Theodore M. Shaw is a left-of-center American law professor who has criticized voting ID laws, efforts to protect election integrity, and state bans on teaching critical race theory. Shaw previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Background

Theodore M. Shaw is a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law and is director of the law school’s Center for Civil Rights. He primarily teaches civil procedure and advanced constitutional law. ¹ Shaw lists among his areas of legal expertise as the 14th Amendment, critical race theory, housing law, and criminal justice policy. ²

After graduating law school from Columbia University in 1979, Shaw practiced as a trial attorney in the civil rights division at the U.S. Department of Justice. ³ In 1982, Shaw joined the staff of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, practicing housing, voting rights, and capital punishment defense law for more than 26 years. ⁴ Shaw previously taught law at the University of Michigan School of Law, Columbia University School of Law, CUNY School of Law at Queens College, and Temple University Law School. ⁵

Views

Shaw taught at the University of Michigan Law School where he helped to defend the law school’s race-based admissions policies in a court challenge. ⁶ When a similar case was filed against the University of North Carolina law school’s affirmative action program while Shaw worked there, he described the lawsuit as an attempt to strike a “death blow” to affirmative action. ⁷ When Amy Coney Barrett was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, Shaw expressed concerns about “opportunity, issues of inclusion” if she was nominated. ⁸

The self-described nonpartisan National Task Force on Election Crises, of which Shaw is a member, stated that President Donald Trump “incited a violent insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and that “this attack on our democracy culminated with white supremacist rioters attacking the Capitol seeking to not only overturn the Constitutional order, but also take hostages and assassinate members of Congress and the Vice President.” ⁹

Shaw also works with the Campaign Legal Center, a left-of-center public interest law firm that litigates voting cases. ¹⁰ Shaw has written pieces that criticize states and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts for supposedly attacking the Voting Rights Act. ¹¹ Shaw has criticized states enacting voter ID requirements and re-districting efforts for legislative districts. ¹²

In 2021, when Governor Roy Cooper (D-NC) vetoed legislation that would ban critical race theory from being taught in public schools, Shaw insisted that “critical race theory is not intended to be taught to school children or make them feel guilty from actions of the past.” ¹³ Shaw went on to say it should be treated as a legal theory but not taught to taught to schoolchildren. ¹⁴

Shaw joined student groups advocating for renaming a building at the University of North Carolina for a Black man who had been killed near the campus by a biker gang in 1970, asserting that “the history of white supremacy, racism, and slavery still exists on this campus.” ¹⁵

Political Contributions

Shaw has only given political contributions to Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former North Carolina appellate judge Christopher Brooks, former North Carolina Supreme Court chief justice Cheri Beasley (D), North Carolina associate Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls, and Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA), while also making contributions to the Democratic Party. ¹⁶

1. “Theodore M. Shaw.” University of North Carolina School of Law. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
2.  “Theodore M. Shaw.” University of North Carolina School of Law. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
3. “Theodore M. Shaw.” University of North Carolina School of Law. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
4. “Theodore M. Shaw.” University of North Carolina School of Law. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
5. “Theodore M. Shaw.” University of North Carolina School of Law. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
6. Grutter v. Bollinger. 539 U.S. 306 (2003); Oyez website. www.oyez.org. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-241; University of North Carolina School of Law website. www.law.unc.edu. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://law.unc.edu/people/theodore-m-shaw/.
7. Lu, Vivi E. and Dekyi T. Tsong. “SFFA Petitions Supreme Court to Hear Harvard and UNC Cases Together.” The Harvard Crimson. November 16, 2021. Accessed June 26, 20222. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2021/11/16/sffa-petition-combine-cases/.
8. Kyaw, Arrman. “Legal Scholars Worry About Affirmative Action and Civil Rights if Barrett is Confirmed.” Diverse Issues in Higher Education. September 29, 2020. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15107858/legal-scholars-worry-about-affirmative-action-and-civil-rights-if-barrett-is-confirmed.
9. “Resources.” National Task Force on Election Crises. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.electiontaskforce.org/resources.
10. “Theodore M. Shaw.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://campaignlegal.org/staff/theodore-m-shaw.
11. Shaw, Theodore M. “John Roberts Dismantled the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the Civil Rights Movement.” The Nation. September 24, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/john-roberts-dismantled-the-crown-jewel-of-the-civil-rights-movement/.
12. Shaw, Theodore M. “John Roberts Dismantled the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the Civil Rights Movement.” The Nation. September 24, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/john-roberts-dismantled-the-crown-jewel-of-the-civil-rights-movement/.
13. Myers, Alexandra. “Gov. Cooper Vetoes Bill Barring Public Schools from Teaching Critical Race Theory.” The Daily Tar Heel. September 13, 2021. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2021/09/city-anti-crt-bill-update.
14. Myers, Alexandra. “Gov. Cooper Vetoes Bill Barring Public Schools from Teaching Critical Race Theory.” The Daily Tar Heel. September 13, 2021. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2021/09/city-anti-crt-bill-update.
15. Kirkman, Madi. “Proposal To Rename Student Stores Building After James Cates Still Underway.” The Daily Tar Heel. October 24, 2021. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2021/10/university-student-stores-renaming; Taylor, Zari. “Column: Reopening James Cates, Jr. Case is a Step Closer to Providing Closure.” The Daily Tar Heel. April 4, 2022. Accessed June 27, 2022. https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2022/04/opinion-doj-reopen-james-cates-closure.
16. “Theodore Shaw.” Center for Responsive Politics. Accessed June 24, 2022. https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/results?name=Theodore+shaw.