Rick Su
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 and immigration. His work has appeared in the Columbia Law Review, the William & Mary Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, and the North Carolina Law Review.
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. Prior to joining the Carolina Law faculty in 2019, Su taught 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
Disbanding Police Agencies (with A. O'Rourke and G. Binder), COLUM. L. REV. (forthcoming 2021).
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
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
Have Cities Abandoned Home Rule?, 44 FORDHAM URB. L. J. 181 (2017).
Westlaw | Lexis/Nexis | Hein | BEPress
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
Urban Politics and the Assimilation of Immigrant Voters, 21 WM. & MARY BILL RTS. J. 653 (2012).
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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 | 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
- Su Comments on lawsuit against Gov. Cooper over COVID-19 executive orders (CBS 17)
- Su: Statue vandalism law Trump cites may not cover Confederate monuments (CBS17)
- 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)
- Su explains state versus federal authority in plan to reopen American economy (CBS 17)
- Tourist Towns Say, ‘Please Stay Away,’ During Coronavirus Lockdowns, Su Comments (Wall Street Journal)
- Su: Judge Questions ’Ouija Board’ Process for Rapid Deportation (Bloomberg)
- Su Discusses Fact-Checking an Attack on Joe Biden about Immigration Deportation, Detention Votes (PolitiFact)