Norman Dorsen (September 4, 1930 – July 1, 2017) was the Frederick I. and Grace A. Stokes Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program at the New York University School of Law, where he specialized in Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, and Comparative Constitutional Law.[1] Previously, he was president of the American Civil Liberties Union, 1976–1991.[2] He was also president of the Society of American Law Teachers, 1972–1973, and president of the U.S. Association of Constitutional Law in 2000.
Dorsen successfully argued the case of In re Gault, 387 U.S. 1 (1967), before the U.S. Supreme Court which held that juveniles accused of crimes in a delinquency proceeding must be afforded many of the same due process rights as adults.[3]
He argued numerous cases before the Supreme Court, including Levy v. Louisiana (1968), ensuring equal protection for out-of-wedlock children, and United States v. Vuitch (1971), the first abortion case to reach the Court.[4]
In 2013, the ACLU established a new award in Norman Dorsen's honor, the Dorsen Presidential Prize, to be "presented bienially to a full-time academic for outstanding lifetime contributions to civil liberties."[13]
Personal life and death
Dorsen met his future wife, Harriette Koffler, at NYU and the two were wed in 1965. She died in 2011. They had three daughters, Jennifer Dorsen (an educator in Boston, MA), Caroline Dorsen (a professor at NYU) and Annie Dorsen (a writer and director).[14] Dorsen owned a home in Cornwall, Connecticut.[15]
Dorsen died at his Manhattan home on July 1, 2017, at age 86, of complications from a stroke.[14]