Written by: Hannah Huston

University of Iowa College of Law faculty member Alison K. Guernsey, the Herschel G. Langdon Professor of Trial Advocacy, has been invited by the U.S. Supreme Court Fellows Commission to serve on the Academic Advisory Board for the U.S. Supreme Court Fellows Program during its October 2025 term. 

“I’m honored to contribute to the Supreme Court Fellows Program and its longstanding commitment to scholarship and public service,” said Guernsey. “Serving on the Academic Advisory Board allows me to participate in a program that exemplifies what legal education can accomplish—fostering analytical rigor, public service, and a deeper understanding of the judicial process.” 

Founded in 1973, the prestigious program offers mid-career professionals, recent law school graduates, and doctoral degree holders in law and political science an opportunity to broaden their understanding of the judicial system through exposure to federal court administration. Only four individuals are selected to work for one of four federal judiciary agencies for a year-long appointment in Washington, D.C., including the Supreme Court of the United States, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the Federal Judicial Center, and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. 

The program requires each fellow to produce a publishable-quality work of scholarship tied to their agency placement. Fellows present their work in progress at a winter research workshop held at the Supreme Court. In the spring, each fellow presents their research paper to a group of federal judges meeting as a committee of the Judicial Conference. As part of Guernsey’s appointment, she will provide scholarly and professional guidance to the fellow assigned to the Supreme Court’s Office of the Counselor to the Chief Justice. 

Guernsey graduated from Iowa Law in 2008 and joined the faculty in 2017. Ahead of the 2025-2026 academic year, she was one of five faculty members named to endowed positions. Endowed chairs and professorships are the highest level of distinction given to faculty members for their exceptional contributions to legal education and supporting their continued advancement in the field. Guernsey’s professorship, the Herschel G. Langdon Professorship of Trial Advocacy, was established in 2002 to recognize faculty with a distinguished record in trial advocacy.  

Her leadership in this area extends beyond the classroom and into national conversations on criminal legal reform. In 2022, she testified before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security in an emergency hearing based on rising COVID-19 cases in federal prisons. Her testimony is titled, The First Step Act, The Pandemic, and Compassionate Release: What Are the Next Steps for the Federal Bureau of Prisons?. In March 2025, Guernsey testified before the U.S. Sentencing Commission about its proposed amendments to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines’ provisions on supervised release. Guernsey’s compassionate-release and supervised-release reform work is part of her larger focus on advocating for more robust “second looks,” or the development of processes by which adjudicators can revisit already imposed sentences to account for changed circumstances or the law’s evolution. 

Guernsey also directs Iowa Law’s Federal Criminal Defense Clinic, which is one of only two trial-level federal criminal defense clinics in the nation. Under her supervision, law students represent indigent people charged with federal offenses in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa at all stages of the proceedings from initial appearance through direct appeal.

Learn more about the Supreme Court Fellows Program.