Northern Illinois University
College of Law

Title:	Professor Emeritus
Office Location:	Swen Parson (room TBD)
Office Phone:	TBD
Email:	TBD
Education:	B.S., Portland State University M.A., Fuller Theological Seminary J.D., Willamette University J.S.M., Stanford University

Mark Cordes has taught courses in property, land use controls, constitutional law, first amendment and environmental law. He was editor-in-chief of the Willamette Law Review and served as a law clerk to Justice Thomas Tongue of the Oregon Supreme Court after graduation from law school. Prior to coming to NIU, he was a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School for two years. He served as interim dean of the NIU College of Law from June 2015 to June 2016 and was appointed interim dean again from June 2017 to June 2019.

Professor Cordes is the author of more than two dozen book chapters and law review articles in the areas of property, free speech, religion, environmental law and land use controls. He was a significant contributor to the revision of Thompson on Real Property, a leading multi-volume treatise on property law. In addition to his law review articles, he also contributed five entries to the Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties.

Professor Cordes is an avid runner, having completed sixteen marathons, including eleven Chicago Marathons. Cordes served in the U.S. Army from 1970-72, including a tour in Vietnam, where he earned the Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart.

Mark Cordes has taught courses in property, land use controls, constitutional law, first amendment and environmental law. He was editor-in-chief of the Willamette Law Review and served as a law clerk to Justice Thomas Tongue of the Oregon Supreme Court after graduation from law school. Prior to coming to NIU, he was a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School for two years. He served as interim dean of the NIU College of Law from June 2015 to June 2016 and was appointed interim dean again from June 2017 to June 2019.

Professor Cordes is the author of more than two dozen book chapters and law review articles in the areas of property, free speech, religion, environmental law and land use controls. He was a significant contributor to the revision of Thompson on Real Property, a leading multi-volume treatise on property law. In addition to his law review articles, he also contributed five entries to the Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties.

Professor Cordes is an avid runner, having completed sixteen marathons, including eleven Chicago Marathons. Cordes served in the U.S. Army from 1970-72, including a tour in Vietnam, where he earned the Combat Infantry Badge and the Purple Heart.

Areas of Expertise

• Property
• Environmental law
• Land use controls
• Constitutional law
• First amendment

Publications

Books and Chapters

• Religion as Speech: The Growing Role of Free Speech Jurisprudence in Protecting Religious Liberty, in The American Experiment: Religious Freedom (Margaret M. Hogan & Lauretta C. Frederking, eds., 2008).
• Transfer of Landlord and Tenant Interests, in 5 Thompson On Real Property 285 (David Thomas ed., 1994 & Cum. Supp. 1995-1998).
• Statutory Modifications of Landlord and Tenant Law, in 5 Thompson On Real Property 343 (David Thomas ed., 1994 & Cum. Supp. 1995-1998).

Encyclopedia Entries

• Prayer in Public Schools, in 2 Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties 1196 (2006).
• Limitations on Clergy Holding Office, in 2 Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties 921 (2006).
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, in 3 Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties 1422 (2006).
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, in 2 Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties 906 (2006).
• Time, Place and Manner Restrictions, in 3 Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties 1657 (2006).

Articles

• Schools, Worship, and the First Amendment, 48 Suffolk U. L. Rev. 9 (2015). (Also available in SSRN )
• The First Amendment and Religion After Hosanna-Tabor, 41 Hastings Const. L. Q. 299 (2014). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Land Use Jurisprudence of Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justice Stevens: Two Views on Balancing Public and Private Interests in Property, 34 Environs: Envtl L. & Pol’y J. 1 (Fall 2010). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Fairness Dimension of Takings Jurisprudence, 20 Kan. J.L. & Pub.  Pol’y 1 (Fall 2010). (Also available in  SSRN)
• Making Sense of High School Speech After Morse v. Frederick, 17 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 657 (2009). (Also available in SSRN)
• Religion as Speech: The Growing Role of Free Speech Jurisprudence in Protecting Religious Liberty, 38 Sw. L. Rev. 235 (2008). (Also available in SSRN)
• Takings Jurisprudence as Three-Tiered Review, 20 J. Nat. Resources & Envtl. L. 1 (2006). (Also available in  SSRN)
• Fairness and Farmland Preservation: A Response to Professor Richardson, 20 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 371 (2005). (Also available in SSRN)
• Affirmative Action After Grutter and Gratz, 24 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 691 (2004). (Also available in SSRN)
• The Effect of Palazzolo v. Rhode Island on Takings and Environmental Land Use Regulation, 43 Santa Clara L. Rev. 337 (2002). (Also available in SSRN)
• Agricultural Zoning: Impacts and Future Directions, 22 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 419 (2002). (Also available in  SSRN)
• Prayer in Public Schools After Santa Fe Independent School District, 90 Ky. L.J. 1 (2002). (Also available in  SSRN)
• Politics, Religion, and the First Amendment, 50 DePaul L. Rev. 111 (2000). (Also available in SSRN)
• Property Rights and Land Use Controls: Balancing Private and Public Interests, 19  N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 629 (2000). (Also available in SSRN)
• Takings, Fairness, and Farmland Preservation, 60 Ohio St. L.J. 1033 (1999). (Also available in  SSRN)
• The Public/Private Balance in Land Use Regulation, 1998 Detroit C. L. Mich. St. U. L. Rev. 681 (1998). (Also available in  SSRN)
• Leapfrogging the Constitution: The Rise of State Takings Legislation, 24 Ecology L.Q. 187 (1997). (Also available in SSRN)
• Property and the First Amendment, 31 U. Rich. L. Rev. 1 (1997). (Also available in SSRN)
• Legal Limits on Development Exactions: Responding to Nollan and Dolan, 15 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 513 (1995). (Also available in SSRN)
• Sign Regulation After Ladue : Examining the Evolving Limits of First Amendment Protection, 74 Neb. L. Rev. 36 (1995). (Also available in SSRN)
• Preparing Minority Students for Law School: The Program for Minority Access to Law School, 12 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 267 (1992). (Also available in SSRN)
• Policing Bias and Conflicts of Interest in Zoning Decisionmaking, 65 N.D. L. Rev. 161 (1989). (Also available in SSRN)
• Where to Pray? Religious Zoning and the First Amendment, 35 Kan. L. Rev. 697 (1987), reprinted in 21 Land Use & Envtl. L. Rev.97 (1989). (Also available in SSRN)