Rick Su
Arch T. Allen Distinguished Professor of Law
Areas of Expertise
- Asylum and Refugee Law
- Federalism
- Immigration Law
- Land Use Law
- Property Law and Real Estate
- State and Local Government Law
Biography
Rick Su is a Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he teaches and writes in the areas of local government law, immigration, and federalism. His research focuses on the intersection between cities, immigration, and the criminal justice system. His work has appeared in the Columbia Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Emory Law Journal, and North Carolina Law Review. He is also a co-author of the casebook “State and Local Government Law”.
Su received his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 2001 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2004. After graduating from law school, he clerked for The Honorable Stephen Reinhardt on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and worked in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. He started his teaching career at the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he won the faculty teaching award in 2009 and 2015. He was a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School in 2015 and Washington University in St. Louis School of Law in 2018.
Education
- J.D. (Magna Cum Laude), Harvard University (2004)
- B.A. (Magna Cum Laude), English; Asian & Middle-Eastern Languages and Lit., Dartmouth College (2001)
Selected Publications
Designing Sanctuary, 122 MICH. L. REV. 809 (2024).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN
Defunding Police Agencies (with A. O’Rourke and G. Binder), 71 EMORY L.J. 1197 (2022).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Disbanding Police Agencies (with A. O'Rourke and G. Binder), 121 COLUM. L. REV. 1327 (2021).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Democracy in Rural America, 98 N.C. L. REV. 837 (2020).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
The First Anti-Sanctuary Law: Proposition 187 and the Transformation of Immigration Enforcement, 53 U.C. DAVIS L. REV. 1983 (2020).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Anti-Sanctuary and Immigration Localism (with P. Gulasekaram & R. Cuison Villazor), 119 COLUM. L. REV. 837 (2019).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress | Document Link
Intrastate Federalism, 19 U. PA. J. CONST. L. 191 (2016).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
The States of Immigration, 54 WM. & MARY L. REV. 1339 (2013).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
Local Fragmentation as Immigration Regulation, 47 HOUS. L. REV. 367 (2010) (Excerpted in GERALD E. FRUG ET AL., LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS 854 (5th ed. 2010)).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
A Localist Reading of Local Immigration Regulations, 86 N.C. L. REV. 1619 (2008), excerpted in GERALD E.FRUG ET AL., LOCAL GOVERNMENT LAW:CASES AND MATERIALS 840(5thed. 2010). Republished in 29 IMMIGR. & NAT'LITY L.REV. 741 (2008).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | SSRN | Hein | BEPress
In the Media
- Do pro-gun "Second Amendment sanctuaries" threaten a constitutional crisis? Su quoted. (Salon)
- Su Comments on Vestige of the Jim Crow South: North Carolina’s Literacy Test (WUNC Politics)
- Su Comments on Texas Roadblock to Biden's Deportation Pause (Bloomberg)
- Charlotte father thought he was a US citizen. Now, he’s facing deportation. Su explains citizenship laws(Charlotte Observer)
- Biden’s Plan for a Deportation Moratorium Hits a Texas Roadblock (Bloomberg)
- Su Comments on NC's Anti-Discrimination Laws (NBC News)
- Su comments on Trump administration trying to sabotage Biden immigration plans with last-minute deals (NBC News)
- Su: The Two Sides of Sanctuary (Duke Center for Firearms Law)
- Su talks about the legality of suspending all immigration in the U.S. (The Dan Abrams Show)
- Tourist Towns Say, ‘Please Stay Away,’ During Coronavirus Lockdowns, Su Comments (Wall Street Journal)
- Su: Judge Questions ’Ouija Board’ Process for Rapid Deportation (Bloomberg)