He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, his J.D. from Indiana University (Bloomington), and his B.A. from Purdue University. Prior to coming to NIU, he was Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Washington State University. His teaching and research interests include American politics, law and courts, constitutional law and theory, and federalism. Pickerill's current research focuses on the relationship between the Supreme Court and the other branches of government. He is the author of Congress and Constitutional Deliberation: The Impact of Judicial Review in a Separated System (Duke U. Press 2004) as well as various book chapters and articles in journals such as Perspectives on Politics, Publius, Polity, Georgetown Law Journal, Santa Clara Law Review and Law & Policy.