Orin Samuel Kerr (born June 2, 1971) is an American legal scholar and professor of law at the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

."Faculty , UC Berkeley School of Law"
Orin Kerr faculty profile
/ref> He is known as a scholar in the subjects of computer crime law and internet surveillance. Kerr is one of the contributors to the law-oriented

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

titled ''

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." ...

''.

Early life

Kerr was born in 1971 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His father is a survivor of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. After graduating from

Tower Hill School Tower Hill School is a private college preparatory school in Wilmington, Delaware, offering instruction for pre-school through 12th grade. History Tower Hill was founded in 1919. The school is situated at the high point of Wilmington's neighbo ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, in 1989,Atkins, Hugh. "Orin Kerr '89: Author, Blogger, Musician and Teacher".
''Tower Hill Bulletin'', vol. 48, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2011)
Retrieved 2013-10-24. Kerr studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

and

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

, graduating in 1993 with a

Bachelor of Science in Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

''magna cum laude''. He then did graduate study in mechanical engineering at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where he received a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in 1994. Kerr then attended

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 ...

, where he was an executive editor of the ''

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 ...

'' and an editor of the ''

Harvard Journal of Law & Technology The ''Harvard Journal of Law & Technology'' is a biannual open access law journal, established at Harvard Law School in 1988. It covers all aspects of technology law, including constitutional issues, intellectual property, biotechnology, privacy la ...

''. He graduated in 1997 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

''magna cum laude''.Orin S. Kerr curriculum vitae.George Washington University.
Retrieved 2013-10-24.

Career

Kerr was a

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 ...

for Judge

Leonard I. Garth Leonard I. Garth (April 7, 1921 – September 22, 2016) was a United States federal judge, United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United Stat ...

of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * Ea ...

from 1997 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001, he was a trial attorney in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of 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 ...

's Criminal Division. In 2001, he joined the faculty of

George Washington University Law School The George Washington University Law School (GW Law) is the law school of George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest top law school in the national capital. GW Law offers the largest range of cou ...

. In 2003, Kerr took a leave of absence from the law school to clerk for Justice

Anthony M. 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

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 ...

during October Term 2003.Kerr, Orin.
"Supreme Court Clerks, Ten Years Later".''The Volokh Conspiracy''.
2013-07-24. Retrieved 2013-10-24. In 2009, he served U.S. Senator

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

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, a ...

as Special Counsel for Supreme Court Nominations during

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 ...

's confirmation as

Supreme Court Justice The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight Associate Justice of the Supreme ...

;Kerr, Orin.
"Blogging Break:".''The Volokh Conspiracy''.
2009-06-05. Retrieved 2013-10-24. a year later, he again served as an advisor to Cornyn, this time on the Supreme Court confirmation of

Elena Kagan Elena Kagan ( ; born April 28, 1960) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 10, 2010, and has served since August 7, 2010. Kagan ...

.Gerstein, Josh.
"Kerr to advise Cornyn on Kagan".''Politico''.
2010-05-12. Retrieved 2013-10-24. Kerr was one of the lawyers for alleged MySpace "cyberbully" Lori Drew. His blog contributions at ''The Volokh Conspiracy'' often focus on developments in

internet privacy Internet privacy involves the right or mandate of personal privacy concerning the storing, re-purposing, provision to third parties, and displaying of information pertaining to oneself via Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. Pr ...

law. He has been regarded as a leading scholar on Fourth Amendment jurisprudence in electronic communications and surveillance. Kerr was repeatedly cited in the Ninth Circuit's 2008 opinion ''Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Co., Inc.'', which held that users have a reasonable

expectation of privacy Expectation of privacy is a legal test which is crucial in defining the scope of the applicability of the privacy protections of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. It is related to, but is not the same as, a ''right to privacy ...

in the content of text messages and e-mails. The Supreme Court later took up the case, as '' Ontario v. Quon'', and unanimously reversed. Kerr argued before the Supreme Court in the 2011 case '' Davis v. United States''. In response to a 2011 comment by Chief Justice

John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...

criticizing the irrelevancy of legal scholarship for focusing on issues such as

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...

's influence on 18th century evidentiary approaches in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, Kerr wrote a short, humorous paper on the topic in 2015, finding that such influence was highly improbable. Kerr filed an

amicus curiae 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 ...

in support of the United States in Carpenter v. United States, a case concerning the government's seizure of an individual's historical cell phone locations records without a warrant.

Academia

In 2012, he was appointed to a position as a scholar-in-residence at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

; the two-year part-time position focused on information technology, privacy, and criminal justice."Orin Kerr Named Scholar in Residence at Law Library of Congress".
2012-06-06. Retrieved 2013-10-24. In 2018, Kerr joined the faculty of the

USC Gould School of Law The USC Gould School of Law, located in Los Angeles, California, is the law school of the University of Southern California. The oldest law school in the Southwestern United States, USC Law traces its beginnings to 1896 and became affiliated with ...

. In 2019, Kerr joined the faculty of the

References

External links

Video debate/discussion with Kerr
and

Marty Lederman Martin "Marty" S. Lederman is the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), appointed by President Obama in January 2009. He previously served as an Attorney Advisor in OLC from 1994 to ...

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast on ...

Kerr says online privacy has gone too far
in the ''

Harvard Law Record The ''Harvard Law Record'' is an independent student-edited newspaper based at Harvard Law School. Founded in 1946, it is the oldest law school newspaper in the United States. Characteristics The ''Record'', a print and online publication, includ ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Orin 1971 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American bloggers American legal scholars Computer law scholars Federalist Society members First Amendment scholars George Washington University Law School faculty Harvard Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Princeton University alumni Stanford University alumni United States Senate lawyers USC Gould School of Law faculty Writers from New York (state) Writers from Wilmington, Delaware Tower Hill School alumni

Early life

Career

Academia

See also

References

External links