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Kermit Roosevelt III

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Kermit Roosevelt, see Kermit Roosevelt (disambiguation).

Kermit Roosevelt III
Roosevelt reading at the Nantucket Atheneum
Born (1971-07-14) July 14, 1971 (age 53)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Education
Political partyDemocratic
RelativesSee Roosevelt family

Kermit Roosevelt III (born July 14, 1971) is an American author, lawyer, and the David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a great-great-grandson of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt and a distant cousin of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[1]

Early life and education

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Roosevelt was born in Washington, D.C., on July 14, 1971. His father, also named Kermit, was a son of Kermit Roosevelt Jr. and a great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt.[1] He graduated from St. Albans School (where he was a Presidential Scholar),[2] Harvard University, and Yale Law School.[3] He was a law clerk for Judge Stephen F. Williams of the D.C. Circuit, and clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.[4]

Career

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Roosevelt worked as a lawyer with Mayer Brown in Chicago from 2000 to 2002 before joining the Penn Law faculty in 2002.[4] He was an assistant professor, from 2002 to 2007, and Professor of Law (Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law), from 2007 to 2021, when he was appointed as David Berger Professor for the Administration of Justice.[5]

Roosevelt's areas of academic interest include conflicts of law and constitutional law. His articles have been cited twice by the United States Supreme Court and numerous times by state and lower federal courts.[citation needed] His scholarly publications include "Resolving Renvoi: the Bewitchment of Our Intelligence by Means of Language," University of Notre Dame Law Review (2005).[6]

Roosevelt has also written two novels, both of which dramatize legal settings.

His TEDx talk (June, 2016) is entitled "Myth America: The Declaration, the Constitution, and Us."[7]

Activities

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In May, 2016, Roosevelt and Karen Korematsu (daughter of a prominent American opponent of Japanese-American internment during World War 2) were featured speakers at a National Constitution Center program. It is the first time a member of the Roosevelt family and a member of the Korematsu family appeared in a public forum.[8]

Roosevelt is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania[9] and a member of the American Law Institute.[10] In November 2014, the American Law Institute announced that Roosevelt had been selected as the Reporter for the Third Restatement of Conflict of Laws.[11]

Reception of novels

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Roosevelt's first novel, In the Shadow of the Law, had generally positive reviews. It was a Christian Science Monitor Best Book of the Year.[12] Alan Dershowitz, writing in The New York Times, said that although the book

suffers from the showoffy-ness of an aspiring artiste strutting his stuff … yet I recommend this book with real enthusiasm. Why? Precisely because it doesn't glamorize its subject. Roosevelt's gritty portrayal of the transformation of bright-eyed and colorful young associates into dim-eyed and gray middle-aged partners (no one seems to make it to his or her golden years) rings true of all too many corporate law factories.[13]

Roosevelt's second novel, Allegiance, published in 2015, was a Harper Lee Prize finalist. It received favorable reviews in The Wall Street Journal ("well worth reading") and The Richmond Times-Dispatch ("splendid, troubling, and authoritative") and a starred review from Publishers Weekly.[14][15][16] The story examines U.S. national security policies during World War II, focusing on President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of Japanese Americans.[17]

Books

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Nonfiction

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  • Kermit Roosevelt III (2006). The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-11468-0.[18][19]
  • Kermit Roosevelt III (2010). Conflict of Laws. Foundation Press/Thomson Reuters. ISBN 978-1-59941-788-2.
  • Kermit Roosevelt III (2022). The Nation That Never Was. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-81761-3.

Fiction

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Blumenthal, Jeff (September 22, 2014). "Teddy Roosevelt's great-great-grandson talks documentary, family". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  2. ^ Presidential Scholars. Charles Elder. The Washington Post. DISTRICT WEEKLY; PAGE J3; PEOPLE. June 1, 1989.
  3. ^ "Kermit Roosevelt (faculty profile)". Carey Law School. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Politics skews perception on judicial rulings: author". STEPHANIE POTTER. Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Pg. 10001. January 23, 2007.
  5. ^ "Kermit Roosevelt III", University of Pennsylvania CV, accessed 18 May 2024
  6. ^ "Volume 80, Issue 5". Notre Dame Law Review. Archived from the original on December 7, 2011. Retrieved June 15, 2012.
  7. ^ TEDx Talks (August 30, 2016), Myth America: The Declaration, The Constitution, and Us | Kermit Roosevelt | TEDxBerkshires, retrieved March 28, 2017
  8. ^ "Civil Liberties in Times of Crisis: Japanese-American Internment and America Today". National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  9. ^ "Distinguished Research Fellows". The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "Members | American Law Institute". American Law Institute. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  11. ^ "ALI News and Updates". Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  12. ^ Kehe, Marjorie (November 29, 2005). "Best Fiction 2005". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Dershowitz, Alan M. (June 12, 2005). "'In the Shadow of the Law': Their Finest Billable Hour". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  14. ^ Lat, David (August 21, 2015). "War Powers". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  15. ^ Strafford, Jay. "Book review (Fiction): 'Allegiance'". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  16. ^ "Fiction Book Review: Allegiance by Kermit Roosevelt". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  17. ^ "Book review: Allegiance - to rules or justice?". SCOTUSblog. September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2017.
  18. ^ Calhoun, Emily M. (June 1, 2007). "The Myth of Judicial Activism: Making Sense of Supreme Court Decisions (Book review)". Trial. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014.
  19. ^ Hills, Roderick M. Jr. (November 1, 2007). "Mistaking the Window-Dressing for the Window". Judicature.
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