R. Kent Greenawalt (June 25, 1936 — January 27, 2023) was a

University Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. His primary interests involved constitutional law, especially

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 ...

jurisprudence, and legal philosophy. Born 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 ...

, he received a

B.A. 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 years ...

from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 1958, a

B.Phil. Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil, BPh, or PhB; la, Baccalaureus Philosophiae or ) is the title of an academic degree that usually involves considerable research, either through a thesis or supervised research projects. Unlike many other bachelor's d ...

from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1960 and an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

in 1963. After law school, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Harlan. He joined the Columbia faculty in 1965. Greenawalt married

Elaine Pagels Elaine Pagels, née Hiesey (born February 13, 1943), is an American historian of religion. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Pagels has conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosti ...

in June 1995.

Civil Rights

Like fellow Columbia Law graduates

Constance Baker Motley Constance Baker Motley (September 14, 1921 – September 28, 2005) was an American jurist and politician, who served as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. A key strategist of the civil rights mov ...

and

Jack Greenberg Jack Greenberg (December 22, 1924 – October 12, 2016) was an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall. He was involved in numerous crucial ...

, Greenawalt was heavily involved in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He spent one summer working for the

Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

and from 1966-69 served on the Civil Rights Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He was also a member of the Due Process Committee of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

from 1969 to 1971. He then served as Deputy Solicitor General from 1971-72.

Academic career

Greenawalt taught at Columbia from 1965 until his death in both the law school and department of philosophy. He also taught at

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 ...

. He was a visiting fellow at

Clare Hall, Cambridge Clare Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1966 by Clare College, Clare Hall is a college for advanced study, admitting only postgraduate students alongside postdoctoral researchers and fellows. It ...

(1972–73) and visiting fellow at

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

(1979). He is a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, a member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

, and was President of the

American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy The American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy (ASPLP) is a learned society founded in 1955 by political theorist Carl Friedrich. Its aim is to bring together scholars in political science, law, and philosophy who are interested in inter ...

from 1991-93. He was also the Chief Reporter for revisions to the Model Penal Code in 1970s.

Personal life

Greenawalt had three sons ranging in age from twenty-four to seventeen in 1995. He was widowed in 1988 after the passing of his wife Sanja Milić Greenawalt. He married

, a scholar in religion and a widow with two children, in June 1995.

Selected publications

*''Conflicts of Law and Morality'' (1987) *''Religious Convictions and Political Choice'' (1988) *''Speech, Crime, and the Uses of Language'' (1989) *''Law and Objectivity'' (1992) *''Fighting Words'' (1995) *''Rationales for Freedom of Speech'' (1995) *''Private Consciences and Public Reasons'' (1995) *''Does God Belong in Public Schools?'' (2005)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenawalt, R. Kent 1936 births Living people Swarthmore College alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Columbia Law School alumni Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford Columbia Law School faculty Philosophers of law Scholars of constitutional law American civil rights lawyers Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Princeton University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Legal scholars of the University of Oxford Members of the American Philosophical Society

Civil Rights

Academic career

Personal life

Selected publications

See also

References