Cabell Research Professor and Tazewell Taylor Professor of Law
Areas of Specialization
Administrative Law, Environmental Law and Policy, Regulatory Process, Statutory Interpretation, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court, Judicial Nominations, Federalism
Representative Professional Activities and Achievements
Jonathan H. Adler joined the William & Mary law faculty as the Tazwell Taylor Professor of Law and William H. Cabell Research Professor in 2025. Prior to joining the faculty, he was the inaugural Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Professor Adler is the author or editor of seven books, including Climate Liberalism: Perspectives on Liberty, Property and Pollution (Palgrave, 2023), Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane (Brookings Institution Press, 2020), Business and the Roberts Court (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform (AEI Press, 2011).
His articles have appeared in publications ranging from the Harvard Environmental Law Review and Yale Journal on Regulation to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post. He has testified before Congress a dozen times, and his work has been cited in the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2024 study identified Professor Adler as the seventh most cited legal academic in administrative and environmental law from 2019 to 2023.
Professor Adler is a contributing editor to Civitas Outlook and a regular contributor to the popular legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy. A regular commentator on constitutional and regulatory issues, he has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, ranging from the PBS Newshour and National Public Radio to the Fox News Channel and Entertainment Tonight.
Professor Adler is a senior fellow at the Property & Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana. In 2018, Professor Adler was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and helped co-found the organization Checks and Balances. In 2024, Professor Adler was appointed a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Professor Adler clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Articles
Conservation Through Collusion: Antitrust as an Obstacle to Marine Resource Conservation, Jonathan H. Adler
(61 Washington and Lee Law Review 3-78 (2004))Regulating Genetically Modified Foods: Is Mandatory Labeling the Right Answer?, Jonathan H. Adler
(10 Richmond Journal of Law & Technology 41-45 (2004))The Fable of Federal Environmental Regulation: Reconsidering the Federal Role in Environmental Protection, Jonathan H. Adler
(55 Case Western Reserve Law Review 93-113 (2004))Back to the Future of Conservation: Changing Perceptions of Property Rights & Environmental Protection, Jonathan H. Adler
(1 New York University Journal of Law & Liberty 987-1022 (2005))Is Morrison Dead? Assessing a Supreme Drug (Law) Overdose, Jonathan H. Adler
(9 Lewis & Clark Law Review 751-778 (2005))Judicial Federalism and the Future of Federal Environmental Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler
(90 Iowa Law Review 377-474 (2005))Jurisdictional Mismatch in Environmental Federalism, Jonathan H. Adler
(14 New York University Environmental Law Journal 130-178 (2005))Reckoning with Rapanos: Revisiting "Waters of the United States" and the Limits of Federal Wetland Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler
(14 Missouri Environmental Law and Policy Review 1-28 (2006))The Green Costs of Kelo: Economic Development Takings and Environmental Protection, Jonathan H. Adler and Ilya Somin
(84 Washington University Law Review 623-666 (2006))Warming Up to Climate Change Litigation, Jonathan H. Adler
(93 Virginia Law Review In Brief 63-75 (2007))When Is Two a Crowd? The Impact of Federal Action on State Environmental Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler
(31 Harvard Environmental Law Review 67-114 (2007))Getting the Roberts Court Right: A Response to Chemerinsky, Jonathan H. Adler
(54 Wayne Law Review 983-1013 (2008))God, Gaia, the Taxpayer, and the Lorax: Standing, Justiciability, and Separation of Powers After Massachusetts and Hein, Jonathan H. Adler
(20 Regent University Law Review 175-199 (2008))Hothouse Flowers: The Vices and Virtues of Climate Federalism, Jonathan H. Adler
(17 Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review 443-464 (2008))Introduction: Common Law Environmental Protection, Jonathan H. Adler and Andrew P. Morriss
(58 Case Western Reserve Law Review 575-582 (2008))Money or Nothing: The Adverse Environmental Consequences of Uncompensated Land Use Controls, Jonathan H. Adler
(49 Boston College Law Review 301-366 (2008))Reforming Our Wasteful Hazardous Waste Policy, Jonathan H. Adler
(17 New York University Environmental Law Journal 724-756 (2008))Water Marketing as an Adaptive Response to the Threat of Climate Change, Jonathan H. Adler
(31 Hamline Law Review 729-754 (2008))Business, the Environment, and the Roberts Court: A Preliminary Assessment, Jonathan H. Adler
(49 Santa Clara Law Review 943-978 (2009))Standing Still in the Roberts Court, Jonathan H. Adler
(59 Case Western Reserve Law Review 1061-1087 (2009))The Rest is Silence: Chevron Deference, Agency Jurisdiction, and Statutory Silences, Jonathan H. Adler and Nathan Alexander Sales
