Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz (born November 28, 1970) is an American
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...
scholar, professor, and Broadway producer. He writes and teaches in the fields of
constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in fe ...
,
statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is often necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and a straightforward meani ...
, and
federal jurisdiction
Federal jurisdiction is the jurisdiction of the federal government in any country that uses federalism. Such a country is known as a Federation.
Federal jurisdiction by country
All federations, by definition, must have some form of federal juri ...
. He is the son of billionaire investor and philanthropist
Robert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz (born August 5, 1942) is an American philanthropist and the chairman of Delphi Capital Management, an investment concern with over $35 billion in assets under management, and the founder of a group of investment and private equit ...
.
Rosenkranz clerked for 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 ...
and served as an attorney-advisor in the
Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...
. He regularly contributes legal commentary for news media, including
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
,
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
,
C-SPAN, and other media organizations. His work has been cited by
Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and
Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 1 ...
.
Early life
Family
Rosenkranz is the son of billionaire investor
Robert Rosenkranz
Robert Rosenkranz (born August 5, 1942) is an American philanthropist and the chairman of Delphi Capital Management, an investment concern with over $35 billion in assets under management, and the founder of a group of investment and private equit ...
and Margaret "Peggy" Hill. His sister, Stephanie Rosenkranz Hessler, is also a legal scholar and a fellow at the
Manhattan Institute
The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Anto ...
.
Education
Rosenkranz is a graduate of
Phillips Academy, Yale University (
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
, English, 1992), and
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...
(
Juris Doctor, 1999).
At law school, he was also an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics.
Federal government
Judiciary
After graduating law school, Rosenkranz clerked for Judge
Frank H. Easterbrook
Frank Hoover Easterbrook (born September 3, 1948) is an American lawyer, jurist, and legal scholar who has served as a United States circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit since 1985. He was the Seventh Circuit's chief ...
of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts:
* Central District of Illinois
* Northern District of ...
and for Associate 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
Supreme Court of the United States.
Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz was on a list the Trump White House sent to Schumer and Gillibrand in July that included three other names for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where there were two vacancies: The other names were US District Judge
Richard J. Sullivan; Matthew McGill, a partner at the law firm
Gibson Dunn
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is an American multinational law firm headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1890, the firm includes approximately 1,400 attorneys and 1,000 staff located in 20 offices around the world, including Nort ...
in Washington and
Michael H. Park
Michael Hun Park (born April 1, 1976) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Early life and career
Park is a graduate of the Thomas Jefferson High Scho ...
, a partner at the law firm Consovoy McCarthy Park in New York.
Rosenkranz has filed numerous briefs with, and presented oral arguments before, the Supreme Court. In 2013, the
National Law Journal featured Rosenkranz's Supreme Court brief that argued that
Missouri v. Holland was wrongly decided in
Bond v. United States. Eight years prior to
Bond v. United States (2013) Rosenkranz had written a similar article in the
Harvard Law Review, ''Executing the Treaty Power,'' arguing that
Missouri v. Holland had been wrongly decided.
Executive branch
From 2002 to 2004 Rosenkranz served as an attorney-advisor at the
Office of Legal Counsel
The Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) is an office in the United States Department of Justice that assists the Attorney General's position as legal adviser to the President and all executive branch agencies. It drafts legal opinions of the Attorney ...
in the
U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
. In 2016 he served as Senior Advisor on Legal Policy and Constitutional Law for candidate
Marco Rubio during Rubio's
2016 election campaign. He had previously been a member of 2008 presidential candidate
John McCain's Justice Advisory Committee during the
United States presidential election of 2008
The 2008 United States presidential election was the 56th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator fr ...
.
Congressional testimony
Rosenkranz has testified before the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
as a legal expert, including in front of the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
during the confirmation hearings for
Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
,
President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
's
Supreme Court nominee, and Loretta Lynch, Obama's nominee for
Attorney General. He also testified before the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee of the
House Financial Services Committee
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
, on the constitutionality of the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
's bank settlement agreements after the 2008 financial crisis, and before the
House Judiciary Committee on issues of a
President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
' duty to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."
Academia
Appointments
Rosenkranz joined the faculty at
Georgetown University Law Center
The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...
in 2004. Rosenkranz is a Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies at the
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...
, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (abbreviated as FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquarter ...
. He is also a co-founder of
Heterodox Academy
Heterodox Academy (HxA) is a non-profit advocacy group of academics working to counteract what they see as a lack of viewpoint diversity on college campuses, especially political diversity.
History
In 2011, Jonathan Haidt, a psychology professor ...
along with
Jonathan Haidt
Jonathan David Haidt (; born October 19, 1963) is an American social psychologist and author. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business. His main areas of study are the psychology of ...
, and serves on its executive committee.
Rosenkranz has been a National Fellow at the
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace; abbreviated as Hoover) is an American public policy think tank and research institution that promotes personal and economic liberty, free enterprise, an ...
and a Visiting Professor of Law at
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...
.
Broadway producer
Rosenkranz has produced several Broadway productions, including David Mamet's ''
Speed-the-Plow
''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...
'', David Mamet's ''
Race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
'', and Tom Stoppard's ''
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
''. In 2011, he was nominated for a
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for the Best Revival of a Play in Arcadia. His mother is Broadway producer, Peggy Hill.
