Professor Larson's lecture about new book draws big crowd

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Photo by Jose Alfonso Perez

We had a wonderful book event at the UC Davis School of Law last week. During the lunch hour in a packed Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom, Professor Carlton Larson discussed his new book published by Oxford University Press, The Trials of Allegiance: Treason, Juries, and the American Revolution.  It uses the law of treason as a new way of framing the American Revolution.

Professor Larson is one of the foremost world experts on treason.  Hardly a week goes by without the New York Times or NPR weighing in on President Trump’s latest accusations of “treason” against his critics, or vice versa.  The accusers often are using “treason” incorrectly.  We know this because we paid attention as Professor Larson explained the definition to media outlets over the past three years.  He has educated the whole country about treason. 

Professor Larson’s interest in treason did not start with President Trump.  His research in this area in fact predates his arrival at UC Davis Law.  It goes back to before his law school days.  He first became fascinated as an undergraduate, when he considered this country’s earliest treason trials, and wondered how a nation built on disloyalty to the king went about prosecuting disloyalty.  As his new book reveals, the answers are complex.

Larson's book represents years of research by Professor Larson, who focused on 18th-century juries in Pennsylvania, and made many trips there to study historical documents.  The book is a stunning achievement by  Professor Larson, an outstanding constitutional scholar and legal historian and the 2019 recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award.

Professor Larson discussed his book and took questions and answers from a full house of students, staff, faculty, and community members.  He succeeded in captivating the audience with cutting-edge legal history.