George P. Fletcher
Encyclopedia
George P. Fletcher is the Cardozo Professor of Jurisprudence at Columbia University
School of Law.
Fletcher attended Cornell University
from 1956 to 1959, studying mathematics and Russian. He received a B.A. in 1960 from University of California, Berkeley
and his J.D. in 1964 from the University of Chicago
. He studied at the University of Freiburg
from 1964 to 1965 and received a Masters in Comparative Law in 1965 from the University of Chicago.
Fletcher is a noted expert on criminal law. His widely-taught book Rethinking Criminal Law is a "well known time-honored classic of criminal law jurisprudence and the most cited scholarly book on criminal law." Fletcher was honored on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its publication with a "Symposium: Twenty-Five Years of George Fletcher's Rethinking Criminal Law."
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
School of Law.
Fletcher attended Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
from 1956 to 1959, studying mathematics and Russian. He received a B.A. in 1960 from University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and his J.D. in 1964 from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He studied at the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...
from 1964 to 1965 and received a Masters in Comparative Law in 1965 from the University of Chicago.
Fletcher is a noted expert on criminal law. His widely-taught book Rethinking Criminal Law is a "well known time-honored classic of criminal law jurisprudence and the most cited scholarly book on criminal law." Fletcher was honored on the twenty-fifth anniversary of its publication with a "Symposium: Twenty-Five Years of George Fletcher's Rethinking Criminal Law."
Books
- Defending Humanity: When Force is Justified and Why, co-authored with Jens Ohlin Oxford University Press 2008
- Our Secret Constitution: How Lincoln Redefined American Democracy (Oxford 2001) was honored as the best book on law published in 2001.
- With Justice for Some: Victims’ Rights in Criminal Trials (Addison Wesley 1995), quoted by Marsha Clark in the O.J. Simpson trial.
- Loyalty: An Essay on the Morality of Relationships (Oxford 1993), praised by William SafireWilliam SafireWilliam Lewis Safire was an American author, columnist, journalist and presidential speechwriter....
twice in his column in the New York Times, translated in French, German, and Spanish. - A Crime of Self-Defense: Bernhard Goetz and the Law on Trial (Free Press 1988) received the Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar AssociationAmerican Bar AssociationThe American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
, translated into German, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. - Rethinking Criminal Law (Little Brown 1978) received the Order-of-Coif award as one of the best books published on law in the late 1970s
- Romantics at War: Glory and Guilt in the Age of Terrorism (Princeton University Press, 2002)
- Basic Concepts of Criminal Law (Oxford University Press, 1998) (Spanish edition, 1997; Russian edition, 1998; Italian edition forthcoming)
- Basic Concepts of Legal Thought (Oxford University Press, 1996)
- With Justice for Some: Victims' Rights in Criminal Trials (Addison-Wesley,1995) (paperback, 1996; Spanish edition, 1996)
- Introduzione Elementare alla Scienza Giuridica (II. Cardozo Lectures in Law)
- Justification and Excuse: Comparative Perspectives, Volumes I and II (ed. with A. Eser 1987)
- Courts of Terror (Fletcher, Dershowitz et al. eds., Knopf 1976)
Honors
- Winner of the German 1995.
- Delivered Storrs Lectures at Yale, 2001.
- Elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2004).