IN THE COUNTY LEGISLATURE OF JACKSON COUNTY, MISSOURI
Title
A RESOLUTION honoring James Staab for his accomplishments.
Intro
RESOLUTION NO. 22249, April 20, 2026
INTRODUCED BY Manuel Abarca IV, County Legislator
Body
WHEREAS, Dr. James Staab received his B.A. from Roanoke College, his J.D. from the University of Richmond, and his Ph. D. from the University of Virginia; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Staab has been teaching at the University of Central Missouri for the past 28 years; and,
WHEREAS, his primary area of specialization is public law, broadly defined, including American constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, judicial politics, criminal procedure, comparative constitutional law, and jurisprudence; and,
WHEREAS, he has authored or co-authored articles or book chapters on various Supreme Court justices, including Levi Woodbury, Benjamin Cardozo, and Antonin Scalia; and,
WHEREAS, in 2006, he published a book on Justice Scalia titled The Political Thought of Justice Antonin Scalia: A Hamiltonian on the Supreme Court (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield), which resulted in a visit to campus by Justice Scalia; and,
WHEREAS, in 2022, he published Limits of Constraint: The Originalist Jurisprudence of Hugo Black, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas), which challenges originalism as a theory of constitutional interpretation; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Staab received the Governor's Award for Excellence in Education in 2012 and the Byler Award, UCM's most distinguished faculty award, in 2014; and,
WHEREAS, he has been a coach for the UCM Mock Trial team since 2023, mentoring countless students who have entered the legal profession; and,
WHEREAS, Dr. Staab has taught courses on Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, the American Presidency, Public Law, and State Government; and,
WHEREAS, James is married to his wife, Renee, and together they have 3 wonderful children: daughter A...
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