Thomas Y. Davies
Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law and
National Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor of Law
B.A., 1969, University of Delaware
M.A., 1975, J.D., 1975, Ph.D. (Political Science), 1980, Northwestern University
Thomas Davies
Courses Taught
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Procedure
- Civil Rights Actions
- Constitutional History
About
Professor Davies's special areas of expertise are the investigatory phase of criminal procedure, especially search and seizure law and the related exclusionary rule, and the history of criminal procedure. His research on the effects of the exclusionary rule has been discussed in several U.S. Supreme Court opinions as well as a number of state supreme court opinions. He has appeared of counsel in two Supreme Court search cases and has also been a witness before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on proposed legislation relating to exclusion. His recent research deals with recovering the authentic historical meanings of the provisions of the Bill of Rights that regulate criminal procedure. To date, Professor Davies has published research on the original meaning of the Fourth Amendment, the right against self-incrimination in the Fifth Amendment, and the right of confrontation in the Sixth Amendment, as well as framing-era arrest law. He is currently completing research on the original understanding of "due process of law." Articles by Professor Davies have been published in the American Bar Foundation Research Journal, the Brooklyn Law Review, the Justice System Journal, the Michigan Law Review, the Mississippi Law Journal, the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, the Wake Forest Law Review, and the Tennessee Law Review. Before joining the UT faculty in 1986, Professor Davies practiced law as a corporate litigator in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis and was also a researcher at the American Bar Foundation.