Pamela S. Karlan, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law and co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, was appointed deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division by President Obama. She took up the position in January and will be on leave from the law school for the duration of the appointment. An expert on voting and the political process, Karlan is the co-author of leading casebooks on constitutional law, constitutional litigation, and the law of democracy.