Ronald Garet
USC Gould School of Law

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.

Works in Progress

• "To Secure the Blessings."  USC Law Legal Studies Paper No.10-11.  (July 19, 2010). - (SSRN)
• “‘Our Ancient Faith’: A Translation of the Declaration of Independence” (2001). (Revised as “We Wove our Truths Together,” (2003-2004). - (SSRN)

Articles and Book Chapters

• “Extraordinarily Called upon by the Blessings Which We Have Received.” 30 Touro Law Review 27-34 (2014). - (Hein)
• “Sadness and the Criminal Law,” Harvard Journal of Law & Gender (March 2013). - (www)
• "With Radiant Countenance: Creation, Redemption, and Revelation."  2009 Michigan State Law Review 289-306 (2009). - (Hein)
• "The Ten Commandments and the Fourteenth Amendment."  Vol. 4, No.4 Hebraic Political Studies 399-416 (Fall 2009). - (www)
• “Mouth to Mouth, Person to Person” Maura A. Ryan and Brian F. Linnane, S.J., eds. A Just and True Love: Feminism at the Frontiers of Theological Ethics; Essays in Honor of Margaret A. Farley, (University of Notre Dame Press, 2007).
• "The Last Full Measure of Devotion: Sacrifice and Textual Authority" (Symposium: Text, Tradition and Reason in Comparative Perspective). 28 Cardozo Law Review 277-299 (2006). - (Hein)
• "Three Concepts of Church Autonomy." 2004 Brigham Young University Law Review 1349 (2004). - (Hein)
• "Proclaim Liberty." 74 Southern California Law Review 145 (2000). - (Hein)
• "Judges as Prophets: A Coverian Interpretation." 72 Southern California Law Review 385 (1999). - (Hein)
• "A Tribute to Vice Dean Jerry Wiley." 70 Southern California Law Review 1623 (1997). - (Hein)
• "Deposing Finnis" (Symposium on Natural Law). 4 Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal 605 (1995). - (Hein)
• "Gnostic Due Process" (Symposium: The Sacred Body in Law and Literature). 7 Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities 97 (1995). - (Hein)
• “The Resolution of Independence.” 29 Houston Law Review 867 (1992). - (Hein)
• “Dancing to Music: An Interpretation of Mutuality” 80 Kentucky Law Journal 893 (1992). - (Hein)
• "Creation and Commitment: Lincoln, Thomas, and the Declaration of Independence." 65 Southern California Law Review 1477 (1992). - (Hein)
• "Self-Transformability" (Symposium on Biomedical Technology and Health Care). 65 Southern California Law Review 121 (1991). - (Hein)
• “Natural Law and Creation Stories” J. Roland Pennock and John W. Chapman, ed. Religion, Morality, and the Law: Nomos XXX (New York: New York University Press, 1988), pp.218-262.
• "Meaning and Ending." 96 Yale Law Journal 1801 (1987). - (Hein)
• "Comparative Normative Hermeneutics: Scripture, Literature, Constitution" (Symposium on Interpretation). 58 Southern California Law Review 35 (1984). - (Hein)
• "The Red Bird" (Symposium on Interpretation). 58 Southern California Law Review 237 (1984). - (Hein)

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Politi Fact
May 23, 2023
Re: David B. Cruz

Professor David Cruz was recently interviewed about a controversial bill that was passed in Connecticut. "Paying even modest attention to the bill’s definitions should make it clear beyond doubt that it will not be the source of protections based upon the age of people to whom one is attracted or with whom one has sex," Cruz said.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Robin Craig
April, 2023

"Fish, Whales, and a Blue Ethics for the Anthropocene: How Do We Think About the Last Wild Food in the Twenty-First Century?," 95:6 Southern California Law Review 1307-1343 (April 2023).

Robin Craig
April, 2023

"California Exceptionalism in the Colorado River: A Brief History and Implications for the Future."

Robin Craig
April, 2023

"Toward a Global Sustainable Development Agenda Built on Resilience" (with Murray W. Scown, Craig R. Allen, Lance Gunderson, David G. Angeler, Jorge H. Garcia, & Ahjond Garmestani), Global Sustainability (online publication April 2023).