William Araiza Named Stanley A. August Professor of Law

William Araiza has been named the Stanley A. August Professor of Law. An expert in administrative and constitutional law, he has a particular focus on First Amendment law and the legal concept of equal protection animus.

In his book, Animus: A Short Introduction to Bias in the Law (NYU Press, 2017), Araiza turned to the concept of animus to explain why some instances of discrimination are unconstitutional. His recent paper, “Resurrecting Animus/Renewing Intent,” Brooklyn Law School, Legal Studies Paper No. 645 (2020), examines the Supreme Court’s rejection of the doctrine in its recent decision on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Araiza is also the author of several casebooks, including First Amendment Law: Freedom of Expression & Freedom of Religion, Fourth Edition, with Arthur D. Hellman, Thomas E. Baker, and Ashutosh A. Bhagwat (Carolina Academic Press, 2018) and Constitutional Law: Cases, Approaches, and Application, Second Edition (Carolina Academic Press, 2020). He is a member of the American Law Institute and previously held several leadership positions with the Association of American Law Schools and the Southeastern Association of Law Schools.

“I am honored to be named the Stanley A. August Professor of Law,” said Araiza. “I am deeply appreciative that my colleagues saw fit to recognize my work in this way, and I hope the work I produce in the future will validate their regard.”

The Stanley A. August chair was established by an estate gift in 2013.

Araiza clerked for Judge William Norris of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and then for Justice David Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court before practicing with two large law firms in Los Angeles. Prior to joining the faculty at Brooklyn Law School, Araiza served as the Associate Dean for Faculty and the Rev. Richard A. Vachon, S.J. Fellow and Professor of Law at Loyola Law School Los Angeles.