WashU Law proudly celebrates Professor Travis Crum, who recently received the 2025 AALS Distinguished Scholarship Award in Election Law. This annual honor is presented in recognition of “a single work that exemplifies excellence in the field and that is published in a given year.” Professor Crum was recognized for his article in the Yale Law Journal, The Unabridged Fifteenth Amendment.
Professor Crum’s article is a comprehensive account of the Fifteenth Amendment’s adoption and its enfranchisement of Black men nationwide in 1870. His article situates the Fifteenth Amendment within the broad array of constitutional provisions, state laws, and federal statutes that enfranchised—and disenfranchised—Black men during Reconstruction. It then dives into the congressional debate over the Fifteenth Amendment’s language and the ratification debate in the States about its meaning. As Professor Crum shows, the Reconstruction Framers were united in their support for Black men’s voting rights, but they struggled to agree on whether to explicitly ban discriminatory devices like literacy tests. Professor Crum argues that the Fifteenth Amendment’s protections extend beyond forbidding facially discriminatory voting qualifications; the Fifteenth Amendment also banned the use of racial proxies and protected the right to hold office. Professor Crum concludes that the Fifteenth Amendment rejected the Founding’s conception of democracy—which limited the right to vote to those with a sufficient stake in society—and embraced a more modern conception of the right to vote as preservative of all other rights.
“The Fifteenth Amendment is often overshadowed by the Fourteenth Amendment in legal history and contemporary litigation, but its prohibition of racial discrimination in voting deserves renewed attention,” said Professor Crum. “With this article, I hope to inspire renewed interest the Fifteenth Amendment’s potential and shine a spotlight on its role in re-founding the United States as a multi-racial democracy during Reconstruction.”
Professor Crum’s article speaks to legal scholars and policymakers seeking to reinforce the legal framework protecting voting rights. Professor Crum’s scholarship outlines pathways for courts and lawmakers to leverage the Fifteenth Amendment as a robust tool in safeguarding fair representation and upholding our nation’s democracy.
Professor Crum’s recognition by AALS reflects WashU Law’s enduring tradition of fostering cutting-edge scholarship that addresses the nation’s most pressing issues. Please join us in congratulating Professor Crum for this well-earned honor and for his dedication to advancing the field of election law.
Read the full announcement from AALS here.
Learn more about Professor Crum and his scholarship here.