Background

Maru Smith-Opabola is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. She previously completed a Teaching and Research Fellowship at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School as well as an M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University. Her scholarship examines how First Amendment law has historically adapted to new communications technologies. Her research explores the relationship between freedom of the press and media law as shaped by courts, legislatures, and administrative agencies.  As communication infrastructure and political economies transform through rapidly evolving artificial intelligence, her work aims to recover the foundational First Amendment principles essential to democratic life.

Education

• J.D., Harvard Law School
• M.S., Columbia University
• B.A., University of Florida

Teaching

• Constitutional Issues in Public Education Law - First Amendment (LAWS 726)
• Media Law (LAWS 767)