Paul Bender is an American attorney, author, judge, and former dean of the

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

college of law. He was formerly a professor at the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

. Over his career Bender has argued more than 20 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 ...

. He is often cited as an expert in

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 ...

Education

Bender attended James Madison High School in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, where he was a high school classmate with future Supreme Court Justice

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joan Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( ; ; March 15, 1933September 18, 2020) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1993 until her death in 2020. She was nominated by President ...

. Bender received both his bachelors and J.D. degrees from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. After law school Bender clerked for Judge

Learned Hand Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 a ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

and Justice

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judicia ...

of the U.S. Supreme Court during the 1959 Term.

Legal career

After his clerkships Bender was a professor at the

before becoming dean of the

college of law in 1984. In 1965 Bender served as Assistant to U.S. Solicitors General

Archibald Cox Archibald Cox Jr. (May 17, 1912 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy and as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a p ...

where he defended the United States in ''

Brenner v. Manson ''Brenner v. Manson'', 383 U.S. 519 (1966), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court held that a novel process for making a known steroid did not satisfy the utility requirement, because the patent applicants did not s ...

''. He later worked as General Counsel to the

President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography In 1969, the United States Supreme Court ruled in '' Stanley v. Georgia'' that people could view whatever they wished in the privacy of their own homes. In response, the United States Congress funded the President's Commission on Obscenity and Porn ...

from 1968 until 1970. Bender served as dean of the ASU law school until 1989. In 1993, during the

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

administration, Bender was appointed Deputy Solicitor General by

Drew Days Drew Saunders Days III (August 29, 1941 – November 15, 2020) was an American legal scholar who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. He also served as the first African American Assistan ...

. Bender continues to teach courses in constitutional law at ASU. Bender has been the Chief Judge of the court of appeals of the

San Carlos Apache Tribe The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation (Western Apache: Tsékʼáádn), in southeastern Arizona, United States, was established in 1872 as a reservation for the Chiricahua Apache tribe as well as surrounding Yavapai and Apache bands removed fro ...

since 2005, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the

Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation (Yavapai: A'ba:ja), formerly the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Community of the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe and Indian reservation in Maricopa County, Arizona about northeast ...

since 1998. While Deputy Solicitor General, Bender argued several notable cases, including: *''

Farmer v. Brennan ''Farmer v. Brennan'', 511 U.S. 825 (1994), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that a prison official's "deliberate indifference" to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate violates the cruel and unusual punis ...

'' (1994), in which the Court held that "deliberate indifference" to a substantial risk of serious harm to an inmate is cruel and unusual punishment. *''

United States v. National Treasury Employees Union ''United States v. National Treasury Employees Union'', 513 U.S. 454 (1995), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Section 501(b) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 violates the First Amendment of the United Sta ...

'' (1995), in which the Court held that section 501(b) of the

Ethics in Government Act The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 is a United States federal law that was passed in the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal and the Saturday Night Massacre. It was intended to fight corruption in government. Summary The Ethics in Governmen ...

of 1978 violates the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

. *''

United States v. Virginia ''United States v. Virginia'', 518 U.S. 515 (1996), is a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the long-standing male-only admission policy of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in a 7–1 decision. Justice ...

'' (1996), in which the Supreme Court struck down the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

(VMI)'s long-standing male-only admission policy. *''

United States v. Winstar Corp. ''United States v. Winstar Corp.'', 518 U.S. 839 (1996), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court which held that the United States Government had breached its contractual obligations. The court in ''Winstar'' rejected the Government's "u ...

'' (1996), in which the Court held that waivers of sovereign power generally must be surrendered in unmistakable terms. *''

Bush v. Vera ''Bush v. Vera'', 517 U.S. 952 (1996), is a Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court case concerning racial gerrymandering, where Majority-minority district, racial minority majority-electoral districts were created during T ...

'' (1996), in which the court struck down districts in Texas for racial gerrymandering. Other notable case Bender has argued before the Court include: *''

Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn ''Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn'', 563 U.S. 125 (2011), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving taxpayer standing under Article Three of the United States Constitution.. A group of Arizona taxpay ...

'', representing the respondent Winn. *''

Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal ''Stewart v. Martinez-Villareal'', 523 U.S. 637 (1998), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which held that did not apply to a petition that raises only a competency to be executed claim and that respondent did not, therefore, nee ...

''. Bender was a vocal opponent of

Miguel Estrada Miguel Angel Estrada Castañeda (born September 25, 1961) is a Honduran-American attorney who became embroiled in controversy following his 2001 nomination by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Colu ...

, who worked under Bender at the Solicitor General's office, when Estrada was nominated to the

D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

Arizona redistricting commission

Bender was part of the team that drafted Arizona's Proposition 106, which created the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission in 2000. Bender subsequently sought one of the five seats on the commission. His nomination was opposed by Republicans in the state legislature and was the subject of an

Arizona Supreme Court The Arizona Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Arizona. Sitting in the Supreme Court building in downtown Phoenix, the court consists of a chief justice, a vice chief justice, and five associate justices. Each justice i ...

case: ''Adams v. Commission on Appellate Court Appointment''. The court held that members of tribal courts are not "public officials" for the purpose of the redistricting commission.

Publications

*Copyright and First Amendment After Eldred v. Ashcroft, 30 Colum J. L. & Arts 349 (2006
SSRN
. *Foreword, the School Tax Credit Case - a Study in Constitutional Misinterpretation, 32 Ariz. St. L. J. 1 (2000). *1990 Arizona Repatriation Legislation, 24 Ariz. St. L.J. 391 (1992
SSRN
. *Paul Bender (co-author). ''Political and Civil Rights in the United States'' (Orig. 1979; 4th Supp. 1982). Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown. , .

References

External links