Contributions to scholarly journals
* ''Intellectual Diversity in the Legal Academy'', 37
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy
The ''Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy'' is a law review for conservative and libertarian legal scholarship. It was established by Harvard Law School students Spencer Abraham and Stephen Eberhard in 1978, leading to the founding of the Fed ...
137–143 (2014)
Intellectual Diversity in the Legal Academy* ''The Objects of the Constitution'', 63
Stanford Law Review
The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces s ...
1005–1069 (2011)
The Objects of the Constitution* ''The Subjects of the Constitution'', 62
Stanford Law Review
The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces s ...
1209–1292 (2010)
The Subjects of the Constitution* ''An American Amendment'', 32
Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy
The ''Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy'' is a law review for conservative and libertarian legal scholarship. It was established by Harvard Law School students Spencer Abraham and Stephen Eberhard in 1978, leading to the founding of the Fed ...
475–482 (2009)
An American Amendment* ''Condorcet and the Constitution: A Response to the Law of Other States'', 59
Stanford Law Review
The ''Stanford Law Review'' (SLR) is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president. The review produces s ...
1281–1308 (2007)
Condorcet and the Constitution: A Response to the Law of Other States* ''Executing the Treaty Power'', 118
Harvard Law Review 1867–1938 (2005)
Executing the Treaty Power* ''Federal Rules of Statutory Interpretation'', 115
Harvard Law Review. 2085–2157 (2002)
Federal Rules of Statutory Interpretation
Congressional testimony
* Settling the Question: Did Bank Settlement Agreements Subvert Congressional Appropriations Powers?: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Oversight & Investigations of the
House Banking Committee
The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the committee of the United States House of Representatives that oversees t ...
,
114th Congress, May 19, 2016 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: Pending)
* Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of
Loretta Lynch
Loretta Elizabeth Lynch (born May 21, 1959) is an American lawyer who served as the 83rd attorney general of the United States from 2015 to 2017. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to succeed Eric Holder and previously served as the Un ...
to be
Attorney General of the United States: Hearing Before the
Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
,
114th Congress, Jan. 29, 2015 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: Pending)
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary*
The President of the United States’ Constitutional Duty To Faithfully Execute the Laws: Hearing Before the
House Judiciary Committee,
113th Congress
The 113th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, from January 3, 2013, to January 3, 2015, during the fifth and sixth years of Barack Obama's presidency. It was composed of the ...
, Dec. 3, 2013 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: Pending)
Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on presidential powers and the constitution on C-SPAN 2Presidential Powers and the Constitution , C-SPAN.org
* Confirmation Hearing on the Nomination of Hon. Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
, To Be an Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
of the Supreme Court of the United States: Hearing Before the Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
, 111th Congress
The 111th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009, until January 3, 2011. It began during the last weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with th ...
, July 16, 2009 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: 2011-S521-1)
The Nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 111th Cong., July 16, 2009 (Statement of Professor Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Geo. U. L. Center)
* Impact of the Presidential Signing Statement
A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in ''United States Code Congressional and Administrative News'' (USCCAN). ...
on the Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
's Implementation of the Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Oversight & Investigations of the House Armed Services Committee
The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of De ...
., 110th Congress
The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...
, Mar. 11, 2008 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: 2009-H201-37)
The President's Signing Statement upon Signing the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Oversight and Investigations of the H. Comm. on Armed Services,, 110th Cong., Mar. 11, 2008 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Geo. U. L. Center)
* Presidential Signing Statements
A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in '' United States Code Congressional and Administrative News'' (USCCAN) ...
Under the Bush Administration: Hearing Before the House Judiciary Committee, 110th Congress
The 110th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the Presidency of George W. Bush. It was composed of ...
, Jan. 31, 2007 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS No.: 2007-H521-18)
Presidential Signing Statements Under the Bush Administration: A Threat to Checks and Balances and the Rule of Law?: Hearing Before the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 110th Cong., Jan. 31, 2007 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Prof. of Law, Geo. U. L. Center)
* Presidential Signing Statements
A signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in '' United States Code Congressional and Administrative News'' (USCCAN) ...
: Hearing Before the Senate Judiciary Committee
The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
, 109th Congress
The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, dur ...
, June 27, 2006 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS No.: 2007-H521-18)
Presidential Signing Statements: Hearing Before the S. Comm. on the Judiciary, 109th Cong., June 27, 2006 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Prof. of Law, Geo. U. L. Center)
* House Resolution on the Appropriate Role of Foreign Judgements in the Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on the Constitution, House Judiciary Committee, 109th Congress
The 109th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, dur ...
, July 19, 2005 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz) (CIS-No.: 2005-H521-48)
House Resolution on the Appropriate Role of Foreign Judgements in the Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on the Constitution, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 109th Cong., July 19, 2005 (Statement of Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Prof. of Law, Geo. U. L. Center)
See also
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenkranz, Nicholas Quinn
1970 births
Living people
20th-century American lawyers
21st-century American lawyers
American legal scholars
American legal writers
Cato Institute people
Federalist Society members
George W. Bush administration personnel
Georgetown University Law Center faculty
Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Lawyers from Washington, D.C.
New York (state) lawyers
United States Department of Justice lawyers
Yale Law School alumni