Wayne R. LaFave
David C. Baum Professor of Law Emeritus and Center for Advanced Study Professor Emeritus
Professor LaFave received his B.S., LL.B. and S.J.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif, and Knapp Fellow. He joined the Illinois law faculty in 1961, and was later honored as a Guggenheim Fellow and a University Scholar of Excellence. In 1978 he was appointed to the College's first named professorship, and then in 1980 was designated a permanent member of the University's Center for Advanced Study. Professor LaFave served as the first Associate Dean of the College of Law, and was Acting Dean in 1974. He has also taught at the University of Michigan and Villanova University. LaFave is presently the David C. Baum Professor of Law Emeritus and Center for Advanced Study Professor Emeritus.
Still extremely active as an author and scholar, Professor LaFave has recently published or completed work on an article entitled The Smell of Herring: A Critique of the Supreme Court’s Latest Assault on the Exclusionary Rule, 99 J.Crim.L. & Criminology 757 (2009); and the following books: Criminal Procedure (5th ed., 2009); Principles of Criminal Procedure: Investigation (2d ed., 2009); Principles of Criminal Procedure: Post-Investigation (2nd ed., 2009) (all with Profs. Israel, King and Kerr); Criminal Procedure and the Constitution (2009 ed., with Kamisar, Israel and King); Criminal Procedure treatise (7 vols., 3d ed., 2008, with Israel, King and Kerr); Modern Criminal Procedure, Basic Criminal Procedure and Advanced Criminal Procedure (all three 12th ed., 2008, with Kamisar, Israel, King and Kerr); the 2009 Supplement to the aforementioned three casebooks; the 2009 pocket parts to the aforementioned Criminal Procedure treatise, as well as 2009 pocket parts to LaFave’s Search and Seizure treatise (6 vols.) and Substantive Criminal Law treatise (3 vols.).
Professor LaFave has also written extensively for the law reviews. His articles have addressed such matters as the scope and status of the Fourth Amendment (e.g., A Fourth Amendment Fantasy: The Last (Heretofore Unpublished) Search and Seizure Decision of the Burger Court [U.Ill.L.Rev.]; Mapp Revisited: Shakespeare, J., and Other Fourth Amendment Poets [Stan.L.Rev.]; The Fourth Amendment as a ‘Big Time' TV Fad [Hastings L.J.]); the peculiarities of legal scholarship (e.g., Surfing as Scholarship: The Emerging Critical Cyberspace Studies Movement [Geo.L.J.]; Livrebleu 17: Les Conséquences Tragiques Forgeés par le Professeur Répugnant Nommé Grantmore [U.Ill.L.Rev.]); and the foibles of his colleagues (e.g., What is a Kamisar? [Mich.L.Rev.]; Rotunda: Il Professore Prolifico Ma Piccolo [U.Ill.L.Rev.]).
Professor LaFave is among the most cited law professors in the country. His books and articles have been quoted or referenced by the U.S. Supreme Court in over 135 cases, and in well over 14,000 reported appellate opinions in all. His work has also been discussed or adverted to in over 5,700 law review articles to date.
Over the years, Professor LaFave has been active in several endeavors seeking improvements in criminal justice administration. He was a member of the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the U.S., the ABA Task Force on Technology and Law Enforcement, and the ABA Committee on Criminal Justice in a Free Society, and he was Chairman of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Justice Programs. He has also served as reporter/draftsman for the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the Uniform Rules of Criminal Procedure project of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, and the Standards for Criminal Justice project of the American Bar Association. Professor LaFave has also been involved in several research and educational efforts of national scope, most notably, as a member of the Editorial Board of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, and as consultant and contributing writer for the PBS show Search and Seizure: The Supreme Court and the Police.
