Kirsten Carlson (ew9862)

Political Science, Law School

Kirsten Matoy Carlson is an associate professor at Wayne State University Law School. Her research focuses on legal advocacy and law reform, with particular attention on the various strategies used by Indian nations and indigenous groups to reform federal Indian law and policy effectively. Carlson's research integrates traditional legal analysis with social science methodologies for studying legal and political advocacy.

From May 2014 through July 2018, she has a National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Program grant to fund her research project, Legal Mobilization, Rights Claims, and Federal Indian Policy Reform. Carlson previously received a National Science Foundation dissertation research grant to study the constitutional entrenchment of Aboriginal and treaty rights in Canada. As a Fulbright Scholar, she researched attitudes toward the Waitangi Tribunal and the treaty claims settlement process in New Zealand. Her articles have been published in the Michigan Law Review, University of Colorado Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, American Indian Law Review and Michigan State Law Review.

At Wayne Law, Carlson teaches federal Indian law, legislation, legal change and civil procedure. She serves on the State Bar of Michigan Standing Committee on American Indian Law and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Carlson brings a range of professional and academic experience to her teaching and research. Prior to joining Wayne Law, she advocated nationally and internationally to protect the rights of Indian nations as a staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center. She led the center's advocacy efforts to restore criminal jurisdiction to Indian nations to end violence against women in Indian Country. Carlson also has been a visiting research scholar at the University of Ottawa and a visiting associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. She clerked for the Hon. Diana E. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Carlson earned her law degree cum laude and a doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan, a master of arts degree with distinction in Maaori studies from the University of Wellington, New Zealand and a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies from The Johns Hopkins University.

• Congress, Tribal Recognition, and Legislative-Administrative Multiplicity, 91 Indiana L. J. 955 (2016) (selected out of 340 submissions for presentation at the 10th Annual Conference on Empirical Legal Studies)
• Congress and Indians, 86 Univ. of Colorado L. Rev. 77 (2015)
• Political Failure, Judicial Opportunity: The Supreme Court of Canada and Aboriginal and Treaty Rights 44 Am. Rev. of Can. Stud. 334 (2014) (peer-reviewed)
• Jurisdiction and Human Rights Accountability in Indian Country, 2013 Mich. State L. Rev. 355
• Priceless Property, 29 Georgia State Univ. L. Rev. 685 (2013)
• Natural Allies: Conservationists, Indian Tribes, and Protecting Native North America, in Sarah Krakoff & Ezra Rosser, eds., Tribes, Land, and the Environment (2012) (with Robert T. Coulter)
• Is Hindsight 20-20? Reconsidering the Importance of Pre-Constitutional Documents, 30 Am. Indian L. Rev. 1 (2005-2006)
• Does Constitutional Change Matter? Canada’s Recognition of Aboriginal Title, 22 Ariz. J. Int’l Comp. L. 449 (2005)
• Note, Towards Tribal Sovereignty and Judicial Efficiency: Ordering the Defenses of Tribal Sovereign Immunity and Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies, 101 Mich. L. Rev. 569 (2002) (Second Place, National NALSA Annual Writing Competition)
• Book Review, American Indian Constitutional Reform and the Rebuilding of Native Nations (edited by Eric D. Lemont), 27(1) Journal of American Ethnic History 89 (fall 2007)
• Notice, Premature Predictions of Multiculturalism?, 100 Mich. L. Rev. 1470 (2002)

Kirsten Matoy Carlson is a Professor of Law at Wayne State University and a Faculty Scholar in the ABF/JPB Access to Justice Scholars Program. She is a Marilyn Williamson Endowed Distinguished Faculty Fellow in the Humanities Center at Wayne State University for 2023-2024. Dr. Carlson is a leading authority on federal Indian law. Her interdisciplinary, empirical research investigates access to justice issues, including legal mobilization and law reform strategies used by Native peoples to reform law and policy effectively. Her work seeks to elevate Native voices in their quest for justice within the legal system. It has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Levin Center at Wayne Law. Her numerous articles have appeared in student-edited law reviews, such as the Michigan Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Indiana Law Journal, and Washington Law Review, and peer-reviewed interdisciplinary and political science journals, such as Law and Society Review, Publius—The Journal of Federalism, and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics. Her article, Lobbying Against the Odds, was selected for presentation at the Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum at Harvard Law School. She has appeared on National Public Radio and Michigan Public Radio.