(2009 University of Illinois Law Review 1497-1565 (2009))A Tale of Two Climate Cases, Jonathan H. Adler
(121 Yale Journal Online 109-113 (2011))Cooperation, Commandeering, or Crowding Out?: Federal Intervention and State Choices in Health Care Policy, Jonathan H. Adler
(20 Kansas Journal of Law & Public Policy 199-221 (2011))Eyes on a Climate Prize: Rewarding Energy Innovation to Achieve Climate Stabilization, Jonathan H. Adler
(35 Harvard Environmental Law Review 1-45 (2011))Heat Expands All Things: The Proliferation of Greenhouse Gas Regulation Under the Obama Administration, Jonathan H. Adler
(34 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 421-452 (2011))Symposium on Commercial Speech and Public Health, Jonathan H. Adler
(21 Health Matrix 1-5 (2011))Interstate Competition and the Race to the Top, Jonathan H. Adler
(35 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 89-99 (2012))Water Rights, Markets, and Changing Ecological Conditions, Jonathan H. Adler
(42 Environmental Law 93-113 (2012))Conservative Principles for Environmental Reform, Jonathan H. Adler
(23 Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum 253-280 (2013))Learning How to Fish: Catch Shares and the Future of Fishery Conservation, Jonathan H. Adler and Nathaniel Stewart
(31 UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 150-197 (2013))Placing "Reins" on Regulations: Assessing the Proposed REINS Act, Jonathan H. Adler
(16 New York University Journal of Legislation and Public Policy 1-37 (2013))Taxation Without Representation: The Illegal IRS Rule to Expand Tax Credits Under the PPACA, Jonathan H. Adler and Michael F. Cannon
(23 Health Matrix 119-195 (2013))Climate Balkanization: Dormant Commerce and the Limits of State Energy Policy, Jonathan H. Adler
(3 LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources 153-193 (2014))Robert Bork & Commercial Speech, Jonathan H. Adler
(10 Journal of Law, Economics & Policy 615-631 (2014))The Conflict of Visions in NFIB v. Sebelius, Jonathan H. Adler
(62 Drake Law Review 937-979 (2014))Dynamic Environmentalism and Adaptive Management: Legal Obstacles and Opportunities, Jonathan H. Adler
(11 Journal of Law, Economics & Policy 133-161 (2015))Marijuana, Federal Power and the States, Jonathan H. Adler
(65 Case Western Reserve Law Review 505-512 (2015))Anti-Disruption Statutory Construction, Jonathan H. Adler
(38 Cardozo Law Review 509-529 (2016))Baptists, Bootleggers & Electronic Cigarettes, Jonathan H. Adler, Roger E. Meiners, Andrew P. Morriss, and Bruce Yandle
(33 Yale Journal on Regulation 313-361 (2016))Category Errors and Executive Power, Jonathan H. Adler
(11 FIU Law Review 357-369 (2016))Compelled Commercial Speech and the Consumer "Right to Know", Jonathan H. Adler
(58 Arizona Law Review 421-476 (2016))Of Kings to Come: The Future of Health Care Reform Still Remains in Federal Court, Jonathan H. Adler
(20 Employee Rights and Employment Policy Journal 133-146 (2016))Persistent Threats to Commercial Speech, Jonathan H. Adler
(25 Journal of Law and Policy 289-316 (2016))Restoring Chevron's Domain, Jonathan H. Adler
(81 Missouri Law Review 983-1001 (2016))The Senate Has No Constitutional Obligation to Consider Nominees, Jonathan H. Adler
(24 George Mason Law Review 15-33 (2016))Introduction: Still in Search of the Pro-Business Court, Jonathan H. Adler
(67 Case Western Reserve Law Review 681-692 (2017))Regulatory Obstacles to Harm Reduction: The Case of Smoking, Jonathan H. Adler
(11 New York University Journal of Law & Liberty 712-753 (2017))Auer Evasions, Jonathan H. Adler
(16 Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy 1-26 (2018))Introduction: Property in Ecology, Jonathan H. Adler
(59 Natural Resources Journal x-xix (2019))Conservative Minimalism and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Jonathan H. Adler
(2020 University of Chicago Law Review Online 28-36)Delegation and Time, Jonathan H. Adler and Christopher J. Walker
(105 Iowa Law Review 1931-1993 (2020))Uncooperative Environmental Federalism 2.0, Jonathan H. Adler
(71 Hastings Law Journal 1101-1125 (2020))Displacement and Preemption of Climate Nuisance Claims, Jonathan H. Adler
(17 Journal of Law, Economics & Policy 217-262 (2022))Super Deference and Heightened Security, Jonathan H. Adler
(74 Florida Law Review 267-317 (2022))Permitting the Future, Jonathan H. Adler
(75 Case Western Reserve Law Review 1-17 (2024))Speech Regulation and Tobacco Harm Reduction, Jonathan H. Adler and Jacob James Rich
(5 Journal of Free Speech Law 103-140 (2024))Standing Without Injury, Jonathan Adler
(59 Wake Forest Law Review 1-60 (2024))Tarnished Gold: The Endangered Species Act at 50, Jonathan H. Adler
(18 FIU Law Review 385-419 (2024))The Delegation Doctrine, Jonathan H. Adler
(Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy: Per Curiam (No. 12, Summer 2024))Climate Change and Constitutional Overreach, Jonathan H. Adler
(72 Drake Law Review 223-254 (2025))Climate Liberalism and Decarbonization, Jonathan H. Adler
(110 Iowa Law Review 1987-2013 (2025))Conferences
The Clean Water Act at 50: Is the Act Obsolete?, Jonathan H. Adler
(73 Case Western Reserve Law Review 207-233 (2022))Reports
Legal and Administrative Pitfalls That May Confront Climate Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler
(Niskanen Center (March 23, 2021))