Faculty

Robert G. Natelson Professor of Law David Mason Scholar 406.243.2751 robert.natelson@umontana.edu Law 165		Atop St. Paul's Cathedral, London
Professor Natelson teaches Constitutional Law, Legal History, Advanced Constitutional Law, and a seminar on the First Amendment.  He is a recognized national expert on the framing and adoption of the United States Constitution, and on several occasions he has been the first to uncover key background facts about the Constitution’s meaning.  He has written for some of the nation’s most prestigious academic journals.  Moreover, his work is frequently cited in top journals, such as Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, and Georgetown Law Journal.  He also edits the web page, The Scholarship of the Original Understanding of the Constitution, www.umt.edu/law/original-understanding. In addition, Professor Natelson has training in history and classics, and has worked in Roman law.  In conjunction with his eldest daughter Rebecca, he edited Internet versions of the Roman law collections of the Emperor Justinian (in Latin): www.umt.edu/law/original-understanding/roman.htm. His background is practical as well as scholarly.  Before becoming a law professor in 1985, he practiced law for over a decade.  His practice was a general one in two different states, spanning a range of subjects: municipal law to labor law, criminal law to real estate, corporate law to domestic relations.  He represented almost exclusively middle class and poorer clients.  His practice and educational background parallel in some ways the education and experience of many of the framers of the Constitution – which helps explain why he has been able to uncover facts about the Constitution that others have long overlooked. Besides teaching and practicing law, Professor Natelson has had a colorful career outside the law school.  He has worked as a journalist and radio talk show host, and has been active in Montana civic life.  He has been a motivating force behind several important pieces of state legislation.  In June 2000, he was the runner-up among five candidates in the party primaries for Governor of Montana. Professor Natelson graduated in 1973 from the Cornell Law School, where he was elected to the University Senate and to the Law Review.  He is affiliated with two “think tanks”—being a Senior Fellow at the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix and Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver. And – like most Montanans – Professor Natelson spends a lot of time in the great outdoors, where he particularly enjoys hiking and skiing with his wife and three daughters.
ARTICLES, BOOK CHAPTERS, AND SUPPLEMENTS "The Original Meaning of the Privileges and Immunities Clause" (in progress). "Magna Carta," entry for the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (forthcoming). Paper Money and the Original Understanding of the Coinage Clause, 31 Harvard J.L. & Pub. Policy ___ (2008) (forthcoming). The Original Meaning of the Indian Commerce Clause, 85 Denv. U. L. Rev. 201 (2007). The Founders' Hermeneutic: The Real Original Understanding of Original Intent, 68 Ohio St. L.J. 1239 (2007). Judicial Review of Special Interest Spending: The General Welfare Clause and the Fiduciary Law of the Founders, 11 Tex. Rev. L. & Pol. 239 (2007). Tempering the Commerce Power, 68 Mont. L. Rev. 95 (2007). The Legal Meaning of "Commerce" In the Commerce Clause, 80 St. John's L. Rev. 789 (2006). The Original Meaning of the Establishment Clause, 14 Wm. & Mary Bill Rights J. 73 (2005). The Guarantee Clause, in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (2005). Federal Land Retention and the Constitution's Property Clause: The Original Understanding, 76 U. Colo. L. Rev. 327 (2005). The Agency Law Origins of the Necessary and Proper Clause, 55 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 243 (2004). The Constitution and the Public Trust, 52 Buff. L. Rev. 1077 (2004). The General Welfare Clause and the Public Trust: An Essay in Original Understanding, 52 U. Kan. L. Rev. 1 (2003). The Constitutional Contributions of John Dickinson, 108 Penn. State L. Rev. 415 (2003). The Enumerated Powers of States, 3 Nev. L. J. 469 (2003). Statutory Retroactivity: The Founders' View, 39 Idaho L. Rev. 489 (2003). A Reminder: The Constitutional Values of Sympathy and Independence, 91 Ky. L. J. 353 (2003). A Republic, Not a Democracy? Initiative, Referendum, and the Constitution's Guarantee Clause, 80 Tex. L. Rev. 807 (2002). "No Armed Bodies of Men"—Montanans' Forgotten Constitutional Right, 63 Mont. L. Rev. 1 (2002). Corpus Juris Civilis—an Internet Compilation of Classical Roman Law Sources, www.umt.edu/law/original-understanding/roman.htm, (2002-03). Lateral and Subjacent Support, in Powell on Real Property (Matthew Bender 2001). The Government as Fiduciary: Lessons from the Reign of the Emperor Trajan, 35 Richmond L. Rev. 191 (2001). Initiative and Referendum and the "Republican Form of Government," in The Battle over Citizen Lawmaking (Carolina Ac. Press 2000). Blocking the Cure for Columbine: Implications of State Constitutional "Cartelization" (Indep. Inst. 1999). Conveyances of Real Property Not By Deed, in Powell on Real Property (Matthew Bender 1999). Boundaries, in Powell on Real Property (Matthew Bender 1998). State Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth in the Rocky Mountain West (Indep. Inst. 1998). Condominiums, Reform, and the Unit Ownership Act, 58 Mont. L. Rev. 495 (1997). Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Aspen Law & Bus. Supp. 1997). Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Little, Brown Supp. 1996). Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Little, Brown Supp. 1995). Tax and Spending Limits for Montana? Criteria for Assessing Current Proposals (Indep. Inst. 1994). Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Little, Brown Supp. 1994). Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Little, Brown Supp. 1993). Law of Property Owners Associations (Little, Brown Supp. 1991). Montana Estates in Land Statutes: History and Commentary (Univ. of Mont. 1991). Peyote, "Multiculturalism" and the Caricature of the West, 52 Mont. L. Rev. 453 (1991). Consent, Coercion, and Reasonableness in Private Law: The Special Case of the Property Owners Association, 51 Ohio St. L.J. 41 (1990). Law of Property Owners Associations (Little, Brown Supp. 1990). Running with the Land in Montana, 51 Mont. L. Rev. 17 (1990). Law of Property Owners Associations (Little, Brown Supp. 1989). Mending the Social Compact: Expectancy Damages for Common Property Defects, 66 Or. L. Rev. 109 (1987). Comments on the Historiography of Condominium: The Myth of Roman Origin, 12 Okla. City L. Rev. 17 (1986) (digested and reprinted in 4 Common Ground (Sept., Nov. 1988)). Keeping Faith: Fiduciary Obligations in Property Owners Associations, 11 Vt. L. Rev. 421 (1986). "Buyer Brokerage:" Does It Still Exist After Velten v. Robertson?, 55 U. Colo. L. Rev. 83 (1983). BOOKS Modern Law of Deeds to Real Property (Little, Brown 1992) (606 pp.). Law of Property Owners Associations (Little, Brown 1989) (749 pp.). OTHER PUBLICATIONS Real Property (course book, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001). Montana Remedies Law (course book, 1988). How to Buy and Sell a Condominium (Simon & Schuster 1981) (popular trade paper back). Real Estate Law Columnist, Denver Rocky Mountain News (1982-84). Literally hundreds of other op-eds, CLE materials, and short articles since 1967 on various subjects, including law, policy, and real estate.