Jonathan H. Adler is an American legal commentator and

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

at the

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of American ...

. He has been recognized as one of the most cited professors in the field of environmental law. His research is also credited with inspiring litigation that challenged the Obama Administration's implementation of the Affordable Care Act, resulting in the Supreme Court's decision in ''

King v. Burwell ''King v. Burwell'', 576 U.S. 473 (2015), was a 6–3 decision by the Supreme Court of the United States interpreting provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Court's decision upheld, as consistent with the statute, ...

''.

Early life and education

Adler was born in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He graduated from

Friends' Central School Friends' Central School (FCS) is a Quaker school which educates students from nursery through grade 12. It is located in Wynnewood, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania in Greater Philadelphia. The school was founded in 1845 in P ...

before attending

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, where he majored in

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

in May 1991 with distinction in History. After working several years at the

Competitive Enterprise Institute The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit libertarian think tank founded by the political writer Fred L. Smith Jr. on March 9, 1984, in Washington, D.C., to advance principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individu ...

, Adler attended law school at the

George Mason University School of Law The Antonin Scalia Law School (previously George Mason University School of Law) is the law school of George Mason University, a public research university in Virginia. It is located in Arlington, Virginia, roughly west of Washington, D.C., and ...

. He attended at night while continuing to work at CEI. He was the Articles Editor for the ''

George Mason Law Review The ''George Mason Law Review'' is an independent law review run by students at the Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University. Founded in 1976, and partially re-founded after reorganization in 1995, it is the flagship law review of the ...

'' from 1998–1999. He graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

'' in May 2000 as the class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

Career

Adler is currently a tenured professor at

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

(CWRU)'s School of Law where he teaches courses in environmental, regulatory, and

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

. He is the Director of the law school's Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Regulation. In 2011, Adler was named the inaugural holder of the Johan Verheij Memorial Professorship at CWRU. Adler is a contributing editor to the conservative ''

National Review Online ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'' and a contributor to "

The Volokh Conspiracy The Volokh Conspiracy ( ) is a blog co-founded in 2002 by law professor Eugene Volokh, covering legal and political issues from an ideological orientation it describes as "generally libertarian, conservative, centrist, or some mixture of these." ...

". He blogged anonymously under the pseudonym "Juan Non-Volokh" at "The Volokh Conspiracy" until May 1, 2006.The Volokh Conspiracy website
accessed October 31, 2014. Adler serves on the advisory board of the NFIB Legal Foundation, and the Environmental Law Reporter and ELI Press Advisory Board of the

Environmental Law Institute The Environmental Law Institute (ELI) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., that seeks to "make law work for people, places, and the planet" through its work as an environmental law educator, convener, publ ...

.Jonathan H. Adler official website
accessed October 31, 2014. In 2004, Adler received the Paul M. Bator Award. In 2007, the Case Western Reserve University Law Alumni Association awarded Adler their annual "Distinguished Teacher Award." Adler clerked for Judge

David B. Sentelle David Bryan Sentelle (born February 12, 1943) is a United States federal judge, Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early life, family and education David Sentelle was bor ...

. From 1991–2000, he worked at the conservative

, where he directed the Institute's

environmental studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

program, and worked on environmental policy matters. Although a proponent of "

free-market environmentalism Free-market environmentalism argues that the free market, property rights, and tort law provide the best means of preserving the environment, internalizing pollution costs, and conserving resources. Free-market environmentalists therefore arg ...

," Adler has also endorsed the imposition of a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions required to produce goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the "hidden" social costs of carbon emissions, which are otherwise felt only in indirect ways like more sev ...

and other measures to address the problem of climate change. He is also credited with helping to convince some former

climate change deniers Climate change denial, or global warming denial, is denial, dismissal, or doubt that contradicts the scientific consensus on climate change, including the extent to which it is caused by humans, its effects on nature and human society, or th ...

to accept the scientific evidence for global warming and the associated threat. Adler is currently one of the most cited law professors in the fields of administrative and environmental law. Adler supported former Republican

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Senator

Fred Thompson Freddie Dalton Thompson (August 19, 1942 – November 1, 2015) was an American politician, attorney, lobbyist, columnist, actor, and radio personality. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Tennessee f ...

in the 2008 presidential election. In 2012, Adler headed a screening committee appointed by Ohio governor

John Kasich John Richard Kasich Jr. ( ; born May 13, 1952) is an American politician, author, and television news host who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1983 to 2001 and as the 69th governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A Republican, Kasic ...

to assist him in selecting an appointee to fill an open seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. Adler again participated in the selection process to fill an open Ohio Supreme Court seat in 2017. Hs has also served on the Bipartisan Judicial Advisory Commission appointed by Ohio Senators

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...

and

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...

to advise on federal district court nominations. In 2018, Adler was a founding member of

Checks and Balances Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

. As part of Checks and Balances, Adler has joined multiple statements criticizing former President Trump and defending rule of law values.

Role in health care litigation

Adler's research and writing on the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

is credited with inspiring litigation that led to a Supreme Court challenge to the lawfulness of tax credits in states that failed to create their own health insurance exchanges. Adler first wrote an article for a 2011 health care symposium in which he argued that the text of the Affordable Care Act did not authorize tax credits in states that refused to set up their own health insurance exchanges. At the time this did not seem like a significant observation as the Supreme Court had not yet decided ''NFIB v. Sebelius'' and it appeared that most states would voluntarily create their own exchanges. As states started to resist implementing the Affordable Care Act, Adler co-authored several pieces with Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute arguing that an IRS rule authorizing tax credits in states that did not create their own exchanges would be unlawful. Adler and Cannon's arguments were controversial, and prompted significant academic response. Adler and Cannon's work also prompted several lawsuits challenging the lawfulness of the tax credits, including ''Halbig v. Sebelius'' and ''

.'' Adler and Cannon filed amicus briefs defending their research in several of the cases. In the end, however, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Adler and Cannon's interpretation by a 6–3 vote in ''

.'' Adler's scholarship has also been relied upon in other Supreme Court cases, and was cited by Chief Justice Roberts in his ''City of Arlington v. FCC'' dissent and by Justice Gorsuch in ''Kisor v. Wilkie.''

Family

In 2001, Adler moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, where he met his wife, Christina. He currently lives in Ohio, with his wife and two daughters.

Books

* ''Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane'' (2020), ISBN 9780815737896 *''Business and the Roberts Court'', Editor (2016), * ''A Conspiracy Against Obamacare: The Volokh Conspiracy and the Health Care Case'', co-author (2013), * ''Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform'' (2011), * ''Ecology, Liberty & Property: A Free Market Environmental Reader'', Editor (2000) * ''The Costs of Kyoto: Climate Change Policy and Its Implications'', Editor (1997), * ''Environmentalism at the Crossroads: Green Activism in America'' (1995),

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adler, Jonathan H. Living people 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American male writers American male bloggers American bloggers American legal scholars American legal writers Antonin Scalia Law School alumni Case Western Reserve University faculty Cato Institute people Federalist Society members Ohio lawyers Ohio Republicans People from Hudson, Ohio Writers from Philadelphia Yale College alumni 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers Friends' Central School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)