Selected Writing
Kent Greenfield writes about constitutional law, democracy, corporate power, the Supreme Court, and the political and institutional challenges facing the United States. His essays and commentary have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and other national publications.
Democracy, the Supreme Court, and Political Division
Cognoscenti — July 1, 2026
Greenfield argues that the Supreme Court’s ideological divisions increasingly mirror the country’s own—and reveal fundamental disagreements about liberty, equality, and who belongs within “we the people.”
The Supreme Court Is as Divided as We Are
A Message to My Law Students:
‘Fight for Our Democracy’
Cognoscenti — May 13, 2025
Adapted from Greenfield’s last constitutional-law lecture of the 2025 school year, this essay urges lawyers and law students to resist attacks on courts, due process, universities, and the legal profession—and to accept responsibility for defending democracy.
The Intellectual Empathy of David Souter
SCOTUSblog — May 28, 2025
Drawing on his clerkship with Justice David Souter, Greenfield describes “intellectual empathy” as a judicial discipline: the capacity to question one’s own perspective and understand the human realities behind legal disputes.
How the Supreme Court Can Save Itself
—and the Rest of Us
Cognoscenti — January 24, 2024
Writing before the Court decided Trump’s ballot-disqualification case, Greenfield argues that a narrow constitutional ruling could protect democratic choice, restrain political violence, and help restore the Court’s damaged legitimacy.
Create a New Court
The New York Times — October 27, 2020
Greenfield proposes that Congress create a specialized constitutional court to decide the nation’s most consequential constitutional disputes, reducing partisan pressure on the Supreme Court and helping restore public legitimacy to the judiciary.
Donald Trump Has Violated His Oath. Mitch McConnell Is About to Violate 2
The Courier Journal — December 26, 2019
Greenfield argues that the Constitution required senators to approach Trump’s impeachment trial impartially—and that McConnell’s coordination with the White House threatened both his impeachment oath and his broader obligation to support the Constitution.
The First Amendment, Equality, and Democratic Rights
What the College Presidents Got Wrong About the First Amendment
Cognoscenti — December 14, 2023
Greenfield argues that Harvard, Penn, and MIT misunderstood their own authority: as private universities, they may adopt speech rules that reflect their institutional values rather than mechanically treating the First Amendment as their governing standard.
How the First Amendment Can Save Affirmative Action
The Hill — July 19, 2023
With Eduardo Peñalver (now President of Georgetown University), Greenfield argues that the Court’s expansive protection of expressive and religious autonomy may allow some private universities to defend race-conscious admissions as essential to their institutional missions.
Without Kennedy, the Future of Gay Rights Is Fragile
The New York Times — June 28, 2018
With Adam Winkler, Greenfield argues that Justice Anthony Kennedy’s gay-rights legacy was more fragile than it appeared because his landmark opinions conferred dignity and recognition while avoiding clear constitutional rules—especially heightened scrutiny for discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The Limits of Free Speech
The Atlantic — March 13, 2015
Responding to a racist fraternity chant at the University of Oklahoma, Greenfield argues that First Amendment doctrine should distinguish genuine public debate from targeted expressions of hatred and threatened violence—and take seriously the harms imposed on those being targeted.
Corporations, Power, and Public Responsibility
Big Business Keeps Winning at the Supreme Court
The Atlantic — July 2, 2018
With Adam Winkler, Greenfield examines how corporate interests quietly secured a remarkable series of Supreme Court victories involving workers, consumers, class actions, environmental protections, and corporate First Amendment rights.
Corporations Are People. Thank Goodness.
The Boston Globe — November 2, 2018
Greenfield argues that abolishing corporate personhood would endanger rights exercised by newspapers, nonprofits, unions, and civil-rights organizations. The better response to corporate power is to make corporations more democratic and accountable to workers, communities, and other stakeholders.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Cultivation of Corporate Personhood
The Atlantic — June 24, 2015
With Adam Winkler, Greenfield explains that corporate constitutional rights are not a single, all-or-nothing doctrine. Some protections—such as property and privacy rights—properly extend to corporations, while corporate political spending presents different democratic concerns.
How to Make the ‘Citizens United’ Decision Worse
The Washington Post — January 19, 2012
Greenfield argues that abolishing constitutional rights for corporations would threaten protections relied upon by newspapers, unions, nonprofits, and other associations. The deeper problem is that corporations represent too narrow a managerial and financial elite rather than their workers, communities, and other stakeholders.