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.
Blogs
The State of the First Amendment, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 29, 2008))The University Campus as “Useless Appendage”, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 6, 2008))A Rush To Condemn, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 4, 2007))Be It Resolved . . ., Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 13, 2007))Campus Speech in the “Post-Virginia Tech World”, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 18, 2007))Constitutional Displacement, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 12, 2007))Deterring Protesters, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 5, 2007))“Facebook in the Flesh”, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 17, 2007))Funerals and Free Speech, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 30, 2007))May Day Mea Culpa, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 11, 2007))Please Don’t Feed The Homeless, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 9, 2007))Public Protest, Militarization, and Critical Democratic Moments, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 4, 2007))Second Life and Cyber-Activism, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 21, 2007))Student Tasered At Kerry Forum, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 18, 2007))The Contemporary Protest Movement, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 10, 2007))The First Amendment As/And Harassment, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 1, 2007))The Nanny State — It Takes A Village, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 15, 2007))The Noose, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 23, 2007))The People Out of Doors — In Trees, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 13, 2007))The Youngstown Question and the Presidential Contest, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (October 25, 2007))Thoughts On Jena and the Civil Rights Movement, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 26, 2007))War and the Politics of Free Speech, Timothy Zick
(Concurring Opinions (September 23, 2007))Book Reviews
Free Speech Idealism, Timothy Zick
(55 Tulsa Law Review 303-309 (2020))Recovering the Assembly Clause, Timothy Zick
(91 Texas Law Review 375-402 (2012))Re-Defining Reproductive Freedom, Timothy Zick
(21 Harvard Women's Law Journal 327-339 (1998))Briefs
Brief of First Amendment Scholars as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner, Tabatha Abu El-Haj, Timothy Zick, and Hyland Hunt
Brief of Constitutional Law Professors as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent, Vincent Levy, Timothy Zick, and Gregory P. Magarian
Conferences
New Threats to Campus Protest, Timothy Zick
(23 First Amendment Law Review 355-385 (2025))Abortion Litigation and Second Amendment Litigation After Dobbs and Bruen (recording), Institute of Bill of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School; Robert Barnes; Erin Murphy; Pam Karlan; Timothy Zick; Willy Jay; and Adam Liptak
(2022-2023 Supreme Court Preview session recording)Moot Court: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen (recording), Institute of Bill of Rights Law at The College of William & Mary Law School, Tiffany Wright, Meaghan VerGow, Joan Biskupic, Pamela Harris, Stephanos Bibas, Patricia Millett, Kevin Newsom, Pratik A. Shah, Jess Bravin, Greg Stohr, and Timothy Zick
(2021-2022 Supreme Court Preview session recording)Section 7: Constitutional Law (recording), Institute of Bill of Rights Law at The College of William & Mary Law School, Timothy Zick, David Strauss, Adam Liptak, Jeffrey Fisher, and Paul Clement
(2019-2020 Supreme Court Preview)Editorials
The Constitutional Case for "Red Flag" Laws, Timothy Zick
(Jurist (December 6, 2019))Protests in Peril, Timothy Zick
(U.S. News & World Report Weekly (November 20, 2017))What Trump Misses About Free Speech, Timothy Zick
