About the Law Review

By publishing an annual volume of legal writing containing both professional and student work, the Law Review provides a forum for academic treatment of legal issues, offers a unique educational opportunity for its student members, and aids practitioners in understanding recent developments in the law. Members of the legal community generally consider law reviews persuasive reference sources and significant avenues to effect legal and social reform. During the last decade, state and federal courts, including the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuit Courts of Appeal, have cited the William & Mary Law Review more than two hundred times.  In 2005, Justice Scalia cited the William & Mary Law Review in his dissent from the United States Supreme Court's decision finding that the posting of the Ten Commandments in a Kentucky courthouse violated the Establishment Clause. See McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union, 125 S. Ct. 2722, 2750 (2005) (Scalia, J., dissenting). More recently, in 2008, Justice Stevens cited the William & Mary Law Review in his dissent from the Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, 128 S. Ct. 2783, 2839 (2008) (Stevens, J., dissenting), where the Court struck down a handgun ban under the Second Amendment.