Professor James E. Fleming Appointed Honorable Paul J. Liacos Professor of Law
Constitutional law and torts professor recognized for his outstanding legal scholarship and dedicated service to BU Law.
In recognition of distinguished contributions to legal scholarship and to Boston University School of Law, Dean Maureen A. O’Rourke has named James E. Fleming, associate dean for intellectual life and professor of law, to the Honorable Paul J. Liacos chaired professorship.
Established to honor a distinguished former faculty member, acclaimed jurist, and chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, the professorship acknowledges Fleming’s scholarly achievements in the fields of constitutional theory and jurisprudence.
“Chief Justice Liacos was a dedicated scholar, jurist, and champion of individual rights,” says Dean O’Rourke. “We are delighted to honor his memory and Professor Fleming’s considerable contributions to scholarship and service to the School through this chaired professorship.”
A noted scholar of constitutional law and legal and political philosophy, Fleming has authored or co-authored five books, most recently, Fidelity to Our Imperfect Constitution: For Moral Readings and Against Originalisms, published by Oxford University Press in August. He also co-authored (with BU Law Professor Linda C. McClain) Ordered Liberty: Rights, Responsibilities, and Virtues (Harvard University Press, 2013).
In his new book, Fleming puts forth a sustained critique of all forms of originalism—“whether old or new, concrete or abstract, living or dead.” Instead, he defends what constitutional theorist Ronald Dworkin called a “moral reading” of the United States Constitution, or a “philosophic approach” to constitutional interpretation: conceptions of the Constitution as embodying abstract moral and political principles—not codifying concrete historical rules or practices. It is the subject of this year’s BU Law Constitution Day program, to be held on September 24.
Fleming is incoming president of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, and will begin his three-year term in January 2016. At the School of Law, he frequently organizes conferences and symposia on constitutional law, and serves as faculty advisor to the Boston University Law Review.