Mary Jane Morrison
ProfessorEmail: mmorrison@gw.hamline.edu
Phone: 651 523-2892
B.A., University of Florida
M.A., University of Illinois
J.D., College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Professor Morrison teaches analysis of statutes, treaties, and constitutions on points ranging from the very straight forward to the highly abstract and philosophical. Because this is a broad range, she regularly "draws road maps" for her students. She also is a notorious punster.
Dr. Morrison teaches Constitutional Law, including Minnesota Constitutional Law; and Criminal Law, including a homicide seminar. She has published several articles on constitutional law and conflicts of law, and is the author of The Minnesota State Constitution (Greenwood Press 2002).
Dr. Morrison is a member of both the Minnesota and Virginia Bars. Contributing her time and legal talent, she has provided pro bono legal work in the area of constitutional and civil rights issues, was a guardian ad litem for abused children in Ramsey County and served on the Legal Redress Committee of the St. Paul Branch of the NAACP. She currently serves on the Human Rights Committee of The Phoenix Residence, Inc. She also provides volunteer ombudsman services to a Department of Defense agency for members of the National Guard and Reserves and their employers.
Through an ABA project, she advised Albania, Lithuania, and Romania on developing their constitutions. Professor Morrison has taught philosophy at the University of Illinois and the College of William and Mary. During law school, she was editor-in-chief of the Colonial Lawyer and won awards in several moot court competitions.
Most recently she has spoken on dedicated-fund clauses in state constitutions before various bar associations and public policy think tanks. She also has been asked to serve as a panelist on the Minnesota Constitution at the state bar association's annual meeting (summer 2008). She previously served as a panelist on "Understanding the Patriot Act" with A.G. Hatch and representatives from the Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Greater St. Paul Area Council of Churches, sponsored by the Roseville Human Rights Commission. Professor Morrison also co-presented at the Regional Lavender Law 2006 on a review and preview of decisions and cases facing the United States Supreme Court, with special attention to the impact Chief Justice John Roberts will have on the Supreme Court.
Publications
- THE MINNESOTA STATE CONSTITUTION: A REFERENCE GUIDE (2002).
- Exclusionary Rule Choice of Law, 17 SEARCH & SEIZURE L. RPT. 1 (1990).
- Constitutional Reasoning for Rights,
54 MO. L. REV. 29 (1989).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Excursions Into the Nature of Legal Language,
37 CLEVElLAND ST. L. REV. 271 (1989); reprinted in Law and Language 1 (Frederick Schaeur, ed., 1993).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Choice of Law for Unlawful Searches,
41 OKLA. L. REV. 579 (1988); reprinted in 2 CRIM. PRAC. L. REV. 35 (1989).
Westlaw HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Getting a Rule Right and Writing a Wrong Rule: The IRS Demands a Return on All Punitive Damages,
17 CONN. L. REV. 39 (1984).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Death of Conflicts,
29 VILL. L. REV. 313 (1984).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - I Imply What You Infer Unless You Are a Court: Reporter's Note to Restatement (Second) of Contracts Section 19 (1980),
35 OKLA. L. REV. 707 (1982).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline PDF - Technical Language (and the Law),
10 COLONIAL LAW. 18 (1980).
HeinOnline (Hamline Users) HeinOnline