Joseph William Dellapenna (born December 28, 1942) was a Professor of Law at

Villanova University School of Law Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law (known as Villanova University School of Law) is a law school of the Villanova University in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1953, the School of Law is approved by the American Bar Associat ...

. He was born in Detroit.

Academic Background

Professor Dellapenna holds a B.B.A. earned at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1965, a J.D. cum laude from the

Detroit College of Law The Michigan State University College of Law (Michigan State Law or MSU Law) is the law school of Michigan State University, a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan. Established in 1891 as the Detroit College of Law, it was the ...

earned in 1968, an LL.M. in Public International & Comparative Law from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

completed in 1969 and an LL.M. in environmental law 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 ...

completed in 1974. Dellapenna has been admitted to practice as an attorney in Michigan and also for cases before the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

Abortion

Professor Dellapenna's book ''Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History'' (Carolina Academic Press, 2006) was cited extensively in Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion in ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''R ...

,'' which overruled ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...

''.

Water Law

He represented the Connecticut Water Works Association in City of Waterbury v. Town of Washington, 260 Conn. 506, 802 A.2d 1102 (2002). Dellapenna has been Director of the Model Water Code Project of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

since 1996 and served as Rapporteur of the Water Resources Committee of the International Law Association from 1996 to 2004.

International and Comparative Law

Dellapenna was co-counsel for the family of

Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. 31 J ...

in a case brought by Wallenberg's half-brother, Guy von Dardel. Von Dardel v. U.S.S.R., 623 F. Supp. 246 (D.D.C. 1985). Although the judgment subsequently was vacated, 736 F. Supp. 1 (D.D.C. 1990), the Soviet government then opened its records to the family regarding Wallenberg's fate, resulting in a report jointly released by the Swedish and Russian governments in 2000 confirming Wallenberg's murder in 1947.

Honors

Dellapenna was awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Medal by the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation for his work on litigation seeking to determine what became of Wallenberg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dellapenna, Joseph Living people Detroit College of Law alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Columbia Law School alumni Villanova University faculty Ohio State University faculty Academic staff of Jilin University Widener University faculty University of Cincinnati faculty American lawyers Willamette University College of Law faculty 1942 births Ross School of Business alumni