Timothy Zick publications | Faculty Author Profiles | William & Mary Law School

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Zick, Timothy

Chancellor Professor and John Marshall Professor of Government and Citizenship

Areas of Specialization

Constitutional Law; Constitutional Law – 1st Amendment (Speech and Press); Constitutional Law – 2nd Amendment; Constitutional Law – 14th Amendment

Teaching Interests

First Amendment; Second Amendment; Constitutional Law; Constitutional Theory

Representative Professional Activities and Achievements

Professor Zick graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University and summa cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, where he received the Francis E. Lucey, S.J. Award for graduating first in his class. While at Georgetown, Professor Zick was a Notes and Comments editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. Following law school, Professor Zick was an associate with the law firms of Williams and Connolly in Washington, D.C., where he assisted in the defense of congressional term limits in the Supreme Court of the United States, and Foley Hoag in Boston. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Levin H. Campbell of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Professor Zick also served as a Trial Attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the United States Department of Justice, where he defended the constitutionality and legality of a variety of federal programs and statutes.

Professor Zick has written on a variety of constitutional issues, with a special focus on the First Amendment. He is the author of four university press books on the subject: Speech Out of Doors: Preserving First Amendment Liberties in Public Places (Cambridge U. Press 2009); The Cosmopolitan First Amendment: Protecting Transborder Expressive and Religious Liberties (Cambridge U. Press 2013); The Dynamic Free Speech Clause: Free Speech and Its Relation to Other Constitutional Rights (Oxford U. Press 2018); and The First Amendment in the Trump Era (Oxford U. Press 2019).

Professor Zick has been a frequent commentator in local, national, and international media regarding public protests and other First Amendment concerns. He testified before Congress on the Occupy Wall Street protests and rights of free speech, assembly, and petition. Professor Zick has been the recipient of the Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2011, 2013 and 2017.

Articles Articles

Firearms and Fora: Constructing Public Carry Doctrine, Timothy Zick

(106 Boston University Law Review 101 (2026))

Public Protest and Civil Unrest, Timothy Zick

(67 Arizona Law Review 459-516 (2025))

Public Protest and Government Immunities, Timothy Zick

(97 Southern California Law Review 1583-1649 (2024))

Second Amendment Exceptionalism: Public Expression and Public Carry, Timothy Zick

(102 Texas Law Review 65-122 (2023))

The Costs of Dissent: Protest and Civil Liabilities, Timothy Zick

(89 George Washington Law Review 233-297 (2021))

Framing the Second Amendment: Gun Rights, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Timothy Zick

(106 Iowa Law Review 229-297 (2020))

The Second Amendment as a Fundamental Right, Timothy Zick

(46 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 621-682 (2019))

Arming Public Protests, Timothy Zick

(104 Iowa Law Review 223-285 (2018))

Managing Dissent, Timothy Zick

(95 Washington University Law Review 1423-1457 (2018))

Justice Scalia and Abortion Speech, Timothy Zick

(15 First Amendment Law Review 288-330 (2017))

Restroom Use, Civil Rights, and Free Speech "Opportunism", Timothy Zick

(78 Ohio State Law Journal 963-999 (2017))

Rights Dynamism, Timothy Zick

(19 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law 791-859 (2017))

The Dynamic Relationship Between Freedom of Speech and Equality, Timothy Zick

(12 Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy 13-75 (2016))

First Amendment Cosmopolitanism, Skepticism, and Democracy, Timothy Zick

(76 Ohio State Law Journal 705-727 (2015))

Professional Rights Speech, Timothy Zick

(47 Arizona State Law Journal 1289-1360 (2015))

Rights Speech, Timothy Zick

(48 University of California, Davis Law Review 1-71 (2014))

Falsely Shouting Fire in a Global Theater: Emerging Complexities of Transborder Expression, Timothy Zick

(65 Vanderbilt Law Review 125-187 (2012))

The First Amendment in Trans-Border Perspective: Toward a More Cosmopolitan Orientation, Timothy Zick

(52 Boston College Law Review 941-1025 (2011))

Property As/And Constitutional Settlement, Timothy Zick

(104 Northwestern University Law Review 1361-1440 (2010))

Summum, the Vocality of Public Places, and the Public Forum, Timothy Zick

(2010 Brigham Young University Law Review 2203-2242)

Territoriality and the First Amendment: Free Speech At - And Beyond - Our Borders, Timothy Zick

(85 Notre Dame Law Review 1543-1628 (2010))

Constitutional Displacement, Timothy Zick

(86 Washington University Law Review 515-608 (2009))

"Duty-Defining Power" and the First Amendment's Civil Domain, Timothy Zick

(109 Columbia Law Review Sidebar 116-125 (2009))

Active Sovereignty, Timothy Zick

(21 St. John's Journal of Law & Public Policy 541-573 (2007))

Clouds, Cameras, and Computers: The First Amendment and Networked Public Places, Timothy Zick

(59 Florida Law Review 1-69 (2007))

Property, Place, and Public Discourse, Timothy Zick

(21 Washington University Journal of Law and Policy 173-223 (2006))

Space, Place, and Speech: The Expressive Topography, Timothy Zick

(74 George Washington Law Review 439-505 (2006))

Speech and Spatial Tactics, Timothy Zick

(84 Texas Law Review 581-651 (2006))

Are the States Sovereign?, Timothy Zick

(83 Washington University Law Quarterly 229-337 (2005))

Constitutional Empiricism: Quasi-Neutral Principles and Constitutional Truths, Timothy Zick

(82 North Carolina Law Review 115-221 (2003))

