Alvin J. Bronstein (June 8, 1928 – October 24, 2015) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, and founder and Director Emeritus of the National Prison Project of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

Foundation.http://www.prisoncommission.org/public_hearing_4_witness_bronstein_alvin_j.asp According to his ACLU biography, 'he has argued numerous prisoners’ rights cases in federal trial and appellate courts as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. He was a consultant to state and federal correctional agencies, appeared as an expert witness on numerous occasions and has edited or authored books and articles on human rights and corrections'.

Early life and education

Bronstein's Ukrainian-Polish Jewish family had moved to the United States to seek refuge from the pogroms. He was born in Brooklyn to Louis and Lillian (née Spielman) Bronstein, who both worked in sales. Bronstein attended

Erasmus Hall High School Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Aca ...

, then the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

before graduating from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include E ...

with an LL.B.

Career

He began his career working in the American South during the Civil Rights Movement, becoming the Chief Staff Counsel of the Lawyers’ Constitutional Defense Committee from 1964 to 1968 in Jackson, Mississippi. He litigated civil rights cases during that time in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, and represented the major civil rights organizations in the South. He was a Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government,

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 ...

, from 1969 to 1971. He was

Pace Law School The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is the law school of Pace University located in White Plains, New York. Founded in 1976 as Pace Law School, the American Bar Association (ABA) accredited it in 1978. Pace has a top-ranked Envi ...

’s Practitioner-in-Residence in 2009.http://www.pace.edu/page.cfm?doc_id=31514 He served as the director of the National Prison Project from 1972 until 1995. During this time, he argued three cases in the United States Supreme Court, Hudson v. McMillan (1992), Block v. Rutherford (1984)

, and Montanye v. Haynes (1976)

. After his departure from the National Prison Project, he has been a consultant for the ACLU. He also served as a board member of Penal Reform International (London) and a member of the Assembly of Delegates for the World Organization Against Torture (Geneva). He had three children from his first marriage to Kate Ransohoff- Lisa Snitzer of Philadelphia, Susie Renner of Piedmont, Calif., and Laura Zatta of Lowell, Mass.; a daughter from his second marriage to Julie Bronstein- Sarah Bronstein of Berkeley, Calif. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Jan Elvin. Their son, Benjamin Bronstein, lives in the District of Columbia. Bronstein also had seven grandchildren- Ian, Zoe, Sasha, Daniel, Ava, Corinna, and Sadie. Bronstein died of Alzheimer's disease on October 24, 2015, in Centreville, Maryland.

Awards

* 1989 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship * 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994 listed as one of the one hundred most influential lawyers in America by the

National Law Journal ''The National Law Journal'' (NLJ) is an American legal periodical founded in 1978. The NLJ was created by Jerry Finkelstein, who envisioned it as a "sibling newspaper" of the ''New York Law Journal''. Originally a tabloid-sized weekly newspape ...

in their triennial publication, Profiles in Power. * Frederick Douglass award from the Southern Center for Human Rights * He has also received awards from the following institutions: * National Council on Crime and Delinquency * The Fortune Society

* Offender Aid and Restoration *

University of Maine Law School The University of Maine School of Law (UMaine Law or Maine Law) is public law school in Portland, Maine. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and Maine's only law school. It is also part of the University of Maine System. The school's ...

Pennsylvania Prison Society The Pennsylvania Prison Society is an advocacy group that supports prisoners, formerly incarcerated individuals and their families. It is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History It was founded in 1787 as the Philadelphia Society for ...

* The Prison Reform Trust (London, England)

Works

"Incarceration as a Failed Policy"
''Real Cost of Prisons'', August 29, 2005 *''The Rights of prisoners: the basic ACLU guide to prisoners' rights'', Authors David Rudovsky, Alvin J. Bronstein, Edward I. Koren, Southern Illinois University Press, 1988, *''Prisoners' self-help litigation manual'', Authors James L. Potts, Alvin J. Bronstein, Lexington Books, 1976, *''Prisoners' rights, 1979'', Volume 2, Authors Alvin J. Bronstein, Philip J. Hirschkop, Practising Law Institute, 1979 *''Representing prisoners'', Authors Alvin J. Bronstein, Practising Law Institute, 1981

References

External links

"Panel 3: Transparency and Access of Independent Experts to All Places of Detention"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronstein, Alvin 1928 births 2015 deaths American lawyers Harvard Kennedy School faculty Pace University faculty MacArthur Fellows Deaths from Alzheimer's disease New York Law School alumni City College of New York alumni Erasmus Hall High School alumni American people of Russian-Jewish descent Neurological disease deaths in Maryland People from Brooklyn American civil rights lawyers Prison reformers