Alfred L. Brophy is an American legal scholar. He is retired. He held the Paul and Charlene Jones Chair in law at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
from 2017 to 2019.
Early life
Brophy was born in Champaign, Illinois. He graduated summa cum laude from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree.
He earned a J.D. from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he was an editor of the ''Columbia Law Review'', and a Ph.D. from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
, where he held a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Fellowship.
Career
Brophy was a law clerk to
John Butzner of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Maryla ...
and practiced law with
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates is an American multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1948, the firm consistently ranks among the top U.S. law firms by revenue. The company is known for its wor ...
in New York.
He taught at the
University of North Carolina School of Law
The University of North Carolina School of Law is the law school of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Established in 1845, Carolina Law is among the oldest law schools in the United States and is the oldest law school in North Carol ...
from 2008 to 2017, where he became the Judge
John J. Parker
John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885 – March 17, 1958) was an American politician and United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was an unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of the Unite ...
Distinguished Professor of Law.
He has held the Paul and Charlene Jones Chair in law at the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
from 2017 to 2019.
He has a
intracranial hemorrhage
Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), also known as intracranial bleed, is bleeding within the skull. Subtypes are intracerebral bleeds ( intraventricular bleeds and intraparenchymal bleeds), subarachnoid bleeds, epidural bleeds, and subdural bleeds. ...
stroke and is retired now.
Brophy is the author of several books, co-author of two casebooks, and co-editor of three other volumes. He has been the co-editor of the ''
American Journal of Legal History
The ''American Journal of Legal History'' is a peer reviewed, peer edited legal periodical. It has appeared quarterly since 1957. It was the first English-language periodical devoted solely to legal history. Since 2016 it has been published by ...
'' from 2016 to 2018.
In August 2017, in the wake of the
Unite the Right rally
The Unite the Right rally was a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, from August 11 to 12, 2017. Marchers included members of the alt-right, neo-Confederates, neo-fascists, white nationalists, neo-Nazis, ...
in
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
, Brophy argued that
Confederate monuments
In the United States, the public display of Confederate monuments, memorials and symbols has been and continues to be controversial. The following is a list of Confederate monuments and memorials that were established as public displays and symb ...
should remain, as "removal facilitates forgetting."
Though at certain points he has supported renaming of campus buildings and also removal of some monuments, he is generally against removal of monuments and renaming. Instead, he has argued for counter-monuments and for more contextualization of monuments.
[See, e.g.]
Alfred L. Brophy, Thomas Ruffin: Of Moral Philosophy and Monuments, North Carolina Law Review (2009)
Alfred L. Brophy, The Law and Morality of Monument Removal, South Texas Law Review (2010)
Works
*''Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921'' (2002)
*''Reparations Pro and Con'' (2006)
*''Transformations in American Legal History'' (co-editor, 2009 and 2010)
*''Integrating Spaces: Property Law and Race'' (co-author, 2011)
*''Companion to American Legal History'' (co-editor, 2013)
*''University, Court, and Slave: Proslavey Thought in Southern Colleges and Courts and the Coming of Civil War'' (2016)
*''Experiencing Trusts and Estates'' (co-author 2017) (co-author, 2nd ed. 2021)
*''Slavery and the University: Histories and Legacies'' (co-editor, 2019)
*''Francis Daniel Pastorius Reader: Writings by an Early American Polymath'' (associate editor, 2019)
References
Living people
American lawyers
Columbia Law School alumni
Harvard University alumni
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
University of Pennsylvania alumni
American legal scholars
Year of birth missing (living people)
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