Here are ten of my favorite papers from 2009, in alphabetical order by author:
The First Amendment and Commercial Speech C. Edwin Baker
Skirmishes on the Temporal Boundaries of States by Meir Dan-Cohen
Law, War, and the History of Time by Mary L. Dudziak
Ambiguity About Ambiguity: An Empirical Inquiry into Legal Interpretation by Ward Farnsworth, Dustin F. Guzior, and Anup Malani
Law as a Means by Leslie Green
The Bush Presidency and Theories of Constitutional Change by Stephen M. Griffin
Reproduction of Hierarchy? A Social Network Analysis of the American Law Professoriate by Daniel Martin Katz, Joshua Gubler, Jon Zelnerm, Eric A. Provins, & Eitan M Ingall
Towards a Right Against Risking by John Oberdiek
The Origins of the Privileges or Immunities Clause, Part I: 'Privileges and Immunities' as an Antebellum Term of Art by Kurt T. Lash
Philosophical Foundations of Law and Neuroscience by Michael S. Pardo and Dennis Patterson