Before coming to the School of Law in 1992, Blake Watson worked for the U.S. Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resources Division in Washington, D.C., where he represented the U.S. before federal courts of appeal and state supreme courts in cases relating to environmental, natural resources, wildlife, and Indian law. Professor Watson enjoyed arguing cases, a few of which went to the Supreme Court. He received the Special Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Justice in 1988 for his outstanding work.

Professor Watson was attracted to teaching at UDSL because of the campus environment and its Midwest location. “The Midwest is a little less hectic than D.C.,” he says. He felt his job experience as an attorney and as a clerk for Judge Bailey Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit made him ready to step into the classroom. “I had to deal with a wide range of issues, from clean water to endangered species, so I was better prepared to teach a variety of topics,” he says.

Always interested in history, Professor Watson particularly enjoys Indian law. He has written several articles on issues concerning Indians, and he is currently researching the historical context behind the 1823 Johnson v. McIntosh Supreme Court decision regarding Indian land ownership and rights. He has also been elected Professor of the Year by the student body several times.

Recent News
Professor Watson is currently working on a book entitled Buying America from the Indians: The Illinois-Wabash Purchase, Johnson v. McIntosh, and the Issue of Native Land Rights, and he recently wrote newspaper commentaries on whether Indian tribes may operate gambling facilities in Ohio.

Courses
LAW 6104 Real Property I
LAW 700 Administrative Law

Publications

• John Marshall and Indian Land Rights: A Historical Rejoinder to the Claim of "Universal Recognition" of the Doctrine of Discovery, 36 Seton Hall Law Review 481-549 (2006)
• Indian Gambling in Ohio: What Are the Odds? 32 Capital University Law Review 237-315 (2003)
• Book Review, 13 Great Plains Research Quarterly (2003) (reviewing Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law by David E. Wilkins and K. Tsianinia Lomawaima)
• Understanding Challenges to Land Use Regulations and Impact Fees – A Primer on the Major Cases; Types of Challenges; and Supreme Court Tests, Appendix in Takings Litigation Handbook by Kendall, Dowling, and Schwartz (American Legal Publishing 2000)
• The Thrust and Parry of Federal Indian Law, 23 University of Dayton Law Review 437-514 (1998)
• The Curious Case of Disappearing Federal Jurisdiction Over Federal Enforcement of Federal Law: A Vehicle For Reassessment of the Tribal Exhaustion/Abstention Doctrine, 80 Marquette Law Review 103-194 (1997)Cited in the Supreme Court briefs in the case of El Paso Natural Gas Co. v. Neztsosie
• Liberal Construction of CERCLA Under the Remedial Purpose Canon: Have the Lower Courts Taken A Good Thing Too Far? 20 Harvard Environmental Law Review 199-328 (1996)
  Cited in the Supreme Court briefs in the case of United States v. Bestfoods
  Cited in the dissenting opinion in United States v. E.I. Dupont De Nemours and Co. Inc. (2005)
• State Acquisition of Interests in Indian Land: An Overview, 10 American Indian Law Review 219-256 (1982)