Franita Tolson
Dean and Carl Mason Franklin Chair in Law
Franita Tolson is the Dean and Carl Mason Franklin Chair in Law at the USC Gould School of Law, where she is the first Black dean and the second female dean in the school's 124-year history. She is a nationally recognized expert in election law and voting rights whose scholarship has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, and other leading publications. She has served as an election law analyst for CNN and NBC and co-hosts the election law podcast Free and Fair. Before joining USC, she clerked for Judge Ann Claire Williams on the Seventh Circuit and was the Betty T. Ferguson Professor of Voting Rights at Florida State University.
Teaching Style
Dean Tolson brings deep historical knowledge and contemporary policy expertise to her teaching of election law and constitutional law. Her Socratic method is thorough and well-structured, often tracing constitutional doctrines from the Founding through Reconstruction to the present day to show how voting rights have evolved. She cold-calls regularly and expects students to grapple with both the historical context and the modern implications of election law, particularly around the Voting Rights Act, gerrymandering, and the Elections Clause.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Understand the historical development of voting rights, especially the 14th and 15th Amendments and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
- 2Be prepared to discuss current controversies in election law, including partisan gerrymandering and voter ID requirements
- 3Think about the relationship between Congress and the courts in enforcing voting rights
- 4Follow Professor Tolson's podcast Free and Fair for additional context on election law issues discussed in class
Areas of Expertise
Education
- J.D., University of Chicago Law School
- B.A. and B.S. in History, Truman State University
Notable Publications
- In Congress We Trust?: Enforcing Voting Rights from the Founding to the Jim Crow Era (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press)
- Election law analyst for CNN (2020) and NBC (2024)
- Co-host of Free and Fair with Franita and Foley podcast