(U.S. News & World Report Weekly (September 26, 2017))Why You Should Doubt Reports that the First Amendment Would Protect Gen. Flynn from Prosecution under the Logan Act, Timothy Zick
(Just Security (February 28, 2017))Interviews
Q&A with Professor Timothy Zick, Author of "Managed Dissent: The Law of Public Protest", William & Mary Law School and Timothy Zick
(W&M Law School News (June 26, 2023))Protesting in America, Timothy Zick
(Vital Interests Online Forum, Center on National Security, Fordham Law (January 28, 2021))Bloomberg Law Brief: Elonis Opinion, June Grasso, Michael Best, Timothy Zick, and Bill Marshall
(Bloomberg Radio (June 1, 2015))Bloomberg Law Brief: Court Weighs Social Media Threats, Timothy Zick and June Grasso
(Bloomberg Radio (December 3, 2014))When Free Speech and Free Enterprise Collide, Cathy Lewis, Timothy Zick, and Joe Howell
(Hearsay with Cathy Lewis (August 20, 2012))Right of the Occupiers, Jimmy Barrett and Timothy Zick
(1140 NewsRadio WRVA (October 27, 2011))Magazine Articles
Is the Supreme Court Ready to Walk Back Last Term's Historically Awful Guns Ruling?, Timothy Zick
(Slate (June 23, 2023))Making True Threats Is a Crime: But What Counts as True?, Timothy Zick
(The Atlantic (April 12, 2023))The Next Fight Over Guns in America, Timothy Zick and Diana Palmer
(The Atlantic (June 23, 2022))The Second Amendment Has Become a Threat to the First, Diana Palmer and Timothy Zick
(The Atlantic (October 27, 2021))News
What Does the Alex Jones Case Mean for the First Amendment and Disinformation? Leading Scholars, Lawyers Provide Analysis, George Freeman, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, Lynn Oberlander, and Timothy Zick
(First Amendment Watch (August 8, 2022))The First Amendment Protects Military Funeral Protests, Timothy Zick
(U.S. News & World Report Weekly (July 6, 2010))Newsletters
Executive Watch: Introduction, Timothy Zick
(First Amendment News (February 12, 2025))Executive Watch: The Breadth and Depth of the Trump Administration's Threat to the First Amendment, Timothy Zick
(First Amendment News (April 9, 2025))Executive Watch: Trump's Weaponization of Civil Lawsuits, Timothy Zick
(First Amendment News (March 18, 2025))Executive Watch: Zick on Executive Orders and Official Orthodoxies, Timothy Zick
(First Amendment News (May 8, 2025))Other
First Amendment Scholar Timothy Zick Dismantles Trump v. CNN Lawsuit, Timothy Zick
(First Amendment Watch (October 24, 2022))Podcasts
Timothy Zick on Public Protests and the Law, Timothy Zick and Keith E. Whittington
(The Academic Freedom Podcast (January 9, 2025))Bruen and the Distorted History of Gun Regulation, Brooke Gladstone and Timothy Zick
(On the Media (WNYC Studios) (July 1, 2022))'Cheap Speech' and SCOTUS on Speech, June Grasso, Richard Hasen, and Timothy Zick
(Bloomberg Law (May 7, 2022))Constitutional Law, Protests, and Dissent with Timothy Zick, Jamie Miller and Timothy Zick
(Northwestern Undergraduate Law Journal Speaker Series (July 10, 2020))Trump and the First Amendment: A Conversation with Timothy Zick, Aaron Freiwald and Timothy Zick
(Good Law | Bad Law (January 17, 2020))Responses or Comments
Legal Scholars Weigh In on the Lasting Significance of Dominion v. Fox, Samantha Barbas, Martin Garbus, Lyrissa Lidsky, Timothy Zick, and Sandra Baron
(First Amendement Watch (April 20, 2023))Seditious Conspiracy Charge Against Oath Keepers Founder and Others in Jan. 6 Riot Faces First Amendment Hurdle, Timothy Zick
(The Conversation (January 14, 2022))Videos
First Amendment Under Fire: Policing Protests, Jeffrey Bellin, Racehl Harmon, Timothy Zick, and Claire Gastañaga
Supreme Court Preview 2014-2015: First Amendment (recording), Timothy Zick, Walter E. Dellinger III, Paul Smith, and Dahlia Lithwick
FCC v. Fox Television Moot Court, Robert Barnes, Joan Biskupic, John H. Blume, Erwin Chemerinsky, Thomas C. Goldstein, Linda Greenhouse, John Oldham McGinnis, David G. Savage, Paul M. Smith, William W. Van Alstyne, and Timothy Zick