List of Jewish American jurists
Encyclopedia
This is a list of famous Jewish American jurists.
For other famous Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.
For other famous Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.
Supreme Court of the United States
- Louis BrandeisLouis BrandeisLouis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
, U.S. Supreme CourtSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
JusticeAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesAssociate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
, 1916–1939. - Stephen G. Breyer, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1994–present.
- Benjamin N. CardozoBenjamin N. CardozoBenjamin Nathan Cardozo was a well-known American lawyer and associate Supreme Court Justice. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his modesty, philosophy, and vivid prose style...
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1932–1938. - Abe FortasAbe FortasAbraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1965–1969. - Felix FrankfurterFelix FrankfurterFelix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1939–1962 - Ruth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader GinsburgRuth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1993–present. - Arthur J. Goldberg, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1962–1965.
- Elena KaganElena KaganElena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 2010-present.
Activists and scholars
- Gloria AllredGloria AllredGloria Rachel Allred is an American lawyer noted for taking high-profile and often controversial cases, particulary those involving the protection of women's rights.-Early life:...
(1941–) lawyer and radio talk show hostof - Eric BrownEric BrownEric Brown may refer to:*Eric Brown , British test pilot*Eric Brown *Eric Brown *Eric Brown *Eric Brown *Eric Brown...
, first Jewish Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of OhioSupreme Court of OhioThe Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms...
. 2010 - Thomas BuergenthalThomas BuergenthalThomas Buergenthal is a former judge of the International Court of Justice. He resigned his post as of 6 September 2010. Buergenthal is returning to his position as Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at The George Washington University Law School...
, U.S. judge on the International Court of JusticeInternational Court of JusticeThe International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands... - Alan DershowitzAlan DershowitzAlan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
, U.S. lawyer, Professor Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, popular author - Arthur Lehman GoodhartArthur Lehman GoodhartArthur Lehman Goodhart, KBE, KC was an American-born British academic jurist and lawyer; he was professor of jurisprudence, University of Oxford, 1931–51, when he was also a Fellow of University College, Oxford...
, jurist - Julius HoffmanJulius HoffmanJulius J. Hoffman was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney and judge and former law partner of Richard J. Daley who achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago Seven trial.-Early life:...
, U.S. attorney and judge, achieved notoriety for his role in the Chicago SevenChicago SevenThe Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
trial - Elena KaganElena KaganElena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
, first female Dean of Harvard Law School, first female Solicitor General - Judith KayeJudith KayeJudith S. Kaye is a retired New York judge who served as Chief Judge of New York from March 23, 1993 until December 31, 2008. She was the first woman to occupy the State Judiciary's highest office.-Early life and education:...
, first female Chief Judge of the New York Court of AppealsNew York Court of AppealsThe New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms... - Alex KozinskiAlex KozinskiAlex Kozinski is Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, an essayist, and a judicial commentator.-Biography:...
, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Alaska* District of Arizona...
judge and popular essayist http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/January-February-2004/feature_bazelon_janfeb04.msp - William KunstlerWilliam KunstlerWilliam Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
, U.S. lawyer famous for defending controversial "radical" clients such as the "Chicago Seven" protesters of the 1968 Democratic National Convention1968 Democratic National ConventionThe 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
.http://zena.secureforum.com/Znet/zmag/articles/oct95bernstein.htm - Samuel LeibowitzSamuel LeibowitzSamuel Simon Leibowitz was a Romanian-born American criminal defense attorney, famously noted for winning the vast majority of his cases, who later became a judge in New York City.-Early years:...
, lawyer, defender of the Scottsboro BoysScottsboro BoysThe Scottsboro Boys were nine black teenage boys accused of rape in Alabama in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with racism and the right to a fair trial...
.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/scottsboro/peopleevents/p_leibowitz.html - Edward Levi, U.S. Attorney General 1975–77
- Nathan Lewin, Prominent Jewish advocate; argued many first amendment, establishment clause-related cases before the Supreme Court
- Martin LiptonMartin LiptonMartin Lipton is an American lawyer. He is a founding partner of the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz specializing in advising major corporations on mergers and acquisitions and matters affecting corporate policy and strategy. He has written and lectured extensively on these subjects...
, U.S. leading business lawyer corporate mergers - Julian MackJulian MackJulian William Mack was a United States federal judge and social reformer.-Early life and education:...
, Early 20th Century United States Circuit Court of Appeals Judge.http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=263&subject=144 - Stanley MoskStanley MoskStanley Mosk was an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court for 37 years , and holds the record for the longest-serving justice on that court. Before sitting on the Supreme Court, he served as Attorney General of California and as a trial court judge, among other governmental positions...
