Ron Den Otter

Professor

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​Classes Taught

American Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Jurisprudence, American Government, Contemporary Political Theory, Critical Issues in American Politics, Constitutional Theory, and Judicial Process

Publications

• Books:

  • Enclaves of Democracy: The Importance of Free Speech in American Public Schools (University of Kansas Press, forthcoming, May 2026).

  • In Defense of Plural Marriage (Cambridge University Press, 2015).

  • Judicial Review in an Age of Moral Pluralism (Cambridge University Press, 2009).

• Articles:

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “The Unconstitutionality of Student Dress Codes,” Vermont Law Review (forthcoming 2026)

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “The Fundamental Right to Polygynous Marriage,” Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 26 (2) (2025): 685-713.

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Constitutional Reform and the Problem of Distributive Justice,” New Political Science 46 (3) (2024): 328-352.

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “A Constitutional Right to a Universal Basic Income,” New Political Science 46 (2) (2024): 171-192.

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Three May Not Be a Crowd: The Case for a Constitutional Right to Plural Marriage,” Emory Law Journal (2015): 1977-2046.

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Can a Liberal Take His Own Side in an Argument? The Case for John Rawls’s Idea of Political Liberalism,” Saint Louis University Law Journal 49 (2005): 319-366 (reprinted in John Rawls and the Law)

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “The Place of Moral Judgment in Constitutional Interpretation,” Indiana Law Review 37 (2004): 375-416.

  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Democracy, Not Deference: An Egalitarian Theory of Judicial Review,” Kentucky Law Journal 91 (2002-2003): 615-666.

• Chapters in Edited Volumes:
  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Democracy and Civil Rights,” in De Gruyter Handbook (forthcoming)
  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “The Importance of Constitutional Public Reason,” in Public Reason and Courts, ed. Silje Aambo Langvatn, Mattias Kumm, Wojciech Sadurski (Cambridge University Press, 2020): 66-89.
  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “A Perfectionist Argument for Legal Recognition of Polyamorous Relationships,” in Philosophical Foundations of Children’s and Family Law, ed. Elizabeth Brake and Lucinda Ferguson (Oxford University Press, 2018): 95-114.
  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Introduction,” in Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Perspectives on Martial Possibilities, ed. Ronald C. Den Otter (Lexington Books, 2016): 1-6.
  • Ronald C. Den Otter, “Plural Marriage, Exemptions, and the Redundancy of the Free Exercise Clause,” in Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: Perspectives on Martial Possibilities, ed. Ronald C. Den Otter (Lexington Books, 2016): 41-62.