Marc Jonathan Blitz’s scholarship focuses on constitutional protection for freedom of thought and freedom of expression, privacy, and national security law – and especially on how of each of these areas of law applies to emerging technologies. He has recently written articles on how privacy and First Amendment law should apply to public video surveillance, biometric identification methods, virtual reality technology, and library Internet systems. His current research focuses on the intersection between neuroethics, neuroscience, and First Amendment and privacy law.
As an attorney at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in Washington D.C., his work focused on telecommunications, privacy law, computer law, intellectual property, constitutional law, and anti-terrorism security measures. While working in Washington, he was also one of the reporters for The Constitution Project’s Liberty and Security Initiative, and was one of the drafters of its Guidelines for Public Video Surveillance. Since 2006, he has also worked closely with the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) in Oklahoma City to organize symposia and other events on the legal framework for counterterrorism. He has frequently served as a television or radio commentator on constitutional law, privacy law, and national security law, and has participated in panel discussions on these subjects held by the Department of Homeland Security and by The Constitution Project and Georgetown University Law Center.
He was voted Professor of the Year by the Merit Scholars at the Law School in 2007 and was also the recipient in 2007 of a Priddy fellowship in which he explored the use of art and technology in teaching.
Professor Blitz received his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. (Political Science) and J.D. from the University of Chicago. He teaches Legal Analysis, Administrative Law, National Security Law, and Law of Alternative Dispute Resolution.