U.S. Supreme Court across decades draws on Cincinnati Law faculty research

The scholarship of University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty has long been recognized at the highest levels of the judiciary, including repeated citations by the United States Supreme Court. Most recently, the work of Michael Solimine, Donald P. Klekamp Professor of Law, was cited by Justice Clarence Thomas in Louisiana v. Callais, 145 S. Ct. 2608 (2025).

In that case, the Court considered whether: (1) the majority of a three-judge district court erred in concluding that race predominated in the Louisiana legislature’s enactment of S.B. 8; (2) the law failed strict scrutiny; (3) the law should have been evaluated under the preconditions set forth in Thornburg v. Gingles; and (4) the action was non-justiciable. Professor Solimine’s article, The Three-Judge District Court in Voting Rights Litigation, 30 U. Mich. J.L. Ref. 79 (1996), is quoted in Footnote 2 of Justice Thomas’s dissenting opinion from the order, which set the case for reargument in the 2025 Term.

Professor Solimine’s work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court on several occasions. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg referenced his scholarship in two decisions:

• Revitalizing Interlocutory Appeals in the Federal Coaurts, 58 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1165 (1990), cited in Gelboim v. Bank of Am. Corp., 574 U.S. 405 (2015).
• Deciding to Decide: Class Action Certification and Interlocutory Review by the United States Courts of Appeals Under Rule 23(f), 41 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1531 (2000) (co-authored with Christine Oliver Hines ’99), cited in Microsoft Corp. v. Baker, 582 U.S. 23 (2017).

Beyond Professor Solimine, numerous Cincinnati Law faculty members’ scholarship has also been recognized by the Court:

• Emily Houh, Gustavus Henry Wald Professor of the Law and Contracts, co-authored an article, Cracking the Egg: Which Comes First—Stigma or Affirmative Action?, 96 Cal. L. Rev. 1299 (2008) that was cited in Students for Fair Admission v. President & Fellows of Harvard, 143 S. Ct. 2141(2023) (Sotomayor, J., dissenting).
• Timothy K. Armstrong, Professor of Law, authored an article, Chevron Deeference and Agency Self-Interest, 13 Cornell J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 203 (2004), that was cited by Justice Neil Gorsuch in Scenic America, Inc. v. Department of Transportation, 583 U.S. 936 (2017)
• Barbara Black (Former Professor), Securities Commentary: The Second Circuit’s Approach to the “in Connection With” Requirement of Rule 10b-5, 53 Brooklyn L. Rev. 539 (1987), cited in Stoneridge Inv. Partners v. Scientific Atlanta, 128 S. Ct. 761, 770 (2008).
• Robert J. Martineau (Former Professor), The Supreme Court and State Regulation of the Legal Profession, 8 Hastings Const. L.Q. 199 (1981), cited in Frazier v. Heebe, 482 U.S. 641 (1987).
  • Contempt of Court: Eliminating the Confusion Between Civil and Criminal Contempt, 50 U. Cin. L. Rev. 677 (1981), cited in United Mine Workers v. Bagwell, 512 U.S. 821 (1994).
• Kenneth L. Aplin (Former Professor), Sentence Increases on Retrial after North Carolina v. Pearce, 39 U. Cin. L. Rev. 427 (1970), cited in Chaffin v. Stynchcombe, 412 U.S. 17 (1973).
• Jorge L. Carro (Former Professor) and Andrew R. Brann (Former Librarian), Use of Legislative Histories by the United States Supreme Court: A Statistical Analysis, 9 J. Legis. 282 (1982), cited in Wisconsin Public Intervenor v. Mortier, 501 U.S. 597 (1991) (Scalia, J., concurring).
• Jean Braucher (Former Professor), Contract Versus Contractarianism: The Regulatory Role of Contract Law, 47 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 697 (1990), cited in American Airlines, Inc. v. Wolens, 513 U.S. 219 (1995) (O’Connor, J., concurring and dissenting).