Michael Berch

An article by Michael Berch, the Emeritus Alan A. Matheson Professor of Law at the College of Law, was published in the May 2011 issue of The University of Kansas Law Review.

The article is entitled, “Reflections on the Role of State Courts in the Vindication of State Constitutional Rights: A Plea for State Appellate Courts to Consider Unraised Issues of State Constitutional Law in Criminal Cases.”

In it, Berch examines the persistent failures of counsel in criminal cases to raise state constitutional claims and the reluctance of state judges to excuse waivers of state constitutional rights. He develops a theme that courts should abandon the strict waiver rule of state constitutional rights to avoid gross injustices to defendants in criminal cases due to counsel’s forfeiture of significant constitutional rights.

The essay came from Berch’s presentation at the Kansas Law Review’s 2010 symposium, State Constitutional Law Steps Out of the Shadows.

To read the full article, click here.

Since his arrival at the College of Law in 1969, Berch has taught a wide variety of courses, including Federal Courts, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Law and the Regulatory State and Professional Responsibility. He also has coached many of ASU’s winning Moot Court teams and has written extensively. In 2007, Berch was one of three recipients of the 12th Annual Last Lecturer Awards at ASU, and he received the Arizona State Bar President’s Award for outstanding services to the Bar’s teaching mission. He was a finalist for 2008 Professor of the Year from the ASU Parents Association.