In 2019-2020, she held a Career Development Chair, which honors outstanding research faculty at Wayne State University. From May 2014 through July 2019, she served as the Principal Investigator on a National Science Foundation Law and Social Science Program grant. During 2017-2018, she was one of two inaugural Levin Center Research Scholars. In 2016-2017, she received the Outstanding Junior Faculty Award from the Wayne State Academy of Scholars. Prior to joining the Law School in 2011, Carlson received a National Science Foundation dissertation research grant to study the constitutional entrenchment of Aboriginal and treaty rights in Canada and a Fulbright scholarship to research attitudes toward the Waitangi Tribunal and the treaty claims settlement process in New Zealand. She has also served as a visiting research scholar at the University of Ottawa and a visiting professor at the University of Michigan Law School and the University of Minnesota Law School.

Dr. Carlson teaches federal Indian law, civil procedure, legislation and legal change. She received the Donald H. Gordon Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2014 and was selected by students as the Professor of the Year, First Year, in 2017 and 2023.
Dr. Carlson brings a range of professional and academic experience to her teaching and research. She serves on the State Bar of Michigan Standing Committee on American Indian Law and is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Prior to joining Wayne Law, she advocated nationally and internationally to protect the rights of Indian nations as a staff attorney at the Indian Law Resource Center. She led the center's advocacy efforts to restore criminal jurisdiction to Indian nations to end violence against women in Indian Country. She also clerked for the Hon. Diana E. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Dr. Carlson earned her law degree cum laude and a doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan, a master of arts degree with distinction in Maaori studies from the University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a bachelor of arts degree in international studies from The Johns Hopkins University.

Ph.D., University of Michigan
J.D., University of Michigan Law School
M.A., Victoria University in New Zealand
B.A., The Johns Hopkins University

Civil Procedure A
Civil Procedure B
American Indian Law
Legislation
Legal Change

Rethinking Legislative Advocacy, 80 Md. L. Rev. 960 (2021)

Lobbying Against the Odds, 56 Harv. J. on Legis. 23 (2019) (Selected for the 2018 Yale/Stanford/Harvard Junior Faculty Forum)

Lobbying as a Strategy for Tribal Resilience, 2018 BYU L. Rev. 1159 (2018)

Congress, Tribal Recognition, and Legislative-Administrative Multiplicity, 91 Ind. L. Rev. 955 (2016)

Congress and Indians, 86 U. Colo. L. Rev. 77 (2015)

Political Failure, Judicial Opportunity: The Supreme Court of Canada and Aboriginal and Treaty Rights, 44 American Review of Canadian Studies 334 (2014) (peer-reviewed)

Jurisdiction and Human Rights Accountability in Indian Country, Mich. St. L. Rev. 355 (2013)

Priceless Property, 29 Ga. St. U. L. Rev 685 (2013)

"Natural Allies: Conservationists, Indian Tribes, and Protecting Native North America," in Sarah Krakoff and Ezra Rosser, Eds., Tribes, Land, and the Environment (2012) (with Robert T. Coulter)

Does Constitutional Change Matter? Canada's Recognition of Aboriginal Title, 22 Ariz. J. Int’l & Comp. L 449 (2005) (distributed to more than 1,000 practitioners and scholars at the 2010 Federal Bar Association Indian Law Conference)

Note, Towards Tribal Sovereignty and Judicial Efficiency: Ordering the Defenses of Tribal Sovereign Immunity and Exhaustion of Tribal Remedies, 101 Mich. L. Rev. 569 (2002) (second place, National Native American Law Students Association Annual Writing Competition)

Steve Bannon Faces Criminal Charges over Jan. 6 Panel Snub, Setting Up a Showdown over Executive Privliege, The Conversation (2021).

Bay Mills President’s Indian Affairs Appointment Will Transform Relationships, Detroit Free Press (2021).

House Committee Investigating Capitol Insurrection has a Lot of Power But It’s Unclear It Can Force Trump to Testify, The Conversation (2021).

Invited Presentation, “A Discussion of Firekeeper’s Daughter and Domestic Violence and Criminal Jurisdiction on Tribal Land,” Michigan Indian Legal Services, (2021)

Panel Presentation, “Diplomacy as Representation: Congress, Indian Nations, and Legislative Success,” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, (2021)