Sam Kamin
Professor
Chauncey G. Wilson Memorial Research Chair
303-871-6125 (Office)
Office 407E, Frank H. Ricketson Law Bldg., 2255 East Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208
Specialization(s)
Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure
Professional Biography
Sam Kamin joined the faculty at the Sturm College of Law in 1999. Holding both a J.D. and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a BA, summa cum laude, from Amherst College, Professor Kamin’s research interests include criminal procedure, death penalty jurisprudence, federal courts, and constitutional remedies. He is a co-author of West Publishing’s Investigative Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Approach and Cases and Materials on the Death Penatly and has published scholarly articles in the Virginia Law Review, the Indiana Law Journal, the Journal of Constitutional Law, and Law and Contemporary Problems among many others. He has also become one of the nation’s leading experts on the regulation of marijuana; in 2012 he was appointed to Governor John Hickenlooper’s Task Force to Implement Amendment 64 and the ACLU of California’s blue ribbon panel to study marijuana legalization.
Degree(s)
- JD, 1996; PhD, 2000, University of California
- BA, 1992, Amherst College
Featured Publications
- Against a “War on Animal Cruelty”: Lessons from the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration in Against Cages and Carceral Logics (Cambridge university Press, Forthcoming 2021).
- Criminal Law (Harvard Open Casebook Project 2020).
- Obvious but not Clear: The Right to Refuse to Cooperate with the Police during a Terry Stop, (with Zachary Shiffler) 69 Am. U. L. Rev. 915 (2020).
- Obvious but not Clear: The Right to Refuse to Cooperate with the Police during a Terry Stop, (with Zachary Shiffler) 69 Am. U. L. Rev. 915 (2020).
- Investigative Criminal Procedure: A contemporary Approach, Third Edition (Thomson Reuters Publishing 2019) (with Ricardo Bascuas).
- Marijuana Policy Should Be Set by the States, Not the Federal Government, in Debating Reform: Conflicting Perspectives on How to Fix the American Political System (Congressional Quarterly Press, 2019).
- The Legalization of Marijuana and the Interplay of Federal and State Laws, in American Federalism and Public Policy (Routledge Books, 2018).
- Colorado Marijuana Regulation Five Years Later: Have We Learned Anything at All?, 96 Denver University Law Review 221 (2018).
- Infrequency as Constitutional Defect: How the Supreme Court Will Invalidate the Death Penalty, 51 Texas Tech Law Review 95 (2018).
- The Citizen’s Guide to Gun Control at 30, 23 California Criminal Law Review 46 (2018).
- What California Can Learn from Colorado’s Marijuana Regulations, 49 University of the Pacific Law Review 13 (2017).
- Marijuana Regulation in the United States, in Dual Markets – Comparative Approaches for Regulation (Springer Books, 2017).
- The Truth Hurts: A Response to George Brauchler and Rich Orman, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 94 Denver University Law Review 363 (2017).
- Prosecutorial Discretion in the Context of Immigration and Marijuana Law Reform: The Search for a Limiting Principle, 14 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 183 (2016).
- The Death Penalty in a Nutshell, Fifth Edition (Thomson Reuters Publishing 2016) (with Victor Streib and Justin Marceau).
- Trademark Laundering, Useless Patents, and Other IP Challenges for the Marijuana Industry, co-authored with Viva Moffat, 73 Washington & Lee Law Review 217 (2016).
- Marijuana Legalization in Colorado -- Lessons for Colombia, Journal Colombian Institute of Tax Law No. 75 (2016).
- Prosecutorial Discretion in the Context of Immigration and Marijuana Law Reform: The Search for a Limiting Principle, 14 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 183 (2016).
- Legal Cannabis in the US: Not Whether But How?, 50 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 617 (2016).
- THE DEATH PENALTY IN A NUTSHELL, FIFTH EDITION, co-authored with with Victor Streib and Justin Marceau (Thomson/West Publishing 2016).
- CASES AND MATERIALS ON THE DEATH PENALTY, FOURTH EDITION, co-authored with with Nina Rivkind, Steven Shatz, and Justin Marceau (Thomson/West Publishing 2016).
- Remember Not to Forget Furman: A Response to Professor Smith, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 100 Iowa L. Rev. Bull. 117 (2015).
- The Battle of the Bulge: The Surprising Last Stand Against State Marijuana Legalization, 45(3) Publius: The Journal of Federalism 427 (summer 2015).
- Waking the Furman Giant, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 48 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 981 (2015).
- Cooperative Federalism and Marijuana Regulation, co-authored with Erwin Chemerinsky , Jolene Forman, Allen Hopper , 62 UCLA Law Review 1 (2015).
- The Work of the Task Force to Implement Amendment 64: A Case Study, Denver University Law Review Online (2014).
- Cooperative Federalism and State Marijuana Regulation, 62 UCLA Law Review 1 (2014).
