Jay Wexler

Since joining the BU faculty in 2001, Jay Wexler has taught courses in Administrative Law, American Indian Law, Environmental Law, First Amendment, Law and Religion, Legislation, and Natural Resources Law. He was granted tenure by the University in 2007 and was awarded the Michael Melton Award for Excellence in Teaching at the law school in 2009. Professor Wexler’s scholarship focuses on church-state law. His articles, essays, and reviews have been published in the BYU Law Review, George Washington Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Texas Law Review, Vanderbilt Law Review, Washington University Law Review, and William and Mary Law Review, among other places.

Professor Wexler is also the author of two non-fiction books: Holy Hullabaloos: A Road Trip to the Battleground of the Church/State Wars, and The Odd Clauses: Understanding the Constitution Through Ten of its Most Curious Provisions, both published by Beacon Press in Boston. According to Publisher’s Weekly’s starred review, Holy Hullabaloos “is a rare treat, a combination of thoughtful analysis and quirky humor that illuminates an issue that rarely elicits a laugh—and that is central to the American body politic.” A review of The Odd Clauses by the History Book Club called the book “magical” and “a gem.” Wexler’s third non-fiction book will focus on worldwide clashes between religious practices and environmental protection, and will also be published by Beacon Press. Professor Wexler often reviews books for theBoston Globe, and his shorter essays have appeared in places like The Huffington Post, Mental Floss, National Geographic’s NewsWatch, Salon, Slate, and Spy.

In addition to speaking on church-state and other constitutional issues around the country, Professor Wexler maintains an international profile. In 2008, he taught constitutional civil liberties at the University of Lyon 3 and then taught church-state law on a Fulbright Fellowship at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. He has also delivered lectures on constitutional and environmental topics in Bangkok, Hanoi, Moscow, Oslo, Santiago, and Warsaw. Prior to attending law school, he lived in Hong Kong, Taipei, and Xiamen, a city in mainland China.

Before coming to BU Law, Professor Wexler worked as a law clerk for Judge David Tatel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the United States Supreme Court. From 1999 to 2001, he was an attorney advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice where he provided advice on constitutional and statutory issues to various members of the executive branch.

In 2005, Professor Wexler published a “study” of Supreme Court oral argument humor in the legal journal The Green Bag. The New York Times subsequently ran a front page story on the study, but unfortunately this did not result in funnier jokes being told from the bench. Wexler tweets @SCOTUSHUMOR.