Professor Dawinder "Dave" S. Sidhu

Assistant Professor of Law
Regents Lectureship
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 teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, national security, and civil rights.  His scholarly interests concern the rights and experiences of marginalized communities, including the urban poor, post-9/11 detainees, and Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim in the United States after 9/11.

A rising public intellectual, Sidhu has explored these and related topics in law review articles (published in the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal and Miami Law Review, etc.), scholarly essays (published by the University of Pennsylvania Law Review and Georgetown Law Journal, etc.), general commentary (published by the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun, etc.) and blogs (published by SCOTUSblog and Lawfare, etc.).  Sidhu co-authored a book, Civil Rights in Wartime: The Post-9/11 Sikh Experience (Ashgate). 

Before joining UNM in 2011, Sidhu taught at the University of Baltimore School of Law, held research/fellowship posts at Harvard, Georgetown, and Stanford universities, worked as a staff attorney in the policy arm of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, and clerked for U.S. District Judge David. G. Campbell.  Sidhu has drafted, on a pro bono basis, amicus briefs for scholars and community-based organizations in several cases: Ashcroft v. Iqbal (S. Ct.), al-Maqaleh v. Obama (D.C. Cir.), Padilla v. Yoo (9th Cir.), United States v. Hatch (10th Cir.), and Knight v. Thompson (11th Cir.).

Sidhu was elected into the Order of the Coif.  Born and raised in Maryland, he is member of the Maryland Bar and is a graduate of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Leadership Academy.

Contact Information

Ph.: 505-277-1094
Fax: 505-277-0068
Office: 3116
Email: