Jennifer S. Martínez (born November 5, 1971) is an American
human rights 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 professor of law who serves as the current
Dean of Stanford Law School The dean of Stanford Law School serves as the head of the law school at Stanford University. From 1893 until 1906, the school was headed by an executive before the deanship was established in the 1910s.
The current dean, Jennifer Martínez, ente ...
. She is a leading expert on international courts and tribunals, international human rights, and the laws of war.
Education and legal career
Martínez graduated ''cum laude'' with distinction from
Yale University and ''magna cum laude'' from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
. During her first year in law school, she was awarded the Sears Prize, which goes to the two students with the highest first year grades. She served as managing editor of the ''
Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
'' and was twice published in the Law Review. After law school, she clerked for
Justice Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
,
Patricia Wald of the
United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...
, and Judge
Guido Calabresi of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
She joined Stanford Law School's faculty in 2003, after working as an attorney at the law firm
Jenner & Block in
Washington, D.C., and as a senior research fellow and visiting lecturer at Yale University. She has twice been named one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" and an "Elite Woman" by Hispanic Business magazine." She also was named to the National Law Journal's list of "Top 40 Lawyers Under 40" and the American Lawyer's "Young Litigators Fab Fifty." She also has received the Civil Rights Advocacy Award from the La Raza Lawyers of San Francisco and the Ray of Hope Award from Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE). When asked to cite the best U.S. Supreme Court decision since 1960 by ''
Time'', she cited ''
New York Times Co. v. U.S.
''New York Times Co. v. United States'', 403 U.S. 713 (1971), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on the First Amendment right of Freedom of the Press. The ruling made it possible for ''The New York Times'' and ''The ...
'' (1971). She has pointed to the Japanese internment case, ''
Korematsu v. U.S.
''Korematsu v. United States'', 323 U.S. 214 (1944), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to uphold the exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast of th ...
'' (1944), as among the worst opinions. Martínez represented
José Padilla in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in ''
Rumsfeld v. Padilla
''Rumsfeld v. Padilla'', 542 U.S. 426 (2004), was a United States Supreme Court case, in which José Padilla, an American citizen, sought ''habeas corpus'' relief against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, as a result of his detention by the ...
''.
She is a member of the American Law Institute and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Personal life
In 2004, Martínez married David Silliman Graham.
She has four daughters.
See also
*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)
References
External links
Stanford Law School Faculty -- Jenny S. MartinezVideo discussion about International Law with Jennifer Martinez
and Henry Farrell
Henry Farrell (September 27, 1920 – March 29, 2006) was an American novelist and screenwriter, best known as the author of the renowned gothic horror story '' What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?'', which was made into a film starring Bette ...
on Bloggingheads.tv
WJP Rule of Law Index
(1:31 min), Jenny S. Martinez. YouTube, February 27, 2014.
1971 births
Living people
American legal scholars
Deans of Stanford Law School
Harvard Law School alumni
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Lawyers from San Francisco
People associated with Jenner & Block
Stanford Law School faculty
Women deans (academic)
Yale University alumni
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