Alan Dershowitz facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alan Dershowitz
|
|
|---|---|
Dershowitz in 2009
|
|
| Born |
Alan Morton Dershowitz
September 1, 1938 New York City, U.S.
|
| Education | |
| Occupation |
|
| Political party | Independent (2024–present) |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children | 3 |
Alan Morton Dershowitz (/ˈdɜːrʃəwɪts/ durr-SHƏ-wits; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor. He is well-known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, which deals with the basic rules of the country, and American criminal law, which covers crimes and punishments.
From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, a very famous law school. He became a special professor there in 1993. Dershowitz often appears on TV and in the news as a political expert and legal analyst.
Dershowitz has taken on important and sometimes challenging cases and clients. By 2009, he had won 13 out of 15 murder or attempted murder cases he handled as a lawyer who appeals criminal decisions. He has represented famous people like Mike Tyson, Patty Hearst, Leona Helmsley, Julian Assange, and Jim Bakker.
Some of his big legal wins include overturning convictions for Harry Reems in 1976 and for Claus von Bülow in 1984. Von Bülow had been found guilty of trying to harm his wife, Sunny von Bülow. In 1995, Dershowitz was an advisor for the appeal in the murder trial of O. J. Simpson. He was part of the legal "Dream Team" with other famous lawyers like Johnnie Cochran.
Dershowitz has written many books about politics and law. Some of his well-known books include Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case (1985), which was made into a movie. Other books are Chutzpah (1991), Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O. J. Simpson Case (1996), The Case for Israel (2003), and The Case for Peace (2005). He has also written books about the Arab–Israeli conflict, as he is a strong supporter of Israel.
Contents
Growing Up and School
Alan Dershowitz was born in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York, on September 1, 1938. His parents, Claire and Harry Dershowitz, were an Orthodox Jewish couple. He grew up in Borough Park. His father helped start a synagogue and was on the board of a school.
When he was 14, Dershowitz's first job was at a deli factory in Manhattan. He went to Yeshiva University High School, a private school for boys in Manhattan. He played on the basketball team there. He was a student who often challenged his teachers. He once said his teachers told him to find a job that needed "a big mouth and no brain." He joked that's why he became a lawyer!
After high school, he studied political science at Brooklyn College. He graduated in 1959 with high honors. Then he went to Yale Law School, one of the top law schools in the country. He was the main editor of The Yale Law Journal. In 1962, he graduated first in his class.
His Career in Law and Teaching
After finishing law school, Alan Dershowitz worked for important judges. From 1962 to 1963, he was a law clerk for Chief Judge David L. Bazelon. Dershowitz said Bazelon was a very important mentor. He learned a lot from him about civil liberties and being a good person. From 1963 to 1964, he worked for Justice Arthur Goldberg at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dershowitz joined the Harvard Law School as a professor in 1964. By 1967, at just 28 years old, he became a full professor. He was the youngest full law professor in the school's history at that time. In 1993, he received a special title as the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law. He stopped teaching at Harvard Law in 2013.
Throughout his time at Harvard, Dershowitz also continued to work as a lawyer. He handled both criminal and civil cases. His clients included many well-known people like Patty Hearst, Leona Helmsley, Jim Bakker, Mike Tyson, and O. J. Simpson.
Famous Cases and Clients
Claus von Bülow (1984)
One of Dershowitz's first big cases was representing Claus von Bülow. Von Bülow was a British socialite accused of trying to harm his wife, Sunny von Bülow. She fell into a coma in 1980. Dershowitz helped von Bülow win his appeal, and he was found not guilty in a new trial.
Dershowitz wrote a book about this case called Reversal of Fortune (1985). This book was later made into a movie in 1990. In the movie, actor Ron Silver played Dershowitz. Dershowitz even had a small role as a judge in the film.
Julian Assange (2011)
In 2011, Dershowitz worked as a consultant for Julian Assange's legal team. Assange was facing possible charges from the U.S. government. This was because his website, WikiLeaks, had shared secret government documents.
Dershowitz decided to help Assange because he believed Assange should be seen as a journalist. He said that protecting new electronic media is important to protect freedom of speech.
Donald Trump (2020)
In January 2020, Dershowitz joined President Donald Trump's legal team. This was when Trump was facing impeachment charges in the Senate. It was interesting because Dershowitz had supported Hillary Clinton in the past.
Dershowitz said he would not take any money for his work. He said his role was to defend the U.S. Constitution. He argued that a president should only be impeached for a crime. Some people thought his views on presidential power were too broad. He later clarified his statements, saying a president is "not above the law."
After the trial, Dershowitz used his connections to the Trump administration. He helped some of his other clients get pardons or reduced sentences. He played a part in at least 12 such decisions.
Discussions and Debates
Norman Finkelstein
After Dershowitz published his book The Case for Israel in 2003, a professor named Norman Finkelstein claimed parts of it were copied from another book. Dershowitz said this was not true. Harvard University looked into the claim and found no evidence of copying.
