Professor Pettys joined the faculty in 1999. Before coming to the College, he served as a law clerk for Judge Francis Murnaghan, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He then entered private practice, working for three years in the general litigation department of Perkins Coie, LLP, in Seattle, Washington. Before attending the University of North Carolina School of Law, he served as assistant director of the Capital Campaign for the Arts & Sciences at Duke University.

Professor Pettys's recent publications include "The Iowa State Constitution" (Oxford University Press 2018), "The N.R.A.'s Strict-Scrutiny Amendments" in the Iowa Law Review (2019), "Civil Cases in the Supreme Court's October 2018 Term” in the Court Review (2019), and "Partisanship, Society Identity, and American Government: Reality and Reflections" in the Lewis & Clark Law Review (2018). He also appears from time to time on Iowa Public Radio's “River to River” program, discussing Supreme Court cases and other legal developments. 

Professor Pettys’s courses include constitutional law, federal courts, and a seminar on pending supreme court cases.

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Practice and Teaching: 

• Constitutional Law 
• Federal Courts