Wilson Parker

Wilson Parker

Professor of Law

Wilson Parker is an expert teacher and scholar in the area of constitutional law. He is a primary author, with Wake Forest law professor Michael Curtis, of "Constitutional Law in Context," a constitutional law casebook that is in its third edition. His current research interest concerns constitutional history and federal-state relations, and he is currently developing a new course on "The Great Justices of the United States Supreme Court." Parker is also the director of the law school's summer program in England. He has recently published a book, Ignorance Is No Defense: A College Student's Guide to North Carolina Law, with J. Tom Morgan. He was named the … Read more »

Wilson Parker is an expert teacher and scholar in the area of constitutional law. He is a primary author, with Wake Forest law professor Michael Curtis, of "Constitutional Law in Context," a constitutional law casebook that is in its third edition. His current research interest concerns constitutional history and federal-state relations, and he is currently developing a new course on "The Great Justices of the United States Supreme Court." Parker is also the director of the law school's summer program in England. He has recently published a book, Ignorance Is No Defense: A College Student's Guide to North Carolina Law, with J. Tom Morgan. He was named the 2010 recipient of the Student Bar Association's Jurist Excellence in Teaching Award.

Prior to joining the faculty in 1981, Parker was a trial lawyer in private practice in North Carolina, litigating employment, civil rights and civil liberties cases. He spent the Spring Semester of 1997 as a Scholar in Residence at University College Cork in Cork, Ireland. He served as Chairman of the Amicus Curiae Committee of the North Carolina Advocates for Justice for several years and has been on the Board of North Carolina Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

Education

  • JD, Duke University School of Law, 1977
  • BA, Yale University, 1974

Courses

Publications

Books

  • Constitutional Law in Context, 4th ed. with annual supplements since 2001 (Carolina Academic Press 2018) (with Michael Curtis, William Ross, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).
  • 2018 Supplement to Constitutional Law in Context (2018) (with Michael Curtis).
  • The Rule of Law and the Rule of God (2014) (with Simeon Ilesanmi, Win-Chiat Lee).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2011) (with Michael Curtis, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman, William Ross).
  • Ignorance Is No Defense, A College Student's Guide to North Carolina Law (2010).
  • Constitutional Law In Context, 3rd Ed. (2010).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2006) (with Michael Curtis, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).
  • Constitutional Law in Context (Carolina Academic Press 2003) (with Michael Curtis, Davison Douglas, Paul Finkelman).

Book Chapters

    Articles

    • At-Will Employment Law and the Common Law: A Modest Proposal to De-Marginalize Employment Law, 81 Iowa Law Review 347-405 (1995).
    • Can You Try A Case Without A Psychologist?, 16 Trial Briefs 37 (1989).
    • North Carolina Employment Law After Coman: Reaffirming Basics Rights in the workplace, 24 Wake Forest Law Review 905-948 (1989).
    • The Uses of the Past: The Surprising History of Terminable-At-Will Employment in North Carolina, 22 Wake Forest Law Review 167-220 (1987).
    • Free Expression and the Function of the Jury, 65 Boston University Law Review 483-557 (1985).

    Media

    Wilson Parker
    Contact Information
     336.758.5708

    Worrell 3128
    Expertise
    • Comparative Law
    • Election Law & Gerrymandering
    • Freedom of Expression
    • Law & Society
    • Legal History