Paul M. Collins, Jr.
Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science / Director of Legal Studies | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Paul Collins' research focuses on bias and inequality in the legal system, the selection and work of judges and social movement litigation.
Expertise (8)
Bias in Judicial Appointments
Judicial Appointments
Public Law
Inequality in the Legal System
American Politics
Judicial Ethics
Judicial Elections
Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings
Biography
Paul M. Collins investigates the factors that shape the selection and decision-making process of U.S. Supreme Court justices and interest group litigation.
His research and commentary have appeared in a host of popular media outlets, including CNN, the National Law Journal, National Public Radio, The New York Times, New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. He has also authored articles in SCOTUSblog, Slate, The Conversation, The New York Daily News and the Washington Post.
Collins has been awarded twice with the C. Herman Pritchett Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. The awards recognized Collins’ 2023 book “Supreme Bias: Gender and Race in U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings” and his 2019 book, “Friends of the Supreme Court: Interest Groups and Judicial Decision Making.”
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Education (3)
Binghamton University (SUNY): Ph.D., Political Science
Binghamton University (SUNY): M.A., Political Science
University of Scranton.: B.S., Political Science
Links (4)
Select Recent Media Coverage (11)
Trump defies US Constitution: From ending birthright citizenship to pardoning Capitol rioters
EL PAÍS online
2025-01-22
Paul M. Collins Jr. comments about President Donald Trump’s actions during the early days of his second term, including an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. “The idea that a president is authorized to unilaterally reinterpret an amendment [to the U.S. Constitution] is a crazy legal theory,” Collins says. “I think the courts will ultimately reject it, but I would not be surprised if some of Trump’s first-term justices support it.”
Can John Roberts Survive a Trump Presidency?
Newsweek online
2024-11-04
Paul Collins says that if former President Donald Trump wins the presidential election, it’s likely his administration will pressure Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to retire and enable Trump to nominate a more conservative justice.
What would an impeachment of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice look
KNX News Podcast online
2024-05-23
Paul Collins, professor of legal studies at UMass Amherst, discusses what impeaching a Supreme Court justice might look like. “You need to have a majority in the House of Representatives move for impeachment and then that would get transferred to the Senate, and it would take two-thirds of the Senate to actually remove a judge or a Supreme Court Justice from office,” he explains.
Supreme Court Justice Asks If City Can Kill Homeless People
Newsweek online
2024-04-22
Paul Collins comments about a case before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging whether homeless people have a right to sleep outside. Collins says it is likely that the Court will split down ideological lines and uphold the policy in place in the case against the city of Grants Pass, Oregon.
Why Trump criminal trial is about more than hush money
The Christian Science Monitor online
2024-04-15
Paul Collins comments on the New York criminal trial of former president Donald Trump. “It’s a complex case and I think there hasn’t been enough attention on just how complex it’s going to be for the prosecution to prove,” he says.
Trump’s chances of returning to the White House rest in the hands of the Supreme Court
EL PAÍS
2023-12-21
Paul Collins comments on the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision barring former President Donald Trump from that state’s presidential primary ballot. “It’s almost impossible to believe that the [U.S.] Supreme Court will not accept this case,” Collins says. “It addresses a matter of exceptional importance, and the question of whether the 14th Amendment’s disqualification clause applies to presidents is a question that has not been answered by the Supreme Court before.”
Court Unveils Ethics Code
The Miami Herald online
2023-11-14
Paul Collins, comments on the new code of ethics released by the U.S. Supreme Court on November 13. “The language in the Code of Conduct is exceedingly vague. Most importantly, there appears to be no enforcement mechanism. So, I read this code of conduct as an acknowledgement of the criticisms the Court is currently facing – which has resulted in historically low public approval – but not as a serious effort to address the ethical issues facing the Court,” Collins says.
“Witnesses lie, recordings don’t”: Ex-prosecutor pinpoints major problem for Trump in new indictment
Salon online
2023-07-29
Paul Collins, a legal studies and political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told Salon that the new charges are "shocking" and add "further fuel" to the obstruction of justice charges. "If the government can prove this aspect of the case, it will be exceptionally difficult for the former president to mount a defense," Collins said.
Military interests parachute into Supreme Court cases on LGBTQ rights, elections
USA Today print
2022-12-13
Paul Collins, a professor of legal studies and political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, speculated that the influence of such briefs likely depends, in part, on whether they're offering a fresh perspective about how a seemingly unrelated issue might have national security implications.
