Norman Dorsen (September 4, 1930 – July 1, 2017) was the Frederick I. and Grace A. Stokes Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program at the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

, where he specialized in Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, and Comparative Constitutional Law. Previously, he was president 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 ...

, 1976–1991. He was also president of the Society of American Law Teachers, 1972–1973, and president of the U.S. Association of Constitutional Law in 2000. Dorsen successfully argued the case of '' In re Gault'', 387 U.S. 1 (1967), before the

U.S. 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 ...

which held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process rights as adults. He argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including '' Levy v. Louisiana'' (1968), ensuring equal protection for out-of-wedlock children, and '' United States v. Vuitch'' (1971), the first abortion case to reach the Court. Dorsen sat on the Council on Foreign Relations, and was 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, a ...

Background

A 1950 graduate of Columbia College and 1953 graduate of Harvard Law School, Dorsen performed military service in the office of the Secretary of the Army fighting against McCarthyism in the Army-McCarthy Hearings. Dorsen clerked for Chief Judge

Calvert Magruder Calvert Magruder (December 26, 1893 – May 22, 1968) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Education and career Born on December 26, 1893, in Annapolis, Maryland, received an Artium Ba ...

of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts in the following United St ...

and then Supreme Court Justice

John Marshall Harlan II John Marshall Harlan (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan is usually called John Marshall Harlan II to distinguish him ...

in the 1957 Term.

Authorship

Dorsen authored numerous books, including ''Comparative Constitutionalism'' (2003 ), ''Our Endangered Rights'' (1984 ), and ''Frontiers of Civil Liberties'' (1968). His papers related to multiple aspects of the American civil liberties movement from the 1950s to the 1980s are housed in th
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University

Recognition

Among other honors, he received the Medal of Liberty from the French

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in 1983 and the

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

Medal for contributions to human rights from

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 ...

in 2000. In 2007, the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) n ...

presented him with its first triennial award for "lifetime contributions to the law and to legal education." In 2013, the ACLU established a new award in Norman Dorsen's honor, the Dorsen Presidential Prize, to be "presented bienially to a full-time academic for outstanding lifetime contributions to civil liberties."

Personal life and death

Dorsen met his future wife, Harriette Koffler, at NYU and the two were wed in 1965. She died in 2011. They had three daughters, Jennifer Dorsen (an educator in Boston, MA), Caroline Dorsen (a professor at NYU) and Annie Dorsen (a writer and director).Norman Dorsen, Tenacious Civil Rights Advocate, Dies at 86
nytimes.com; accessed July 2, 2017. Dorsen owned a home in

Cornwall, Connecticut Cornwall is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 1,567 at the 2020 census. History The town of Cornwall, Connecticut, is named after the county of Cornwall, England. The town was incorporated in 1740, near ...

. Dorsen died at his Manhattan home on July 1, 2017, at age 86, of complications from a stroke.

References

External links