Ronald Garet

Carolyn Craig Franklin Chair Emeritus in Law and Religion
Last Updated: September 28, 2023

Ronald Garet studies theological ethics and constitutional law, especially in areas where the two fields intersect. He joined USC Gould School of Law in 1981 and taught Constitutional Law; Law, Language, and Values; Law Informed by Faith; and Concepts in American Law. In 2010, Prof. Garet received the William A. Rutter Distinguished Teaching Award.

Garet has written about the authority of the Biblical and constitutional text, about methods of textual interpretation in both fields, and about the meaning of narratives of creation and redemption in American constitutionalism. He is currently working on “To Secure the Blessings.” His recent work includes: “‘Extraordinarily Called upon by the Blessings Which We Have Received,’”(Touro Law Review, 2014), “The Ten Commandments and the Fourteenth Amendment (Hebraic Political Studies, 2009); “With Radiant Countenance: Creation, Redemption, and Revelation” (Michigan State Law Review, 2009); and “The Last Full Measure of Devotion: Sacrifice and Textual Authority” (Cardozo Law Review 2006).

He received his BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard, his PhD in religious studies from Yale, and his JD from USC Gould. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the American Society for Policy and Legal Philosophy. He has served as the faculty advisor to the Public Interest Law Foundation; as president of the USC faculty during the 2004-2005 academic year; and as president of the USC chapter of honor society Phi Kappa Phi during the 2013-2014 academic year.