- Double Reasonableness and the Fourth Amendment, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 68 University of Miami Law Review 3 (2014).
- The Limits of Marijuana Legalization in the States, 40 Iowa Law Review 39 (2014).
- Vicarious Aggravators, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 65 Fla. L. Rev. 769 (2013).
- Medical Marijuana Lawyers: Outlaws or Crusaders?, co-authored with Eli Wald, 91 Oregon Law Review 3 (2013).
- Colorado Capital Punishment: An Empirical Study, co-authored with Justin Marceau and Wanda Foglia, 84 Col. L. Rev. 1069 (2013).
- Investigative Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Approach, co-authored with Ricardo Bascuas, chapter in Investigative Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Approach, 2nd edition (Thomson/West Publishing) (2013).
- Lessons Learned from the Governor’s Task Force to Implement Amendment 64, 91 Oregon Law Review (2013).
- Siegel’s Criminal Law Essay and Multiple Choice Questions and Answers, 5th edition (Wolters Kluwer (2013).
- The Work of the Task Force to Implement Amendment 64, 90 Denver University Law Review Online (2013).
- Death Eligibility in Colorado: Many are Called, Few are Chosen, co-authored with Justin F. Marceau Wanda Foglia , 84 University of Colorado Law Review (2013).
- Medical Marijuana in Colorado and the Future of Marijuana Regulation in the United States, 43 McGeorge Law Review 147 (2012).
- Medical Marijuana in Colorado and the Future of Marijuana Regulation in the United States, 43 McGeorge Law Review 147 (2012).
- The Facts about Ring v. Arizona and the Jury’s Role in Capital Sentencing, co-authored with Justin Marceau, 13 Journal of Constituional Law 529 (2011).
- Duke Lacrosse, Prosecutorial Misconduct, and the Limits of the Civil Justice System, ch. in Institutional Failures: Duke Lacrosse, Universities, the News Media, and the Legal System (Ashgate Press 2011).
- An Article III Defense of Merits-First Decisionmaking in Civil Rights Litigation: The Continued Viability of Saucier v. Katz, 16 George Mason Law Review 53 (2008).
- How the War on Terror May Affect Domestic Interrogations: The 24 Effect, 10 Chap. U. L. Rev. 693 (2006 – 2007).
- How the Blogs Saved Law School: Why a Diversity of Voices Will Undermine the U.S. News & World Report Rankings, 81 Ind. L.J. 375 Indiana Law Journal Winter, 2006 Symposium: The Next Generation of Law School Rankings.
- The Cultural Lives of Capital Punishment: Comparative Perspectives, Austin Sarat and Christian Boulanger, Eds. Stanford University Press (2005), 9(3) Punishment and Society 331 (2007).
- Death Qualification and True Bifurcation: Building on the Massachusetts Governor's Council's Report, 80 Ind. L.J. 131 Indiana Law Journal Winter, 2005 Symposium Jeffrey J. Pokorak.
- Symposium: Toward a Model Death Penalty Code: The Massachusetts Governor's Council Report, Panel Discussion, 80 Indiana Law Journal 91 (2005).
- The Private is Public: The Relevance of Private Actors in Defining the Fourth Amendment, in Civil Rights Litigation and Attorney Fees Handbook (Steven Saltzman, ed., 2005).
- The Private is Public: The Relevance of Private Actors In Defining the Fourth Amendment, 46 B.C. L. Rev. 83 Boston College Law Review December, 2004 Article.
- Amicus Curiae Brief of the California Public Defenders Association in Support of Respondent in Lockyer v. Andrade, 123 S.Ct. 1166 (2003).
- Facts, Fallacies and the California Three Strikes, 40 Duq. L. Rev. 605 Duquesne Law Review Spring 2002 Rebuttal Franklin E. Zimring.
- Harmless Error and the Rights/Remedies Split, 88 Va. L. Rev. 1 Virginia Law Review March 2002 Article.
- Little Brothers are Watching You: The Importance of Private Actors in the Making of Fourth Amendment Law, 79 Denv. U. L. Rev. 517 Denver University Law Review 2002.
- Punishment and Democracy: Three Strikes and You're Out in California, co-authored with Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins (Oxford University Press, 2001).
- Crime & Punishment in California: The Impact of Three Strikes and You're Out, co-authored with Franklin E. Zimring and Gordon Hawkins (Institute of Governmental Studies Press, 1999).
- Law and Technology: The Case for a Smart Gun Detector, 59-WTR Law & Contemp. Probs. 221 Law and Contemporary Problems Winter 1996 Kids, Guns, and Public Policy.
- The Effect of "Three Strikes and You're Out" on the Courts: Looking Back to See the Future, In Three Strikes And You're Out: Vengeance As Public Policy (David Shichor & Dale K. Sechrest, eds., 1996) (with Malcolm Feeley).
