Sanford Levinson

Sanford Victor Levinson (born June 17, 1941) is an American legal scholar, best known for his writings on constitutional law and as a professor at the University of Texas Law School. He is notable for his criticism of the United States Constitution as well as excessive presidential power and has been widely quoted on such topics as the Second Amendment, gay marriage, nominations to the Supreme Court, and other legal issues. He has called for a Second Constitutional Convention of the United States.

Academic career

Sanford Levinson received a bachelor's degree from Duke University, a law degree from Stanford University, and a PhD degree from Harvard University. At one point he was a member of the department of Politics at Princeton. Levinson taught law at Georgetown, Yale, Harvard, New York University, Boston University, Panthéon-Assas University, Central European University in Budapest, and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2001, Levinson was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. In 1980, he joined the University of Texas School of Law at Austin, Texas where he is also a professor of government. He holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law.