Peter Gabel (January 28, 1947 – October 25, 2022) was an American law academic and associate editor of '' Tikkun'', a bi-monthly Jewish critique of politics, culture, and society, He wrote a number of articles for the magazine on subjects ranging from the original intent of the framers of the Constitution ("Founding Father Knows Best") to the

creationism Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. Gunn 2004, p. 9, "The ''Concise Oxford Dictionary'' says that creationism is 't ...

/evolution controversy ("Creationism and the Spirit of Nature"). Gabel was a founder of both the Institute for Labor and Mental Health in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, and the

Critical Legal Studies Critical legal studies (CLS) is a school of critical theory that developed in the United States during the 1970s.Alan Hunt, "The Theory of Critical Legal Studies," Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1986): 1-45, esp. 1, 5. Se DOI, 10.1 ...

movement. He published more than a dozen articles in law journals such as the ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...

'' and ''

Texas Law Review The ''Texas Law Review'' is a student-edited and -produced law review affiliated with the University of Texas School of Law (Austin). It ranks number 6 on Washington & Lee University's list, number 11 on Google Scholar's list of top publications i ...

'', focusing on the role of law in shaping popular consciousness and on how law can best be used to bring about progressive social change.

Biography

Early life and education

Gabel was the only child of actress, radio and television talk show host, and television game show personality

Arlene Francis Arlene Francis (born Arline Francis Kazanjian; October 20, 1907 – May 31, 2001) was an American actress, radio and television talk show host, and game show panelist. She is known for her long-running role as a panelist on the television game s ...

and actor and director

Martin Gabel Martin Gabel (June 19, 1911 – May 22, 1986) was an American actor, film director and film producer. Life and career Gabel was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Rebecca and Isaac Gabel, a jeweler, both Jewish immigrants. He married Arlen ...

. His father was Jewish while his mother had Armenian, English and German descent. He graduated from

Deerfield Academy Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admissi ...

, received his B.A. (1968) and J.D. (1972) 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 ...

, where he served as editor for

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

, and received his Ph.D. from the

Wright Institute The Wright Institute is a private graduate school focused on psychology and located in Berkeley, California. History The institute was founded by Nevitt Sanford in 1968 when he left Stanford. Dr. Sanford first gained prominence as a co-author of ...

in 1981. As a teenager he worked as a guide for the

1964 New York World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...

, a fact he revealed on the game show ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...

'', where he appeared as a guest and stumped the panel, which included his mother. He appeared a second time in 1967 along with Jonathan Cerf as the editors of the ''

Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

'', once again stumping the panel which included both his mother and father, plus Cerf's father,

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

, although Bennett disqualified himself at the beginning of the segment because he revealed later that he'd been tipped off the two would appear on the show. Gabel appeared again in a 1973 syndicated episode but was guessed by

Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...

Career

Gabel taught law at

Boalt Hall 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 ...

(the law school of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

) and at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

before becoming a law professor for 30 years at the

New College of California School of Law New College of California School of Law was a private, non-profit law school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1973 as a part of the now defunct New College of California, and deemed itself the oldest public interest law school in ...

. He also served as New College's president for 20 years. The college, founded in 1971, was an alternative school in the

Mission District The Mission District (Spanish: ''Distrito de la Misión''), commonly known as The Mission (Spanish: ''La Misión''), is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California. One of the oldest neighborhoods in San Francisco, the Mission District's name is ...

that offered undergraduate degrees as well as graduate degrees in psychology and law before its accreditation was revoked and the school was forced to close in June 2008. Gabel was active in the Project for Integrating Spirituality, Law, and Politics, a group in the San Francisco Bay Area that: "will bring together law teachers, lawyers, and law students in the Bay Area who share our group's aspiration to connect the inner and the outer in a fundamental transformation of legal culture." He was also strongly focused on communalizing the neighborhood in Noe Valley, San Francisco. One of the group's successful actions was to save a small

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, cl ...

, Cover to Cover, which was hurt by a publishing slump. Gabel created a group email for neighbors who wanted to help and distributed fliers in the neighborhood, asking neighbors to sign a list pledging to buy a hardback book every month.

Social activism

From 1968 on, Gabel was an outspoken supporter of multiple social causes including

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

, LGBTQ+ rights and the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

. In 2015, when receiving his honorary doctorate, he commented how "in 1968 there was a radiant spirit of idealism in the air that drew me into the great social movements of that time—the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam war movement, the women’s movement, the environmental movement, the gay and lesbian movement, all movements that sought to transform the world in a more loving and just direction."

Personal life and death

Gabel had a son, Samuel, with his long-time partner,

Unite Here UNITE HERE is a labor union in the United States and Canada with roughly 300,000 active members. The union's members work predominantly in the hotel, food service, laundry, warehouse, and casino gaming industries. The union was formed in 2004 by ...

union organizer Lisa Jaicks. Gabel was the bassist in The Central Park Zoo, a dance band. Gabel died of

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weight ...

on October 25, 2022, at the age of 75.

Published works

*''The Desire for Mutual Recognition: Social Movements and the Dissolution of the False Self '' (Routledge, 2018) *''Another Way of Seeing: Essays on Transforming Law, Politics and Culture'' (Quid Pro Books, 2013) *''The Redemptive Power of Law: Finding Spiritual Meaning in Legal Culture and Using it to Create a Better World'' (New York University Press, 2007) *''The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning'' (Acada Books/New College of California Press, 2000)
''The Spiritual Truth of JFK''
(Tikkun magazine, March/April 1992) *''The Phenomenology of Rights-Consciousness and the Pact of the Withdrawn Selves'', 62 Tex. L. Rev. 1563 (1984).
''Roll Over Beethoven''
36 Stan. L. Rev. 1 (1984) (with Duncan Kennedy). *Book Review of Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously, 91 Harv. L. Rev. 302 (1977).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gabel, Peter 1947 births 2022 deaths American legal scholars UC Berkeley School of Law faculty University of Minnesota faculty New College of California Legal educators Philosophers of law LGBT rights activists from the United States American environmentalists Activists for African-American civil rights Activists from New York (state) American people of Armenian descent Deerfield Academy alumni Harvard Law School alumni Wright Institute alumni