John Yoo

John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also a Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.  He will be a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the School of Civic Leadership, University of Texas at Austin, in  Spring 2025.  

His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023.  Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush.  

Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court.  He also regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.

Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government.  He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks.  He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.  He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman.  He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.

Professor Yoo supervises the Public Law and Policy Program, the Korea Law Center, and the California Constitution Center.  He also serves on the boards of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Federalist Society’s Separation of Powers and Federalism Division, the Universidad Cientifica del Sur Law School, and the Asia-Pacific Law Institute at Seoul National University. He is a winner of the Federalist Society’s Paul Bator award.

Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College. 

Education

A.B., Harvard University (1989)
J.D., Yale University (1992)

John Choon Yoo is teaching the following courses in Fall 2024:

• 220.43 sec. 001 - Constitutional Interpretation
• 257.9 sec. 001 - Law of the Sea

Courses During Other Semesters

Semester	Course Num	Course Title	Teaching Evaluations
Spring 2025	220.16 sec. 001	Natural Law
Summer 2024	220.42S sec. 001	Strategy in Law	View Teaching Evaluation
Spring 2024	220SP sec. 001	Advanced Constitutional Law: Separation of Powers	View Teaching Evaluation
	221.2 sec. 001	Presidents and Policy	View Teaching Evaluation
Fall 2023	220.43 sec. 001	Constitutional Interpretation	View Teaching Evaluation
Summer 2023	262S sec. 001	Anti-Corruption Law	View Teaching Evaluation
Spring 2023	220.42 sec. 001	Strategy: Theory, Law, and Policy	View Teaching Evaluation
	220E sec. 001	Advanced Constitutional Law: Federalism	View Teaching Evaluation