Later, Dershowitz wrote to DePaul University to argue against Finkelstein getting a permanent teaching position. He accused Finkelstein of not being honest in his academic work. In 2007, DePaul University decided not to give Finkelstein the permanent position.
Mearsheimer and Walt
In 2006, two professors, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, wrote an article. They said that a group called "the Israel lobby" influenced U.S. foreign policy too much. They called Dershowitz an "apologist" for this group.
Dershowitz called their article "one-sided" and said the authors were "liars." He also claimed the article used ideas from hate websites. Dershowitz then wrote his own report to challenge their article. He said it had many mistakes and weak arguments. Mearsheimer and Walt denied using any racist sources.
Personal Life
Alan Dershowitz's first wife was Sue Barlach. They met at a Jewish summer camp when they were teenagers. They got married in 1959. They had two sons, Elon and Jamin. Elon became a film producer, and Jamin became a lawyer. Dershowitz and Barlach divorced in 1976.
In 1986, Dershowitz married Carolyn Cohen, who used to be a neuropsychologist. They have one daughter named Ella, who is an actress. Dershowitz and Cohen live in different places, including Martha's Vineyard, Miami Beach, and Manhattan.
His son Jamin married a Roman Catholic woman. This inspired Alan Dershowitz to write a book called The Vanishing American Jew. He dedicated it to Jamin and his wife and their children, whom Dershowitz considers Jewish.
Awards and Honors
Dershowitz has received many awards for his work. In 1979, he was named a Guggenheim Fellow. In 1983, he received the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his work on civil rights. This award is from the Anti-Defamation League, a group that fights against hate.
He also received the Soviet Jewry Freedom Award in 2007 and the Menachem Begin Award of Honor in 2011. He has been given honorary law degrees from many universities, including Yeshiva University and Yale University. He is also part of an international advisory board for NGO Monitor.
Alan Dershowitz has even appeared as himself in TV shows like Picket Fences, Spin City, and First Monday. He was also in the 2019 documentary No Safe Spaces.
Books Written by Alan Dershowitz
- 1982: The Best Defense
- 1985: Reversal of Fortune: Inside the von Bülow Case
- 1988: Taking Liberties: A Decade of Hard Cases, Bad Laws, and Bum Raps
- 1991: Chutzpah
- 1992: Contrary to Popular Opinion
- 1994: The Advocate's Devil (fiction)
- 1994: The Abuse Excuse: And Other Cop-Outs, Sob Stories, and Evasions of Responsibility
- 1996: Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O. J. Simpson Case
- 1997: The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century
- 1999: Just Revenge (fiction)
- 2000: The Genesis of Justice: Ten Stories of Biblical Injustice that Led to the Ten Commandments and Modern Law
- 2001: Letters to a Young Lawyer
- 2001: Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000
- 2002: Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge
- 2002: Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age
- 2003: The Case for Israel
- 2003: America Declares Independence
- 2004: America on Trial: Inside the Legal Battles That Transformed Our Nation
- 2004: Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights
- 2006: Preemption: A Knife That Cuts Both Ways
- 2007: Blasphemy: How the Religious Right is Hijacking the Declaration of Independence
- 2007: Finding Jefferson: A Lost Letter, a Remarkable Discovery, and the First Amendment in an Age of Terrorism
- 2008: Is There a Right to Remain Silent?: Coercive Interrogation and the Fifth Amendment After 9/11
- 2008: The Case Against Israel's Enemies: Exposing Jimmy Carter and Others Who Stand in the Way of Peace
- 2009: Mouth of Webster, Head of Clay (essay)
- 2009: The Case For Moral Clarity: Israel, Hamas and Gaza
- 2010: The Trials of Zion
- 2013: Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law
- 2014: Terror Tunnels: The Case for Israel's Just War Against Hamas
- 2015: Abraham: The World's First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer
- 2016: Electile Dysfunction: A Guide for Unaroused Voters
- 2017: Trumped Up: How Criminalization of Political Differences Endangers Democracy
- 2018: The Case Against Impeaching Trump
- 2018: The Case Against BDS: Why Singling Out Israel for Boycott is Anti-Semitic
- 2019: Defending Israel: The Story of My Relationship with My Most Challenging Client
- 2019: Guilt by Accusation: The Challenge of Proving Innocence in the Age of #MeToo
- 2019: Speaking for Israel: A Speechwriter Battles Anti-Israel Opinions at the United Nations (with Aviva Klompas)
- 2020: Cancel Culture: The Latest Attack on Free Speech and Due Process
- 2021: The Case Against the New Censorship: Protecting Free Speech from Big Tech, Progressives, and Universities
- 2023: Get Trump: The Threat to Civil Liberties, Due Process, and Our Constitutional Rule of Law
- 2023: War Against the Jews: How to End Hamas Barbarism
- 2023: Defending Israel: Against Hamas and its Radical Left Enablers
- 2024: War on Woke: Why the New McCarthyism Is More Dangerous Than the Old
- 2024: The Ten Big Anti-Israel Lies and How to Refute them with Truth
See Also
In Spanish: Alan Dershowitz para niños
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 2)