, U.S. jurist, California Supreme Court Justice and Attorney General - Peter NeufeldPeter NeufeldPeter Neufeld is an American lawyer and is most famous as a cofounder, with Barry Scheck, of the Innocence Project, located at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law...
, Innocence ProjectInnocence ProjectAn Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to... - Barry ScheckBarry ScheckBarry C. Scheck is an American lawyer. He received national media attention while serving on O.J. Simpson's defense team, winning an acquittal in the highly publicized murder case. Scheck is the director of the Innocence Project and a professor at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York...
, Co-founder of the Innocence ProjectInnocence ProjectAn Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
, defense lawyer for O.J. Simpson. http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/2168/edition_id/35/format/html/displaystory.html. - Eliot SpitzerEliot SpitzerEliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer, former Democratic Party politician, and political commentator. He was the co-host of In the Arena, a talk-show and punditry forum broadcast on CNN until CNN cancelled his show in July of 2011...
, Former Governor and former Attorney General of New York - Horace SternHorace SternHorace Stern was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1 November 1952 to 29 December 1956. He was elevated to the Chief Justice position after serving on the Court from 6 January 1936....
, first Jewish justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, was later elevated to Chief Justice. Founded the law firm of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen - Laurence H. Tribe, Professor of Law, Harvard University
- Eugene VolokhEugene VolokhEugene Volokh is an American legal commentator and the Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law...
, Professor of Law, UCLA
Media figures
- Ben Brafman, attorney for Sean CombsSean CombsSean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
, Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
. - Marcia ClarkMarcia ClarkMarcia Rachel Clark is an American prosecutor, author, and television correspondent who gained fame as the head prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder case.-Early life:...
, prosecutor in the trial of O.J. Simpson. - Roy CohnRoy CohnRoy Marcus Cohn was an American attorney who became famous during Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations into Communist activity in the United States during the Second Red Scare. Cohn gained special prominence during the Army–McCarthy hearings. He was also an important member of the U.S...
, chief attorney for Joseph McCarthyJoseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957... - Ed FaganEd FaganEdward Davis "Ed" Fagan is a controversial former American reparations lawyer who was punished by the Supreme Court for his conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation...
, reparationsReparation (legal)In jurisprudence, reparation is replenishment of a previously inflicted loss by the criminal to the victim. Monetary restitution is a common form of reparation...
lawyerLawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, disbarred in New York and New Jersey for stealing money from Holocaust survivors.. - Bertram FieldsBertram FieldsBertram Fields is an American lawyer famous for his work in the field of entertainment law; he has represented many of the leading studios, as well as individual celebrities including Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Warren Beatty, James Cameron, Mike Nichols, Joel Silver, Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman,...
(1929–) Harvard-trained lawyer, famous for his work in the field of entertainment law. - Ed KochEd KochEdward Irving "Ed" Koch is an American lawyer, politician, and political commentator. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and three terms as mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989...
, Judge on The People's CourtThe People's CourtThe People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
and former mayor of New York. - Scooter Libby, former Vice Presidential Chief of Staff
- Robert ShapiroRobert ShapiroRobert Leslie Shapiro is an American civil litigator and senior partner in the Los Angeles-based law firm Glaser Weil Fink Jacobs Howard Avchen & Shapiro, LLP. Shapiro is most recognized for being part of the defense team which successfully defended O.J. Simpson in 1995 from the charges that he...
, U.S. lawyer, known for the trial of O.J. Simpson. - Jerry SheindlinJerry SheindlinGerald "Jerry" Sheindlin is an American author and television personality, he was also a judge on the television show The People's Court from 1999 to 2001...
, television judge, husband of Judith Sheindlin, former New York State Supreme Court justice. - Judith SheindlinJudith SheindlinJudith Sheindlin, better known as Judge Judy, is an American lawyer, judge, television personality, and author. Since 1996, Sheindlin has presided over her own syndicated courtroom show, Judge Judy, and is well known for her no-nonsense legal style and powerful personality, sharpness, and quick...
, former New York family court judge, host of Judge JudyJudge JudyJudge Judy is an American court show featuring former family court judge Judith Sheindlin arbitrating over small claims cases in small claims court...
. - Joseph WapnerJoseph WapnerJoseph Albert Wapner is a former American judge and TV personality of the real-life courtroom-style show The People's Court, which ran in syndication from 1981 to 1993 for 2,484 episodes....
, judge on The People's CourtThe People's CourtThe People's Court is a US television court show in which small claims court cases are heard, though what is shown is actually a binding arbitration....
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