Michael Salerno

Bio

Professor Salerno is a Raymond L. Sullivan Professor of Law. He was a Clinical Professor of Law and the founder and Director of the UC Law SF Legislation Clinic (2004-2019). He attended UC Santa Barbara, B.A., Psychology and Sociology (1972); and UC Davis, J.D. (1979). Prior to law school, he served as a consultant to the California State Senate, and in that capacity was a principal drafter of the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976. While in law school, he was a member of  the University of California Board of Regents. After graduating law school, he worked for the California Legislative Counsel (1979-2004).

Professor Salerno was an Adjunct and Visiting Professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law (1993 to 1996). He was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy (Rome) during the 1995 fall semester and continues to make annual trips to Italy lecturing about US law. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law (Summer 2007) and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, México D.F. (Summer 2006). From March 2007 to July 2008, he served as the Executive Director of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

Professor Salerno has published articles concerning the legislative process, regulating the financial interests of public officials (conflicts of interest), influencing legislation,  amending constitutions in the United States, the legislative power to place issues on the ballot, and the California recall process. He is the coauthor of Legal, Legislative, and Rule Drafting in Plain English (with R. Martineau, Thompson/West 2005) and The California Constitution: A Reference Guide, (with J. Grodin and D. Shanske, Oxford University Press 2015).

Scholarship

Books

The California State Constitution (Oxford University 2d ed. 2016) (with Joseph Grodin & Darien Shanske).

Legal, Legislative, and Rule Drafting in Plain English (Thomson/West 2005) (with Robert J. Martineau).

Preventing Conflicts of Interests (Centro di studi e ricerche di diritto comparato e straniero 2002).

Journal Articles

The Influence Behind, Substance and Impact of the New Determinate Sentencing Law in California, 11 U.C. Davis L. Rev. 29 (1978) (with Raymond I. Parnas).

Book Reviews

Book Review, 4 Theory & Prac. Legis. 325 (2016) (reviewing Helen Xanthaki, Drafting Legislation: Art and Technology of Rules for Regulation (2014)). URL

Education

• UC Davis School of Law
  J.D., Law 1979

• UC Davis
  Graduate Studies, Law and Society 1973

• UC Santa Barbara
  B.A., Psychology and Sociology 1972