught Property, Legislation, and Law and the Political Process. Nominee, Distinguished Teaching Award, 2000-2001, 2001-2002.

Harvard Law School - Cambridge, MA. Charles Hamilton Houston Fellow, February 1999 - January, 2000. Wrote Mistaken Identity: Unveiling the Property Characteristics of Political Money, an article analyzing property theories and campaign finance law, pursuant to fellowship requirements designed to prepare prospective law professors. Co-taught Law and the Political Process with Professor Lani Guinier.

EDUCATION

Harvard Law School - Cambridge, MA. J.D., cum laude, June 1993. Teaching Assistant, Professor Charles Ogletree; Legal Education Chair, Law School Council; Black Law Students Association; ABA National Trial Advocacy Competition.

Hampton University - Hampton, VA. B.A. Mass Media/Journalism, highest honors (summa cum laude), May 1990. Varsity Golf; Editorial Page Editor, The Hampton Script; President's Award, 1990.

REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS

The Donor Class: Campaign Finance, Democracy, and Participation, 153 U. PA. L. REV. 73 (2004).

Restraint and Responsibility: Judicial Review of Campaign Reform, 61 WASH. & LEE L. REV. 663 (2004).

Judicial Modesty and the Lessons of McConnell v. FEC, 3 ELECTION L. J. 305 (2004).

Judicial Manageability and the Campaign Finance Thicket, 6 U. PA. J. CONST. L. 112 (2003).

Racial Disparities and the Political Function of Property, 49 UCLA L. REV. 1553 (2002).

But Some Are More Equal: Race, Exclusion, and Campaign Finance, 80 TEX. L. REV. 987 (2002).

Rules, Standards, and Bush v. Gore: Form and the Law of Democracy, 37 HARV. C.R.-C.L. L. REV. 65 (2002).

Voices from the Past: Race, Privilege, and Campaign Finance, 79 N.C. L. REV. 1541 (2001).

A Place at the Table: Bush v. Gore Through the Lens of Race, 29 FLA. ST. L. REV. 469 (2001).

Mistaken Identity: Unveiling the Property Characteristics of Political Money, 53 VAND. L. REV. 1235 (2000).

Voter ID Supporters Lack Hard Evidence, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, April 8, 2005.

Campaign Reform's Next Step, THE BOSTON GLOBE, Dec. 12, 2003.

Preventing Undue Financial Influence—Rehnquist Should Continue Support of Restrictions on Corporate Funds for Election Campaigns, L.A. DAILY JOURNAL, Sept. 29, 2003, at 6.

Lost in Law, LEGAL TIMES, May 12, 2003, at 58.

Campaign Finance Law Puts Black Incumbents at Risk, ROLL CALL, Sept. 12, 2002.

Reform for the Rest of America, WASH. POST, May 10, 2001, at A31.

Fannie Lou Hamer Wouldn't Like This , L.A. TIMES, Mar. 29, 2001, at B11.

American Association of Law Schools Annual Conference in Atlanta, GA, Tips for New Law Professors on Teaching, Scholarship, and Service Panel, Jan. 4, 2004 (scheduled).

Society of American Law Teachers Conference in Atlanta, GA, Voting and Democracy: New Movements and Legal Issues Panel, Jan. 3, 2004 (scheduled).

Georgetown University Law Center, Criminal Liability and Prosecution under BCRA Conference, Civil Liberties Implications of Increased Emphasis on Criminal Enforcement Panel, Nov. 14, 2003 (co-panelists included Brennan Center Senior Counsel Frederick A. O. Schwarz, Jr. and former FEC Commissioner Karl Sandstrom).

University of Chicago Law School, American Constitution Society Speaker Series, presented address entitled “The Limits of Markets: Wealth, Democratic Participation, and Campaign Reform,” Nov. 13, 2003.

Fordham Law School, presentation of work-in-progress on campaign reform and the distribution of wealth, Nov. 6, 2003.

Hofstra Law School, presentation of work-in-progress on campaign reform and the distribution of wealth, Nov. 5, 2003.

American Association of Law Schools Recruiting Conference in Washington, DC, served as moderator of break-out session for aspiring law professors, Oct. 23, 2003.

University of Virginia, Reconsidering Campaign Finance Reform Conference, Freedom of Speech and American Democracy Panel, presentation of work-in-progress on constitutionality of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, Sept. 30, 2003 (respondents included Covington & Burling Attorney Rob Kellner and Wilmer, Cutler, & Pickering Attorney Roger Witten).

Washington College of Law at American University, Forum on Campaign Finance Reform, Feb. 20, 2003 (co-panelists included Center for Responsive Politics Executive Director Larry Noble, Professor Jamin Raskin, Common Cause Acting President Donald Simon, and Cooper & Kirk Attorney David Thompson).

University of Pennsylvania Law School, McConnell v. FEC: Understanding the Decision and its Implications Symposium, Critiquing the Decision Panel, May 15, 2003 (co-panelists included Professors Burt Neuborne, Daniel Ortiz, and Nathaniel Persily).

