Herbert Wechsler
| Herbert Wechsler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 4, 1909 New York City |
| Died | April 26, 2000 (aged 90) Manhattan, New York |
| Nationality | United States |
| Fields | Constitutional law |
| Institutions | Columbia Law School |
| Alma mater | Columbia Law School City College of New York |
Herbert Wechsler (December 4, 1909 – April 26, 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. The Journal of Legal Studies has identified Wechsler as one of the most cited legal scholars of the 20th century.
Wechsler entered City College of New York at 16 and graduated in 1928, with a bachelor's degree in French. He enrolled at Columbia Law School, served as editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review at 20, and graduated in 1931. After graduation, he joined the faculty and took a one-year leave to clerk for Judtice Harlan F. Stone of the US Supreme Court.
In 1940, Wechsler went to Washington, DC, to work for the Department of Justice. He argued five cases in front of the US Supreme Court during that period.
One was Korematsu v. United States on the side of the US government while he was Assistant Attorney General during the wartime Japanese American internment. During World War II, Wechsler served as assistant attorney general in charge of the War Division.
In 1945 and 1946, he was a principal assistant to US Judge Francis Biddle and US Alternate Judge John J. Parker at the Nuremberg trial, the trial of the principal Nazi war criminals. He then returned to Columbia Law School, where he remained an active professor until 1978, when he took emeritus status.
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