Could Supreme Court Justices Be Impeached if They Lied Under Oath?
Newsweek online
2022-06-29
Lying under oath may seem like an obvious reason to bring impeachment charges against a Supreme Court justice but Paul Collins, a legal studies and political science professor at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, tells Newsweek that the grounds for impeachment were more of a political matter.
Confirmation Hearings, Once Focused on Law, Are Now Mired in Politics
The New York Times print
2022-03-23
Paul M. Collins Jr., a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, said Judge Jackson was no more responsive to questions on her legal views than earlier nominees had been. “Judge Jackson took very few solid positions on anything remotely controversial,” he said, adding that Justice Barrett, who was confirmed in 2020, may have served as her model.
Select Publications (9)
Joe Biden leaves a complicated legacy on the federal courts
The ConversationPaul M. Collins Jr.
2025-01-16
"As a leading scholar of the federal courts, I believe Biden’s judicial impact is most notable in three regards: his role in the 1991 confirmation of Clarence Thomas, his historic efforts during his presidency to diversify the federal bench, and his 2024 decision to veto legislation expanding the number of federal district court judgeships."
What to expect from federal judges appointed by Trump or Harris − based on what we’ve seen from Trump and Biden picks for the Supreme Court and lower courts
The ConversationPaul M. Collins, Jr.
2024-10-03
Paul Collins writes about the judicial nominations of the Trump-Pence and Biden-Harris administrations. “The Trump-Pence administration emphasized the selection of very conservative jurists with deep ties to the conservative legal movement. In contrast, the Biden-Harris administration sought to diversify the federal bench, making it more closely reflect the America it represents,” Collins writes.
Donald Trump picks his targets carefully and seeks to undermine their legitimacy. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Trump pushes the limits of every restriction he faces
The ConversationPaul M. Collins, Jr.
2023-04-10
Paul Collins, professor of legal studies and political science at UMass Amherst, writes that former President Donald Trump’s social media posts attacking the daughter of the judge presiding over his criminal trial in New York state are “just the latest in his long effort to undermine the rule of law.”
Supreme Bias Gender and Race in U.S. Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings (Book)
Stanford University PressChristina L. Boyd, Paul M. Collins, Jr., and Lori A. Ringhand
2023-10-17
Paul M. Collins, Jr., and co-authors present for the first time a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of race and gender at the Supreme Court confirmation hearings held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Drawing on their deep knowledge of the confirmation hearings, as well as rich new qualitative and quantitative evidence, the authors highlight how the women and people of color who have sat before the Committee have faced a significantly different confirmation process than their white male colleagues.
Trump’s latest personal attacks on judges could further weaken people’s declining trust in American rule of law
The ConversationPaul M. Collins, Jr. and Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha
2023-04-06
When former President Donald Trump was arraigned in a Manhattan criminal court on April 4, 2023, Judge Juan Merchan warned him to “refrain” from making social media posts that could incite violence or “jeopardize the rule of law.”
Stephen Breyer is set to retire – should his replacement on the Supreme Court have a term limit?
The ConversationPaul M. Collins and Artemus Ward
2022-01-26
Collins and Ward write: "Our extensive research on the Supreme Court shows life tenure, while well-intended, has had unforeseen consequences. It skews how the confirmation process and judicial decision-making work, and causes justices who want to retire to behave like political operatives."
Trump attacked the Supreme Court again. Here are 4 things to know.
The Washington PostPaul M. Collins Jr. and Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha
2020-02-27
Once again, President Trump has picked a fight with the Supreme Court.
The President and the Supreme Court: Going Public on Judicial Decisions from Washington to Trump (BOOK)
Cambridge University PressPaul M. Collins and Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha
2020-02-13
When presidents take positions on pending Supreme Court cases or criticize the Court's decisions, they are susceptible to being attacked for acting as bullies and violating the norm of judicial independence. Why then do presidents target Supreme Court decisions in their public appeals?
Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings and Constitutional Change (Book)
Cambridge University PressPaul M. Collins and Lori H. Ringhand
2013-06-24
This book presents a contrarian view to the idea that the confirmation of Supreme Court nominees by the Senate Judiciary Committee is merely empty ritual and political grandstanding.
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