David L. Sloss

John A. and Elizabeth H. Sutro Professor of Law

Professor Sloss is an internationally renowned scholar who has published five books and several dozen book chapters and law review articles. His scholarship covers a broad range of areas, including international law, constitutional law, and international affairs. His scholarship is informed by a decade of experience in the federal government, where he helped draft and negotiate several major international treaties. Professor Sloss is currently writing a book about how the U.S. Supreme Court is subverting American democracy.

Prior to joining the Santa Clara University School of Law faculty, Professor Sloss taught for nine years at Saint Louis University School of Law. Before Sloss started his teaching career, he worked as a litigation associate at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto and clerked for Senior Judge Joseph T. Sneed, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, San Francisco. He also worked for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for nine years before he attended law school. During that time Sloss helped draft and negotiate three major East-West arms control treaties.

Professor Sloss has written a proposed federal statute that is designed to reduce the electronic amplification of lies and misinformation. For more information, see https://coalitionfornationalfactchecking.org/#overview.

Recent Commentary

Ukraine and Moral Equivalence (Markkula Center, May 2022)

The US Should Ban China’s State Media from Social Platforms (The Diplomat, May 2022)

Section 230 and the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality (Transnational Litigation Blog, June 2022) (with Swathi Rajan)

SCOTUS is Violating the Tenth Amendment by not Letting States Enact Gun Control (Truthout, June 2022) (with Greg Shaffer)

The Right of State Governments to Defy the Supreme Court (Markkula Center, July 2022)

Is the Treaty Supremacy Rule Really Dead? (Transnational Litigation Blog, Sept. 2022)

Education

J.D., Stanford University, 1996

M.P.P., Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, 1983

B.A., Hampshire College, 1981

Areas of Specialization

International Law, Constitutional Law, International Human Rights, Treaties, U.S. Foreign Relations Law, Information Warfare

Affiliations and Honors

  • Santa Clara University Award for Sustained Excellence in Scholarship (2023)
  • TYRANTS ON TWITTER: PROTECTING DEMOCRACIES FROM INFORMATION WARFARE named as a finalist for the American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award (2023)
  • Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society award for THE DEATH OF TREATY SUPREMACY: AN INVISIBLE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE (2019)
  • Barristers Award for Best 1L Professor of the Year (2017)
  • ASIL book award for a “preeminent contribution to creative scholarship,” for THE DEATH OF TREATY SUPREMACY: AN INVISIBLE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE (2017)
  • ASIL book award for “high technical craftsmanship and utility to practicing lawyers and scholars,” for INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE (2012)
  • Member, American Law Institute (since 2013)
  • Member of Bar of United States Supreme Court (since 2010)
  • Member, International Law Association (since 2008)
  • Member, American Society of International Law (since 1999). Member of Executive Council (since 2016)
  • Member, American Bar Association (since 1999)
  • Member, State Bar of California (admitted 1997)