Marbury Ascendant: The Rehnquist Court and the Power to "Say What the Law Is", Timothy Zick

(59 Washington and Lee Law Review 839-917 (2002))

Angry White Males: The Equal Protection Clause and "Classes of One", Timothy Zick

(89 Kentucky Law Journal 69-134 (2001))

Congress, the Internet, and the Intractable Pornography Problem: The Child Online Protection Act of 1998, Timothy Zick

(32 Creighton Law Review 1147-1204 (1999))

The Consent of the Governed: Recall of United States Senators, Timothy Zick

(103 Dickinson Law Review 567-611 (1999))

Prisoners' Rights, Timothy Zick

(79 Georgetown Law Journal 1253-1295 (1991))

Reporting Substantial Product Safety Hazards Under the Consumer Product Safety Act: The Products Liability Interface, Timothy Zick

(80 Georgetown Law Journal 387-412 (1991))

Audio Audio

Practical Equality: Discussion with Author Robert L. Tsai, Timothy Zick and Robert L. Tsai

Blogs Blogs

Firearms Law Workshop Mini-Symposium, Part III: Framing the Second Amendment: Gun Rights, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, Timothy Zick

(Second Thoughts (2019))

The President’s Utterly Un-American Response to Dissent, Timothy Zick

(American Constitution Society Blog (July 22, 2019))

TRUST and Retaliation: The First Amendment and Trump’s Taxes, Timothy Zick

(American Constitution Society Blog (July 31, 2019))

Judge Kavanaugh and Freedom of Expression, Timothy Zick

(SCOTUSblog (August 7, 2018))

President Trump: Challenging Core First Amendment Principles, Timothy Zick

(American Constitution Society Blog (August 20, 2018))

The First Amendment, the Second Amendment, and 3D Firearms, Timothy Zick

(American Constitution Society Blog (August 8, 2018))

The First Amendment and the World, Timothy Zick

(Ten Miles Square (January 23, 2016))

Ferguson — What Now?, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 26, 2014))

The Cost of Public Protest, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 24, 2014))

Zick on Public Protest and Ferguson, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 20, 2014))

The First Amendment’s Global Dimension, Timothy Zick

(I-CONnect (February 19, 2013))

Architectural Trusteeship, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (February 7, 2012))

(Government) Speech Spaces, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (February 10, 2012))

Speech and Spatiality, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (February 4, 2012))

An Anthem for OWS?, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 27, 2011))

Arab Spring on Wall Street?, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 22, 2011))

Censoring the Internet, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 26, 2011))

Cosmopolitanism and First Amendment Exceptionalism, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 20, 2011))

Exporting the First Amendment, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 15, 2011))

First Amendment Cosmopolitanism, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 13, 2011))

More on the Wall Street Protest, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 27, 2011))

New Faces of the First Amendment: The Philosopher, the Pastor, and the Publisher, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 6, 2011))

Our Exceptional Constitution, Timothy Zick

OWS and the Constitution, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 20, 2011))

OWS, Discourse, and Narratives, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 24, 2011))

Pepper-Spraying of Wall Street Protesters Under Investigation, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 29, 2011))

Public Protest 1.0, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 12, 2011))

Stolen Valor Act Discussion, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 13, 2011))

Sustaining a Movement, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 3, 2011))

The First Amendment’s Trans-Border Dimension, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 8, 2011))

The Occupation — Place, Balance, and Proximity, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 17, 2011))

The Power of Place, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 16, 2011))

The Summer of Discontent: Creative Repertoires of Public Protest, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 2, 2011))

Trans-Border Exclusion and Execution, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 7, 2011))

Blogging Etiquette: Blawpologies and Self-Promotion, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 1, 2009))

Buffers, Bubbles, and Abortion Speech, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 4, 2009))

Constitutional Domain and the Court, Timothy Zick

(Opinio Juris (July 28, 2009))

Cross-Border Speech Conflicts, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 13, 2009))

Cyber-Territoriality, Timothy Zick

(Opinio Juris (July 29, 2009))

Displacement, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 5, 2009))

Fifth Avenue Freeze-Out, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 19, 2009))

Flipping the Bird, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 27, 2009))

Foreign Contacts and the First Amendment, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 23, 2009))

Free Speech and Civil Liability, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 16, 2009))

Free Speech and the Furrier, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 9, 2009))

Objecting in the Open: Why Occupy Wall Street Chose Public Spaces, Timothy Zick

(This Side of the Pond (November 21, 2011))

Property As/And Constitutional Settlement, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 11, 2009))

Speech and the Identity Crisis, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 2, 2009))

Taking My Leave, Timothy Zick

(PrawfsBlawg (November 30, 2009))

The Dark Side of Territoriality, Timothy Zick

(Opinio Juris (July 27, 2009))

Activism and Terrorism, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 9, 2008))

Election Apparel and the Fashion Police, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 15, 2008))

Freedom of Expression Elsewhere, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 12, 2008))

Meatspaces, Cyberspaces, and (Relative) Expressive Freedom, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 18, 2008))

Pole Dancing Reprise/Reprieve, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (October 17, 2008))

Pole Dancing: The New Pilates?, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 4, 2008))

Porn Air, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 2, 2008))

The Crash and a Third Bloomberg Term, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 30, 2008))

The Fleeting Expletives Case, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 26, 2008))

The Political Conventions and the First Amendment, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 10, 2008))

The Press and Preemptive Arrests, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 22, 2008))

The Reaction to Convention Militarization, Timothy Zick

(Concurring Opinions (September 8, 2008))

The Sanctity of Polling Places, Timothy Zick