Dr. Todd Peppers
Henry H. & Trudye H. Fowler Professor in Public Affairs
Professor
Department: Public Affairs
Office: 212 Francis T. West Hall
540-375-2417
peppers@roanoke.edu
Degrees
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Ph.D. in Political Science. 2003.
University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville, Virginia. J.D., 1994.
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia. B.A., 1990 (summa cum laude).
Research & Teaching Interests
Supreme Court, Judicial Institutions, Civil Liberties, Death Penalty
Extracurricular
Board of Directors, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Books
Books:
Crossing the River Styx: Memoir of a Death Row Chaplain. University of Virginia Press (March 2023) (with Russ Ford and Charles Peppers).
A Courageous Fool: Marie Deans and Her Fight against the Death Penalty. Vanderbilt University Press (July 2017) (with Margaret AndersonAnatomy of an Execution: The Life and Death of Douglas Christopher Thomas. Northeastern University Press (November 2009) (with Laura Anderson).
Courtiers of the Marble Palace: The Rise and Influence of the Supreme Court Law Clerk. Stanford University Press (April 2006).
Edited volumes:
Of Courtiers and Princes: Stories of Lower Court Clerks and Their Judges. University of Virginia Press (February 2021).
Of Courtiers & Kings: More Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices. University of Virginia Press (December 2015) (with Clare Cushman).
In Chambers: Stories of Supreme Court Law Clerks and Their Justices. University of Virginia Press (February 2012) (with Artemus Ward).
Recent Publications
“The Chief Justice and the Page: Earl Warren, Charles Bush, and the Promise of Brown v. Board of Education.” Journal of Supreme Court History Vol. 47, No. 1 (March 2022): 27-43.
“Arthur A. Thomas: A Hero of a Valet.” Journal of Supreme Court History Vol. 46, No. 3 (November 2021): 271-279.
“‘Destructive to Judicial Dignity:’ The Poetry of Melville Weston Fuller.” Journal of Supreme Court History Vol. 46, No. 2 (July 2021): 148-161 (with Mary Hill).
“Deborah Gelin: Supreme Court Pioneer.” Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly (March 2021).
“A Secretary’s Absence for a Law School Exam.” Green Bag Almanac & Reader (Winter 2020): 156-166.
“Melville Weston Fuller and the Great Mustache Debate of 1888.” Journal of Supreme Court History Vol. 45, No. 2 (July 2020): 140-150.
“Mourning the Magnificent Yankee: The Funeral of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.” Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly (June 2020).
“Clerking for ‘God’s Grandfather’ – Chauncey Belknap’s Year with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.” Journal of Supreme Court History Vol. 43, No. 3 (2018): 257-293 (with Ira Matetsky, Elizabeth R. Williams and Jessica Winn).
“Form Your Battalions and Fight: The Story of Justice Holmes, his Law Clerks, and French Novels.” Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly Vol. XXXVII, No. 2 (2015): 6-7.
“The Care and Feeding of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.” Supreme Court Historical Society Quarterly Vol. XXXVI, No. 2 (2014): 8-9.
Available as a Media resource for the following topics
Supreme Court, Death Penalty
Willing to speak to professional, social or civic groups on
Supreme Court, law clerks, death penalty