John E. Taylor

Education

• A.B., University of North Carolina
• M.A., Stanford University
• Ph.D., Stanford University
• J.D., University of North Carolina School of Law

Biography

John E. Taylor is the Jackson Kelly Professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, where he teaches Constitutional Law I, Criminal Procedure I, Criminal Law, Torts I, Education Law, and a seminar on the law of church and state. He joined the College of Law faculty in 2002 and served as the College’s Interim Dean in 2020-21, and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2010 to 2013, again from 2014 to 2015, and most recently in July 2023 to current day. 

Professor Taylor writes primarily about First Amendment issues in the public schools. He was named Professor of the Year for the College of Law in 2017, and he received the College of Law’s Significant Faculty Scholarship Award in 2006 for his article entitled Using Suppression Hearing Testimony to Prove Good Faith Under United States v. Leon. 

Before joining the legal academy, Professor Taylor clerked for the Honorable M. Blane Michael on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 

He holds a J.D. with highest honors and an A.B. with distinction from the University of North Carolina, as well as M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Religious Studies from Stanford University.

Publications, Research, and Intellectual Contributions

• Religion in the Schools, chapter for THE OXFORD HANDBOOK OF U.S. EDUCATION LAW, ed. by Kristi Bowman (forthcoming 2020) (invited).
• Foreword: Pauley – and the Recht Decision – at Forty, 121 W. Va. L. Rev. 757 (2019).
• Chapter 9 "Religion in the Schools" (update for 2d edition). DEREK BLACK, EDUCATION LAW: FAIRNESS,EQUALITY, AND REFORM (2d ed, Aspen 2017).
• Contributing Editor, DEREK BLACK, EDUCATION LAW: FAIRNESS,EQUALITY, AND REFORMEducation Law: Fairness, Equality, and Reform (Aspen 2013) (chapter 9, Religion in the Schools)
• Values, Courts, and Culture War: The Case of Abstinence-Only Sex Education, 18 William & Mary Bill of Rights J. 1053 (2010).
• Tinker and Viewpoint Discrimination, 77 UMKC L. REV. (2009).
• Why Student Religious Speech is Speech, 110 W. VA. L. REV. 223 (2007).
• Introduction to Symposium, The Religion Clauses in the 21st Century, 110 W. VA. L. REV. i (2007) (w/ William P. Marshall and Vivian E. Hamilton).
• A Tribute to Steven Gey, 110 W. VA. L. REV. _ (2007) (w/ William P. Marshall and Vivian E. Hamilton).
• Using Suppression Hearing Testimony to Prove Good Faith Under United States v. Leon , 54 U. KAN. L. REV. 155 (2005)
• Using Suppression Hearing Testimony to Prove Good Faith Under  United States v. Leon, 54 U. Kan. L. Rev. 155 (2005)
• Helping Those Who Help Themselves: The Fourth Circuit’s Treatment of Agreements to Arbitrate Statutory Employment Discrimination Claims in Brown v. ABF Freight Systems, Inc. andEEOC v. Waffle House, Inc., 79 N.C. L. Rev. 239 (2000)
• AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utilities Board: The Supreme Court Recognizes Broad FCC Jurisdiction over Local Telephone Competition, 78 N.C. L. Rev. 1645 (2000)

Teaching Experience

• Professor, West Virginia University College of Law, 2008-present
• Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, West Virginia University College of Law, 2010-2013
• Visiting Professor, University of North Carolina School of Law, 2009-2010
• Associate Professor, West Virginia University College of Law, 2002-2008
• Visiting Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion, North Carolina State University, 1995-1996

Legal Experience

• Law Clerk, Honorable M. Blane Michael, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 2001-2002
• Summer Associate, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, L.L.P. (Raleigh, NC)
• Summer Associate, Wyche, Burgess, Freeman & Parham, P.A. (Greenville, SC)
• Summer Associate, Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, L.L.P. (Raleigh, NC)