Michael Klarman | |
|---|---|
 Klarman speaking atHarvard Law Class Day 2010 | |
| Born | Michael J. Klarman 1959 (age 66–67) |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA,MA) Stanford Law School (JD) University of Oxford (DPhil) |
| Occupations |
|
| Father | Herbert E. Klarman |
| Relatives | Seth Klarman (brother) |
| Awards | Bancroft Prize (2005) |
Michael J. Klarman (born 1959) is an Americanlegal historian and scholar ofconstitutional law.[1] Currently, Klarman is theKirkland & Ellis Professor atHarvard Law School.[2] Formerly, he wasJames Monroe Distinguished Professor of Law, Professor of History, and Elizabeth D. andRichard A. Merrill Research Professor at theUniversity of Virginia School of Law.[3]
Klarman grew up inBaltimore,Maryland, in aJewish family.[4][5] His father,Herbert E. Klarman, was a public health economist.[6] He is the brother of investorSeth Klarman.[7]
Klarman holds a J.D. fromStanford Law School, a D.Phil. fromOxford University (where he was aMarshall Scholar) and an M.A. and B.A. from theUniversity of Pennsylvania.[8] His dissertation was titled "The Osborne Judgment: A Legal/Historical Analysis".[9] After his graduation from law school, he clerked for then-JudgeRuth Bader Ginsburg when she was on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[10][11]
Klarman specializes in the constitutional history of race.[12] He contends that the Supreme Court of the United States has historically been hostile to the rights of minorities and has not consistently enforced constitutional protections for them. Klarman argues that civil rights protections arise out of social mores from which the court takes its cue.[1][6]
Klarman has also defendedpolitical process theory as a method of constitutional interpretation.[13]
