- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 120-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our interdisciplinary curriculum, experiential learning opportunities and specialized areas.
Student Quick Links:
- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
Student Quick Links:
- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
Alumni and Giving
The global Trojan network of more than 10,000 law alumni and donors include recognized leaders in numerous fields who are deeply committed to supporting student and law school success.
- Admissions

Sam Erman
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- + WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

Professor of Law
Email: serman@law.usc.eduTelephone: (213) 740-6372
Fax: (213) 740-5502
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA Room: 438
Last Updated: August 7, 2019
Sam Erman is a scholar of law and history, whose research and teaching focuses on citizenship, the Constitution, empire, race, and legal change.
Erman is the author of Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Constitution and Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2018). The book lays out the tragic story of how the United States denied Puerto Ricans full citizenship following annexation of the island in 1898. As America became an overseas empire, a handful of remarkable Puerto Ricans debated with U.S. legislators, presidents, judges, and others over who was a citizen and what citizenship meant. This struggle caused a fundamental shift in constitutional jurisprudence: away from the post-Civil War regime of citizenship, rights, and statehood and toward doctrines that accommodated racist imperial governance.
Erman’s other projects span widely. He is co-authoring a project concerning the history of birthright nationality in England, France, and the United States. In addition, Erman is part of a research team seeking to use insights from social psychology to expand access to the legal profession. He has authored and organized numerous friend-of-the-court briefs and published op-eds in news outlets, such as CNN Opinion and the Los Angeles Times.
Erman’s prize-winning work appears in leading legal and peer-reviewed journals, including Michigan Law Review, California Law Review, and the Journal of American Ethnic History.
Prior to joining the USC Gould School of Law faculty, Erman served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy and to U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Merrick Garland. He received his JD and PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan.
Books
- Almost Citizens: Puerto Rico, the U.S. Constitution, and Empire, (Cambridge University Press, 2018) - (www)
Articles and Book Chapters
- "Reconstruction and Empire: Legacies of the U.S. Civil War and Puerto Rican Struggles for Home Rule, 1898-1917," (Under consideration by Law and History Review). - (SSRN)
- “Citizens of Empire: Puerto Rico, Status, and Constitutional Change,” 102 California Law Review 1181 (October 2014). - (SSRN)
- "Affirmative Meritocracy," 7 Social Issues and Policy Review (with Walton, G., and Spencer, S.) (forthcoming 2013).
- "Meanings of Citizenship in the U.S. Empire: Puerto Rico, Isabel Gonzalez, and the Supreme Court, 1898-1905," 27 Journal of American Ethnic History 5 (2008) (Received the Carlton C. Qualey Memorial Article Award: The best article published in the Journal of American Ethnic History during the past two years). - (www)
- "An 'Unintended Consequence': Dred Scott Reinterpreted," 106 Michigan Law Review 1157 (2008) (reviewing Austin Allen, Origins of the Dred Scott Case (2006)). - (Hein)
- Note, "Word Games: Raising and Resolving the Shortcomings in Accident-Insurance Doctrine that Autoerotic-Asphyxiation Cases Reveal," 103 Michigan Law Review 2172 (2005). - (Hein)
Other Works
- Citizens of Empire: Federico Degetau, Puerto Rican Status, and the U.S. Order, 1898-1905 (manuscript).
Dissertation
- Puerto Rico and the Promise of United States Citizenship: Struggles Around Status in a New Empire, 1898-1917 (Ph.D. dissertation). - (www)
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
The Guardian
March 3, 2021
Re: Jody David Armour
Jody Armour was interviewed about the lack of change in the LAPD thirty years after the savage assault on Rodney King. "So many activists are calling for defunding the police because the changes that have occurred in cosmetics have not made real changes in how many Angelenos and marginalized communities are experiencing policing," he said.
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Thomas D. Lyon
January, 2021
“Understanding expert testimony on child sexual abuse denial after New Jersey v. J.L.G.: Ground truth, disclosure suspicion bias, and disclosure substantiation bias,” (with Shanna Williams & Stacia N. Stolzenberg) Behavioral Sciences & the Law 38 (2020).
Daniel Klerman
January, 2021
“Choice of Law and the Art World” (with Anja Shortland), The Global Law Market (conference), CEGLA Center, Tel Aviv University.
Daniel Klerman
January, 2021
“Art Theft and the Art Loss Register: Law, Norms & Institutions” (with Anja Shortland), Departmental Seminar, Economics Subject Group, Management School, Queens University Belfast.