Richard Pildes
Encyclopedia
Richard H. Pildes is a law professor at the New York University School of Law
and a leading expert on election law
. He is one of the nation's leading scholars of public law
and a specialist in legal issues affecting democracy
.
The son of two Chicago
-area physicians, Pildes received his A.B., summa cum laude, in physical chemistry from Princeton University
in 1979, and his J.D.
, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School
in 1983. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and for Justice
Thurgood Marshall
of the U.S. Supreme Court (where he clerked alongside future colleague and NYU Law Dean Richard Revesz
), after which he practiced law in Boston. He began his academic career at the University of Michigan Law School
, where he was assistant and then full professor of law from 1988 until 1999, when he joined the NYU School of Law faculty. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School
, Harvard Law School, and the University of Texas Law School. He was a member of Princeton's track and cross-country teams where he was known as "Ironman." Before law school he worked at a ski resort in Colorado, although he is no longer fanatical about skiing.
In the area of democracy, Pildes, along with the co-authors of his widely-used casebook, The Law of Democracy, has helped to create a new field of study in law schools. Pildes is a leading scholar on the topics of the Voting Rights Act
, alternative voting systems (such as cumulative voting
), the history of disfranchisement
in the United States, and the general relationship between constitutional law and democratic politics in the design of democratic institutions themselves. His work in these areas has been frequently cited in United States Supreme Court opinions.
Pildes gives frequent public lectures and appearances, and was nominated for an Emmy Award
for his legal analysis during the 2000 Presidential election
litigation. During the 2000 Presidential election controversy
, he had an exclusive media contract with NBC
and appeared frequently on NBC Nightly News
with Tom Brokaw
, MSNBC
, and WNBC-TV. He is also an active public intellectual and public-law litigator. He has written for The New York Times
, The Wall Street Journal
, The New Republic
, The American Prospect, and other such publications. Apart from his academic work, Pildes has also served as a federal court-appointed independent expert on voting rights litigation, an assistant to a special master for the redistricting of a state legislature, and has worked with North Carolina
in redistricting litigation before the United States Supreme Court. He was assisted with one of his casebooks by then-University of Chicago Law School
professor Barack Obama
.
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
and a leading expert on election law
Election law
Election law is a discipline falling at the juncture of constitutional law and political science. It researches "the politics of law and the law of politics"...
. He is one of the nation's leading scholars of public law
Public law
Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals and the state. Under this theory, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are sub-divisions of public law...
and a specialist in legal issues affecting democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
.
The son of two Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-area physicians, Pildes received his A.B., summa cum laude, in physical chemistry from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1979, and his J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard 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...
in 1983. He clerked for Judge Abner J. Mikva
Abner J. Mikva
Abner Joseph Mikva is a Democratic former U.S. Representative, federal judge and law professor from Chicago.-Biography:Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mikva attended the University of Chicago Law School, from which he graduated in 1951...
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and for Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate 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...
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
of the U.S. Supreme Court (where he clerked alongside future colleague and NYU Law Dean Richard Revesz
Richard Revesz
Richard L. "Ricky" Revesz is a law professor and the current dean of the New York University School of Law. He is one of the nation's leading experts on environmental and regulatory law and policy....
), after which he practiced law in Boston. He began his academic career at the University of Michigan Law School
University of Michigan Law School
The University of Michigan Law School is the law school of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Founded in 1859, the school has an enrollment of about 1,200 students, most of whom are seeking Juris Doctor or Master of Laws degrees, although the school also offers a Doctor of Juridical...
, where he was assistant and then full professor of law from 1988 until 1999, when he joined the NYU School of Law faculty. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
, Harvard Law School, and the University of Texas Law School. He was a member of Princeton's track and cross-country teams where he was known as "Ironman." Before law school he worked at a ski resort in Colorado, although he is no longer fanatical about skiing.
In the area of democracy, Pildes, along with the co-authors of his widely-used casebook, The Law of Democracy, has helped to create a new field of study in law schools. Pildes is a leading scholar on the topics of the Voting Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
, alternative voting systems (such as cumulative voting
Cumulative voting
Cumulative voting is a multiple-winner voting system intended to promote more proportional representation than winner-take-all elections.- History :...
), the history of disfranchisement
Disfranchisement
Disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of suffrage of a person or group of people, or rendering a person's vote less effective, or ineffective...
in the United States, and the general relationship between constitutional law and democratic politics in the design of democratic institutions themselves. His work in these areas has been frequently cited in United States Supreme Court opinions.
Pildes gives frequent public lectures and appearances, and was nominated for an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his legal analysis during the 2000 Presidential election
2000 presidential election
The 2000 presidential election may refer to:* Croatian presidential elections, 2000* Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election, 2000* Fijian presidential election, 2000* Ghanaian presidential election, 2000* Polish presidential election, 2000...
litigation. During the 2000 Presidential election controversy
United States presidential election in Florida, 2000
The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000 as it did in the other 49 states and D.C., which was part of the 2000 United States presidential election...
, he had an exclusive media contract with NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and appeared frequently on NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
with Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, and WNBC-TV. He is also an active public intellectual and public-law litigator. He has written for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
, The American Prospect, and other such publications. Apart from his academic work, Pildes has also served as a federal court-appointed independent expert on voting rights litigation, an assistant to a special master for the redistricting of a state legislature, and has worked with North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
in redistricting litigation before the United States Supreme Court. He was assisted with one of his casebooks by then-University of Chicago Law School
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
professor Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Representative Bibliography
- The Law of Democracy: Legal Structure of the Political Process with Pamela S. KarlanPamela S. KarlanPamela Susan Karlan is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and a leading liberal legal scholar on voting rights and the political process.- Early life and education :...
, Samuel IssacharoffSamuel IssacharoffSamuel Issacharoff is an American law professor, whose scholarly work focuses on voting rights and civil procedure. He is currently the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law. He served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School for the...
. 2nd ed. (2001). - When Elections Go Bad: The Law of Democracy and the Presidential Election of 2000 with Pamela S. KarlanPamela S. KarlanPamela Susan Karlan is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and a leading liberal legal scholar on voting rights and the political process.- Early life and education :...
, Samuel IssacharoffSamuel IssacharoffSamuel Issacharoff is an American law professor, whose scholarly work focuses on voting rights and civil procedure. He is currently the Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law. He served as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School for the...
. Rev. ed. (2001). - The Future of the Voting Rights Act with David Epstein, Rodolfo de la Garza and Sharyn O'Halloran.
- "Separation of Parties, Not Powers." with Daryl Levinson. 119 Harvard Law Review 2311 (2006).
- "The Supreme Court, 2003 Term- Foreword: The Constitutionalization of Democratic Politics." 118 Harvard Law Review 29 (2004).
- "Democrats and Technocrats," with Cass SunsteinCass SunsteinCass R. Sunstein is an American legal scholar, particularly in the fields of constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and law and behavioral economics, who currently is the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama administration...
. Journees d'etudes juridiques Jean Dabin (2004). - "Competitive, Deliberative, and Rights-Oriented Democracy," 3 Election Law Journal 685 (2004).
See also
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Shaw v. RenoShaw v. RenoShaw v. Reno, 509 U.S. 630 , was a United States Supreme Court case argued on April 20, 1993. The ruling was significant in the area of redistricting and racial gerrymandering. The court ruled in a 5-4 decision that redistricting based on race must be held to a standard of strict scrutiny under the...