Ph.: 505-277-1094
Fax: 505-277-1597
Office: 3116
Assistant Professor of Law
B.A. 2000, University of Pennsylvania
M.A. 2003, Johns Hopkins University
J.D. 2004, The George Washington University
Member of the Maryland Bar
Dawinder "Dave" S. Sidhu joined the law school faculty in 2011. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, national security, and civil rights. Selected to participate in the Supreme Court Fellows Program, he is on leave from the law school for the 2013-14 academic year.
Sidhu's scholarly interests include the rights and experiences of marginalized communities, such as the urban poor, post-9/11 detainees, and Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim in the United States after 9/11. He has held research posts at Oxford, Georgetown,Harvard, and Stanford, taught at the University of Baltimore, worked in the policy arm of the headquarters of a federal civil rights office, and served as a law clerk to a federal judge. In terms of pro bono service, Sidhu has drafted several amicus briefs in constitutional and civil rights cases before the Supreme Court and federal courts of appeal. In 2013, Sidhu participated as an official legal observer of military commissions at Guantanamo. His articles and commentary have been published by various academic and popular sources, including the Washington Post, SCOTUSblog, USA Today, Chronicle of Higher Education, Baltimore Sun, and Lawfare. He was elected into the Order of the Coif.
Born and raised in Maryland, Sidhu is thankful for the opportunity to serve the students of the law school and the legal community in New Mexico.
This course involves an in-depth inquiry into the building blocks of civil rights law; freedom of expression (speech and press), equal protection, due process, and religious freedom. There will be discussion of litigation strategy and the decision-making processes of the U.S. Supreme Court.
This course is an introduction to the study of Constitutional Law. The focus will be on the structural framework established by the Constitution, including principles of federalism and the role of the Supreme Court in policing the constitutional order. Among other things, we will study the doctrine of judicial review, the reach of federal legislative power, limits on the reach of state power, the workings of the Supreme Court, and separation of powers and limits on the exercise of federal judicial power.
This seminar explores the fundamental constitutional and legal issues that arise in the national security context. It examines, among other things, the scope of executive wartime power, the role of the courts in times of war, the use of the writ of habeas corpus to challenge unlawful detention, and the rights and experiences of those targeted by governmental national security initiatives. Students will study historical moments, such as the Civil War and World War II, in which these issues are implicated, as well as important post-9/11 developments in the national security arena.
The Unconstitutionality of Urban Poverty, 62 DePaul L. Rev. ____ (forthcoming, 2013).
Religious Freedom and Inmate Grooming Standards, 66 U. Miami L. Rev. 923 (2012).
Shadowing the Flag: Extending the Habeas Writ Beyond Guantánamo, 20 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 39 (2011).
A Crisis of Confidence and Legal Theory: The Economic Downturn and the End of the Doctrine of Efficient Breach, 24 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 357 (2011).
First Korematsu and now Ashcroft v. Iqbal: The Latest Chapter in the Wartime Supreme Court’s Disregard for Claims of Discrimination, 58 Buff. L. Rev. 419 (2010).
Are Blue and Pink the New Brown? The Permissibility of Sex-Segregated Education as Affirmative Action, 17 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 579 (2008).
Oak Creek and the Future of Sikhs in America, Washington Post, Oct. 2, 2012.
Violence against Sikhs Stems from Ignorance and Fear, Baltimore Sun, Aug. 6, 2012.
In the Wake of the Temple Shootings, a New Call for Sikh Leadership, Center for Public Leadership, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Aug. 6, 2012.
A Decade After 9/11, Ignorance Persists,Albuquerque Journal, Dec. 16, 2011.
Civil Rights and the Wartime Supreme Court, SCOTUSBlog, Feb. 22, 2010.
Civil Rights In Wartime: The Post-9/11 Sikh Experience (Ashgate, 2009) (with Neha Singh Gohil).
UNM School of Law
1117 Stanford NE MSC11 6070, 1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
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