Michael C. Dorf
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Michael C. Dorf is an American
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 ...
and a scholar of
U.S. constitutional law The constitutional law of the United States is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution. The subject concerns the scope of power of the United States federal government compared to the ind ...
. He is the Robert S. Stevens Professor of Law at
Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, it offers four law degree programs, JD, LLM, MSLS and JSD, along with several dual-deg ...
. In addition to constitutional law, Professor Dorf has taught courses in
civil procedure Civil procedure is the body of law that sets out the rules and standards that courts follow when adjudicating civil lawsuits (as opposed to procedures in criminal law matters). These rules govern how a lawsuit or case may be commenced; what ki ...
and
federal courts Federal court may refer to: United States * Federal judiciary of the United States ** United States district court, a particular federal court Elsewhere * Federal Court of Australia * Federal courts of Brazil * Federal Court (Canada) * Federal co ...
. He has written or edited three books, including ''No Litmus Test: Law Versus Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', and ''Constitutional Law Stories'', as well as scores of law review articles about American constitutional law. He is also a columnist for Findlaw.com and a regular contributor to ''
The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The American Prospect'' says it "is devoted to ...
''. Dorf is a former
law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...
to Justice
Anthony Kennedy Anthony McLeod Kennedy (born July 23, 1936) is an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1988 until his retirement in 2018. He was nominated to the court in 1987 by Presid ...
of the
U.S. 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 ...
and Judge
Stephen Reinhardt Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro; March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal a ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...
.


Life

Before joining the Cornell faculty in 2008, he was a professor at
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 ...
School of Law and, before that, at
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
School of Law in Camden, New Jersey. He graduated from
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
and
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 ...
. While at Harvard as an undergraduate, he was the
American Parliamentary Debate Association The American Parliamentary Debate Association (APDA) is the oldest intercollegiate parliamentary debating association in the United States. APDA sponsors over 50 tournaments a year, all in a parliamentary format, as well as a national champion ...
national champion. Before attending law school, he contributed to several academic articles in physics. Dorf has advised organizations involved in constitutional litigation, and he has written an
amicus brief An ''amicus curiae'' (; ) is an individual or organization who is not a party to a legal case, but who is permitted to assist a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case. The decision on ...
filed with 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 ...
. Professor Dorf appears in American news media occasionally as a legal expert, and has been interviewed by and/or quoted in, for example, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'',
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
, and ''
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''. He has also been cited in numerous judicial opinions, including the majority opinion of Justice
John Paul Stevens John Paul Stevens (April 20, 1920 – July 16, 2019) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1975 to 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the second-oldes ...
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 ...
case '' City of Chicago v. Morales''.Dorf, Michael (2010-12-14
Judge Hudson's Misguided Focus on "Activity"
''Dorf on Law''
He is a practitioner of blogging,
veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...
, and
juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...
. His deceased wife, Sherry Colb, was also professor of Criminal Law at Cornell Law School.


Books authored or edited by Michael C. Dorf

* ''No Litmus Test: Law Versus Politics in the Twenty-First Century'', Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2006. , * ''Constitutional Law Stories'', New York, NY: Foundation Press, 2009. , * with
Laurence H. Tribe Laurence Henry Tribe (born October 10, 1941) is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He previously served as the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School. A constitutional law sc ...
, ''On Reading the Constitution'' Cambridge (Mass.) ; London : Harvard University Press, 1992. ,


Selected law review articles authored by Michael C. Dorf

* ''How to Choose the Least Unconstitutional Option: Lessons for the President (and Others) from the Debt Ceiling Standoff,'' 112 Columbia Law Review 1175 (2012 (co-author Neil H. Buchanan). *''Foreword: Problem-Solving Courts: From Innovation to Institutionalization'', 40 American Criminal Law Review 1501 (2003) (co-author Jeffrey A. Fagan). *''The Supreme Court 1997 Term—Foreword: The Limits of Socratic Deliberation'', 112 Harvard Law Review 4 (1998). *''A Constitution of Democratic Experimentalism'', 98 Columbia Law Review 267 (1998) (co-author Charles F. Sabel). *''Incidental Burdens on Fundamental Rights'', 109 Harvard Law Review 1175 (1996). *''Facial Challenges to State and Federal Statutes'', 46 Stanford Law Review 236 (1994).


See also

*
List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 1) A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References


External links


Dorf on Law - Official blogProfile at Dewey & LeboeufCornell Law School Faculty ProfileMichael C. Dorf: Amazon.com author's pageMichael C. Dorf: Findlaw.com columnist pageMichael C. Dorf: Verdict columnist page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorf, Michael C. Columbia University faculty Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of Reichman University Sentientists Cornell Law School faculty Harvard College alumni