Paul M. Bator
Paul Michael Bator | |
---|---|
Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States | |
In office October 1982 – December 1983 | |
President | Ronald Reagan |
Succeeded by | Charles Fried |
Personal details | |
Born | LLB ) | June 2, 1929
Paul Michael Bator (June 2, 1929 – February 24, 1989) was a Hungarian-born American legal scholar,
Early life and education
Bator was born in 1929 in
Bator moved with his parents to the United States in 1939, where his father managed the Amerikai-Magyar Nepsava, a Hungarian-language newspaper.[1] His father was twice stripped of Hungarian citizenship, first due to his anti-Nazi activism, then due to his post-World War II anti-Communist activism.[4]
He attended
From 1956 to 1957, Bator
Career
Harvard Law School
Following a brief period of private practice at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, Bator began teaching at Harvard Law School in 1959. He was promoted to full professor in 1962 and associate dean in 1971, serving in the latter capacity until 1975.[6]
While at Harvard, he published many articles, including his famous piece, "Finality in Criminal Law and Federal Habeas Corpus for State Prisoners," 76 Harv. L. Rev. 441 (1963), which described "how with reason we can arrive at just the reasonable balance between fairness and the need to attain finality in the criminal process."[7] He also co-authored the second (1973) and third (1988) editions of Hart & Wechsler's "The Federal Courts and the Federal System," a leading text on federal jurisdiction.[6]
Deputy Solicitor General
In 1982, Harvard granted Bator a leave of absence so that he could become the Deputy Solicitor General of the United States.[6]
Bator argued and won eight cases on behalf of the government at the Supreme Court, including Hishon v. King & Spalding, which held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act applies to partnership selection at law firms;[8] Grove City College v. Bell, which applied provisions of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act narrowly;[9] Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence, which denied that protesters' First Amendment rights were violated by a law prohibiting overnight sleeping in Washington, D.C. memorial parks;[10] and Reagan v. Wald, which allowed the government to impose currency restrictions on travelers to Cuba.[11] His most famous victory was Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, which held that courts should generally defer to regulatory agencies' constructions of their own governing statutes.[12]
In 1984, President
Bator would continue representing litigants in the Supreme Court after leaving the federal government. In his last Supreme Court appearance on October 4, 1988, he successfully represented the United States Sentencing Commission in a case challenging the latter's constitutional validity.[13]
University of Chicago
Bator returned to Harvard in 1984, but departed due to "what he felt was an increasing factionalization at the law school and what he saw as its dominance by left-leaning faculty members."[6] He specifically said that the Critical Legal Studies movement had had "an absolutely disastrous effect on [Harvard's] intellectual and institutional life ... [s]tarting with the premise that confrontation, trashing and disparagement are legitimate instruments for creating a radical political ambiance."[14]
In 1986, Bator joined the
In 1987, Bator testified in support of Judge
Other
Bator was a member of the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[13]
End of life and legacy
Bator died in 1989 and was survived by his wife, Alice Garrett Hoag Bator; sons, Thomas and Michael; and daughter, Julia.[6]
Harvard Law Review tribute
In June 1989, Harvard Law Review published tributes to Bator by Professor David L. Shapiro, Professor Charles Fried and then-judge Stephen Breyer.[7] Fried characterized Bator's teaching as "Mozartian," displaying "a brilliance, a clarity of intelligence, deployed with lightning speed and a distinctive style that was at once inventive and entirely apt" and described his briefs and arguments before the Supreme Court as "sonatas of reason."[7]
Paul M. Bator Award
Following Bator's death, the Federalist Society established the Paul M. Bator Award, given to a law professor under the age of 40 "who demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact."[18] In 2018, the award was replaced with the Joseph Story Award.[19]
Past Bator Award recipients
Year | Professor |
---|---|
1990 | Stephen L. Carter |
1991 | Randy Barnett |
1992 | Geoffrey Miller |
1993 | Akhil Amar
|
1994 | Robert P. George |
1995 | Jonathan Macey
|
1996 | Michael Stokes Paulsen |
1997 | John McGinnis |
1998 | Paul Cassell
|
1999 | Eugene Volokh |
2000 | John F. Manning |
2001 | John Yoo |
2002 | Roderick Hills Jr. |
2003 | Adrian Vermeule |
2004 | Jonathan H. Adler |
2005 | Ernest A. Young |
2006 | Caleb Nelson |
2007 | Orin Kerr |
2008 | Saikrishna Prakash |
2009 | Nicole Stelle Garnett |
2010 | M. Todd Henderson |
2011 | Brian T. Fitzpatrick |
2012 | Eugene Kontorovich |
2013 | Nita A. Farahany |
2014 | Joshua D. Wright |
2015 | Joshua Kleinfeld |
2016 | Tara Leigh Grove |
2017 | William Baude |
See also
References
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ISSN 1788-6244.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ Leaftstedt, p. 356.
- ^ a b c d Leafstedt, p. 363.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ a b c Shapiro, David L. "In Memoriam: Paul M. Bator." In Harvard Law Review, v. 102, no. 8, June 1989.
- ^ "Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 US 69 - Supreme Court 1984 - Google Scholar".
- ^ "Grove City College v. Bell".
- ^ "Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence".
- ^ "Regan v. Wald, 468 US 222 - Supreme Court 1984 - Google Scholar".
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ a b c d "Paul M. Bator, 1929-89". University of Chicago Law School Record. 35: 27. Spring 1989.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Judge Robert Bork Nomination" (PDF). Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. p. 11. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-04-30.
- ^ "Paul M. Bator Award » About Us » the Federalist Society". Archived from the original on 2010-05-19. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
- ^ "Joseph Story Award: Successor the Paul M. Bator Award". Federalist Society. Retrieved 2024-04-30.