Orin Samuel Kerr (born June 2, 1971) is an American legal scholar known for his studies of American

criminal procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail ...

and the

Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. It prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets requirements for issuing warrants: warrants must be issued by a judge or magistra ...

, as well as computer crime law and internet surveillance. He has been a professor of law at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

since 2025. Kerr is one of the contributors to the law-oriented

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

titled '' The Volokh Conspiracy''.

Early life and education

Kerr was born in 1971 in

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

. His father, Arnold D. Kerr (born Aronek Kierszkowski; 1928–2012), was a

Polish Jew The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

who was the only member of his family to survive

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

; he immigrated to the United States in 1954 and was a professor of

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...

. 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. Its main building was designed by Wilmington architects Brow ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, 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 and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

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 s ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, 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 undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Bac ...

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

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, where he received a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in 1994. Kerr then attended

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, where he was an executive editor of the ''

Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy The ''Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy'' (JLPP) is a law review at Harvard Law School published by an independent student group. It has served as the flagship journal of the Federalist Society. Established by Spencer Abraham and Stephen Eber ...

'' and an editor of the '' Harvard Journal of Law & Technology''. He graduated in 1997 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, ''magna cum laude''.Orin S. Kerr curriculum vitae.

George Washington University.
Retrieved 2013-10-24.

Career

Kerr was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge Leonard I. Garth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 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 U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

'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, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C. Established in 1865, GW Law is the oldest law school in Washington, D. ...

. In 2003, Kerr took a leave of absence from the law school to clerk for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy 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 turn on question ...

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, attorney, and former jurist serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. ...

of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

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 justices, any six of ...

;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, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was Elena Kagan Supreme Court nomination ...

.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 Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

"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 storage, re-purposing, provision to third parties, and display of information pertaining to oneself via the Internet. Internet privacy is a subset of data privacy. P ...

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 In United States constitutional law, reasonable 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 U.S. Constitution. It is related to, ...

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 jurist serving since 2005 as the 17th chief justice of the United States. He has been described as having a Moderate conservatism, moderate conservative judicial philosophy, thoug ...

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

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

's influence on 18th century evidentiary approaches in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

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

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 a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

; 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 University of Southern California Gould School of Law located in Los Angeles, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Or ...

. In 2019, Kerr joined the faculty of the

UC Berkeley School of Law The University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law) is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of California, Berkeley. The school was commonly referred to as "Boalt Hall" for many years, although it was ...

Selected works

Articles

* * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Video debate/discussion with Kerr
and Marty Lederman on Bloggingheads.tv
Kerr says online privacy has gone too far
in the '' Harvard Law Record'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, Orin 1971 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers American bloggers American legal scholars Computer law scholars 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 American people of Polish-Jewish descent UC Berkeley School of Law faculty