Herbert Wechsler

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Herbert Wechsler (1909–2000) was a legal scholar and former director of the American Law Institute (ALI). He is most widely known for his constitutional law scholarship and for the creation of the Model Penal Code.

Wechsler entered City College in New York City at the age of 15 and graduated at age 18. He enrolled at Columbia Law School, and served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review at age 20. He graduated in 1931. After graduation he joined the faculty, then took a one year leave to clerk for Justice Stone of the Supreme Court.

In 1940 Wechsler went to Washington D.C. to work for the Justice Department. He argued five cases in front of the Supreme Court during that period. After World War II, Wechsler served as "chief technical adviser" to the American judges at the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals and returned to Columbia, where he remained for the rest of his life.

In 1959 Wechsler delivered a lecture at Harvard Law School entitled Toward Neutral Principles of Constitutional Law. This lecture is one of the most heavily cited pieces in legal scholarship.

In 1964 Wechsler argued the seminal case New York Times v. Sullivan in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice Brennan, writing for a unanimous Court, held that the First and Fourteenth Amendments barred awards of damages to a public official for defamation relating to his official conduct unless he proves "actual malice."

Wechsler then became director of the ALI. During his tenure at the ALI, Wechsler oversaw the creation of the Model Penal Code.

[edit] Quotes about Wechsler

"Professor Herbert Wechsler of Columbia Law School was a constitutional scholar of enormous distinction who had represented the New York Times in 1964 in the most significant First Amendment case of its era, New York Times v. Sullivan, which rewrote American libel law to ensure that First Amendment interests were protected. He, too, was unavailable." Floyd Abrams.^[1]