Ilya Somin Joins our Advisory Council
The Society for the Rule of Law is pleased to announce that Ilya Somin has joined our Advisory Council.
Ilya Somin is a Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, and the B. Kenneth Simon Chair of Constitutional Studies at the Cato Institute. He is a highly influential lawyer, academic, and commentator, whose writings have been cited in multiple decisions by the United States Supreme Court, lower federal courts, and state supreme courts. Recently, Professor Somin was co-counsel for the plaintiffs in V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump- an experience which he discusses in an SRL webinar. He writes regularly for the popular law and politics blog, the Volokh Conspiracy, now affiliated with Reason magazine. He has also authored several influential books, including, Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022), Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016), and The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016). From 2006 to 2013, Professor Somin served as a Co-Editor for the Supreme Court Economic Review.
Somin is a frequent contributor to major academic journals and media outlets. He has written pieces for the Yale Law Journal, Stanford Law Review, Critical Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Northwestern University Law Review, and others. Somin has also published articles in a variety of widely circulated press outlets, including the The Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and the US News and World Report. He has been quoted or interviewed by Time, Newsweek, The Economist, the Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the Associated Press, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, BBC, Al Jazeera, Reuters, , and the Voice of America.
Somin received his J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.A. in Political Science from Harvard University, and a B.A. summa cum laude at Amherst College. After earning his J.D., he clerked for the Honorable Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
To be connected with Ilya, please contact Communications Manager Tony Franquiz at [email protected].
Selected Publications
Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom (Oxford University Press, revised and expanded edition, 2022).
Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter (Stanford University Press, revised and expanded second edition, 2016).
The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain (University of Chicago Press, 2015, rev. paperback ed., 2016).
A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), co-author.
Eminent Domain: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2017), co-editor.
“How the Supreme Court Spared America.” The Atlantic, February 22, 2026.