American Constitution Society National Convention in Washington, D.C., served as moderator of The Lost Ideal of Economic Justice Panel, Aug. 1, 2003 (panelists included MALDEF President Antonia Hernandez, Professor Frank Michelman, Dean Gene Nichol, and former National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling).

Washington University School of Law, presentation of work-in-progress on constitutionality of Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, Mar. 17, 2003.

Harvard Law School, BLSA Spring Conference, keynote speaker for Alumni Luncheon, Mar. 1, 2003 (scheduled).

Washington D.C. Election Law Summit, presentation on litigation of voting procedures in the wake of Bush v. Gore, June 25, 2002.

Harvard Law School, BLSA Spring Conference, served as moderator of Law, Public Policy, and Politics Panel, Apr. 5, 2002 (panelists included Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Ralph Boyd, NAACP Washington Bureau Director Hilary Shelton, and Equal Rights Advocates Director of Litigation Sheila Thomas) and panelist on Law and Civil Rights Panel, Apr. 6, 2002 (co-panelists included Professors Adjoa Aiyetoro and Charles Ogletree, and columnists Joe Madison, Armstrong Williams, and Juan Williams).

University of California, Davis, A Conference on Blackness in Global Contexts, The State of Race Panel, Mar. 29, 2002 (co-panelists included Professors Devon Carbado, James Chaffers, Darwin Fishman, and Ariela Gross).

Western New England College of Law, Clason Lecture Series, presentation of work-in-progress on race and campaign finance, Oct. 23, 2001.

American Judicature Society, Financing of State Judicial Campaigns Panel, Aug. 3, 2001 (co-panelists included Ohio ACLU General Counsel Scott Greenwood and Citizen Action Representative Roger Bybee).

AALS Workshop for New Law Teachers, Reports from New Law Teachers Panel, June 23, 2001 (co-panelists will include Professors Leti Volpp and Steven Clark).

United States House of Representatives, Congressional Black Caucus Briefing on McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act of 2001, May 15, 2001.

Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Law and Social Justice Faculty Workshop, presentation of work-in-progress on race and campaign finance, April 24, 2001.

Florida State University College of Law, The Law of Presidential Elections: Issues in the Wake of Florida 2000 (Symposium), State Election Law and Presidential Selection Panel, March, 23, 2001 (co-panelists included Professors Steve Bickerstaff, Richard Briffault, Heather Gerken, and Richard Hasen).

Harvard Law School, Speaker Series on Electoral Reform and Democracy, presentation of work-in-progress on property and campaign finance, Dec. 7, 1999.

University of North Carolina School of Law, Democracy in a New America (Symposium), Race and Money in Politics Panel, February 17, 2001 (co-panelists included Professors Samuel Issacharoff, Sanford Levinson, Daniel Lowenstein, and Terry Smith).

Washington & Lee University School of Law, Law Faculty Workshop, presentation of work-in-progress on property and campaign finance, April 19, 1999.

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

Debevoise & Plimpton - Washington, DC. Associate, Jan. 1997-July 2000. On behalf of the Democratic National Committee, researched and drafted memoranda and managed document production in response to congressional and Department of Justice campaign finance investigations.

Dickinson, Wright, Moon, Van Dusen & Freeman - Detroit, MI. Associate, Sept. 1994-Aug. 1996. Conducted depositions and drafted motions, appellate briefs, and trial and settlement documents on behalf of Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and AAA. Served as lead attorney in federal jury trial involving Eighth Amendment excessive force issues. Drafted leases, deeds, and related real estate documents.

Honorable Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit - Detroit, MI. Judicial Clerk, June 1993-June 1994.

Bar Affiliations
Admitted in Maryland, Michigan, and Washington, DC.

CIVIC EXPERIENCE

American Association of Law Schools - Washington, DC. Member of Planning Committee for 2004 Workshop for New Law Teachers, June 2003-June 2004.

Campaign Legal Center - Washington, DC. Advisory Board Member, June 2003-Present.

Center For Responsive Politics - Washington, DC. Advisory Board Member, June 2003-Present.

Common Cause - Washington, DC. National Governing Board, 2003 - Present.

Election Law Journal - Los Angeles, CA. Editorial Board Member, Apr. 2001-Present.

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights - San Francisco, CA. Member, 2000- 2002.

National Voting Rights Institute - Boston, MA. Board Member, April 1999 - Present.

Appleseed Electoral Reform Law Project at Harvard University - Cambridge, MA. Advisory Board Member, April 1999 - September 2002.

Fannie Lou Hamer Project - Atlanta, GA. Board Member, February 2000 - Present.

NAACP Legal Redress Committee - Detroit, MI. Counsel, May 1995 - August 1996. Drafted legal memorandum and testified before the Judiciary Committees of the Michigan Senate and House of Representatives regarding the application of the Voting Rights Act to judicial electoral redistricting in Michigan.

The People's Community Baptist Church - Silver Spring, MD. Member, 1998-Present.