B.A., Harvard; J.D., Harvard
Adjunct Professor of Law. Chertoff is Managing Editor of SLoGLaw, the State and Local Government Blog. She teaches state and local government law, state law and lobbying and the law of the District of Columbia. From 2019-2024 she directed SALPAL, the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law.
From 2009 to 2019 she served as the Executive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program directing seminars for judges, lawyers and state government officials, and also was founding Director of the Inclusive America Project(now the Religion and Society Program), and Director of the Sandra Day O’Connor Conversation.
Professor Chertoff has had a variety of positions in and around state government. She was Director of the New Jersey Washington Office, served on the legislative staff of a New Jersey Assembly leader, and worked as a lobbyist in Trenton. Professor Chertoff worked in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) participating in the agency’s transition into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.
From 2006-2009 she directed the Sandra Day O’Connor Project at Georgetown Law, on judicial independence and civic education.
She is a graduate of Harvard College and Law School, and served as a law clerk to Federal District Judge Myron H. Thompson (M.D. Ala).
She contributes opinion writing to The Hill, Bloomberg Law, and other publications, has provided expert testimony before state legislatures on various bills, and provides briefings on American federalism to international visitors through US State Department sponsored programs.
Professor Chertoff is admitted to the Bar in New York and New Jersey, is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, member of the National Election Crises Task Force and served as an ABA Advisor to the Uniform Law Commission’s Study Committee on State Governance During Public Health Emergencies in 2020.
Book Chapters & Collected Works
"The Utility, Feasibility, Security, and Ethics of Verifiable COVID-19 Credentials for International Travel: Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief," in The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, December 2021, featuring Adjunct Professor Meryl Chertoff.
"Study sessions, parties, and dorm life: How college studetns can minimize Covid risk on campus," coverage by The Washington Post, September 8, 2021, featuring Adjunct Professor Meryl J. Chertoff.
"School Mask Rule Clash Puts Heat on Courts to Steer Policy," coverage by Bloomberg, August 13, 2021, featuring Adjunct Professor Meryl J. Chertoff.
"Ending Mask Mandates Reflects 'Neanderthal Thinking,' Biden Says," coverage by Voice of America, March 3, 2021, featuring Adjunct Professor Meryl J. Chertoff.