Alan Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz
Professor Alan M. Dershowitz is Brooklyn native who has been called "the nation's most peripatetic civil liberties lawyer" and one of its "most distinguished defenders of individual rights," "the best-known criminal lawyer in the world," "the top lawyer of last resort," "America's most public Jewish defender" and "Israel's single most visible defender - the Jewish state's lead attorney in the court of public opinion." He is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dershowitz, a graduate of Brooklyn College and Yale Law School, joined the Harvard Law School faculty at age 25 after clerking for Judge David Bazelon and Justice Arthur Goldberg. He has also published more than 100 articles in magazines and journals such as The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Nation, Commentary, Saturday Review, The Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal, and more than 300 of his articles have appeared in syndication in 50 national daily newspapers. Professor Dershowitz is the author of 27 fiction and non-fiction works with a worldwide audience. His most recent titles include "an exceptional, action packed book," The Trials of Zion, a novel which has been called "a thought-provoking page turner," Rights From Wrong, The Case For Israel, The Case For Peace, Blasphemy: How the Religious Right is Hijacking the Declaration of Independence and Preemption: A Knife that Cuts Both Ways, Finding Jefferson - A Lost Letter, A Remarkable Discovery, Shouting Fire and The First Amendment In An Age of Terrorism. In addition to his numerous law review articles and books about criminal and constitutional law, he has written, taught and lectured about history, philosophy, psychology, literature, mathematics, theology, music, sports - and even delicatessens. In 1983, the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith presented him with the William O. Douglas First Amendment Award for his "compassionate eloquent leadership and persistent advocacy in the struggle for civil and human rights." In presenting the award, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel said: "If there had been a few people like Alan Dershowitz during the 1930s and 1940s, the history of European Jewry might have been different." Professor Dershowitz has been awarded the honorary doctor of laws degree by Yeshiva University, the Hebrew Union College, Brooklyn College, Syracuse University, Tel Aviv University, New York City College and Haifa University.

ARTICLES BY: Alan Dershowitz

August 17, 2015 6:34 pm

Dershowitz: The President Should Stop Questioning the Motivations of the Iran Deal’s Opponents

A number of prominent Jewish Organizations, publications, and some media outlets have sharply criticized the manner in which the Obama administration has gone about defending...

August 12, 2015 5:52 pm

Dershowitz: Netanyahu Emulates Churchill in Trying to Influence US Policy to Protect His People

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is acting properly in lobbying against the Iran deal. And President Obama is acting improperly in accusing him of interfering...

August 5, 2015 3:15 pm

Dershowitz: The President Gets Personal About the Iran Deal

President Obama, in his desperation to save his Iran deal, has taken to attacking its opponents in personal ways. He has accused critics of his...

July 21, 2015 8:02 pm

Dershowitz: US Gave Away Better Options on Iran

The most compelling argument the Obama administration is offering to boost what it acknowledges is a compromise nuclear deal with Iran is this: it’s better...

July 14, 2015 6:35 pm

Dershowitz: Does This Deal Prevent Iran From Developing a Nuclear Weapon?

Does the proposed deal with Iran actually prevent the Mullahs from ever developing a nuclear weapon? Or does it merely delay them for a period of...

July 1, 2015 9:30 am

Dershowitz: A Jurisprudential Framework for Defending Israel

Another recent United Nations report once again condemned Israel for defending its civilians against rockets fired by Hamas from densely populated civilian areas. Once again...

May 28, 2015 12:18 pm

Dershowitz: Universities Should be Unsafe for Political Correctness

The current code word being tossed around to protect political correctness from competition in the marketplace of ideas is "unsafe." "I feel unsafe" has become the...

May 22, 2015 3:19 pm

Dershowitz: Obama is Neither Anti-Israel Nor Anti-Jewish

I have been a strident critic of President Obama's policy toward Iran, especially how he and his team have been negotiating with that belligerent regime...

April 13, 2015 3:29 pm

Was the South Carolina Shooting a Reflection of Racism, Police Subculture or Both?

As more evidence emerges—in addition to the cell phone video of a South Carolina policeman, who is white, shooting a black man in the back—it...

April 11, 2015 10:18 pm

Dangers to Democracy in the Prosecution of Senator Menendez

Whenever a prominent political figure is indicted on charges of alleged corruption, serious questions arise. Is the prosecution part of a growing and dangerous trend...

March 20, 2015 11:11 am

Alan Dershowitz: Guess Who’s Not Speaking at the J Street Conference?

J Street—the lobby group that claims to be "pro-Israel" and "pro-peace"—is anything but "open" to centerist views that are critical of its policies. It has...

March 18, 2015 1:59 pm

Opinion: The Role of the Palestinian Authority in Israel’s Election Results

Those around the world who are upset with Prime Minister's Benjamin Netanyahu electoral victory over labor should put much of the responsibility for Israel's rightward...

March 10, 2015 10:20 am

Opinion: Supporters of Iran Nuclear Deal Are Strengthening Tehran’s Negotiating Position

Despite repeating the mantra that "no deal is better than a bad deal" with Iran, the United States seems to be negotiating on the basis...

March 4, 2015 12:05 pm

Opinion: The White House Must Respond to Netanyahu’s Important New Proposal

I was in the House gallery when Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a logical and compelling critique of the deal now on the table...