Kenji Yoshino
Encyclopedia
Kenji Yoshino is a legal scholar and the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at New York University School of Law
. Formerly, he was the Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School
. His work involves Constitutional law
, anti-discrimination law
, civil
and human rights
, as well as law and literature
, and Japanese law and society. He is actively involved with several social and legal issues and is also an author.
(1987) and Harvard
, obtaining a B.A. in English literature summa cum laude in 1991. Between undergraduate years Yoshino worked as an aide for various members of the Japanese Parliament
. He moved on to Magdalen College
at Oxford
as a Rhodes Scholar, attaining a M.Sc. in management studies (industrial relations) in 1993. In 1996 he earned a J.D. from Yale
, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal
.
s. From 1996 to 1997 Yoshino served as a law clerk
for federal appellate judge
Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 1998 he received a tenure-track position at Yale Law School as an associate professor, and in 2003 the school bestowed a full professorship. In 2006 he was named the inaugural Guido Calabresi Professor of Law.
Yoshino is also a prolific author in numerous periodicals and newspapers, including The New York Times
, The Washington Post
, Los Angeles Times
, The Boston Globe
, The Village Voice
, The Nation
, The Advocate
, Slate
, and FindLaw
. Additionally, he is active as a speaker at various conferences on an assortment of legal and social issues. Yoshino is an expert guest on various public and commercial television and radio programs.
His first book Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
was published in 2006. It is a mix of argument intertwined with pertinent biographical narratives. His second book, A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice was published in 2011.
Major areas of interest include social dynamics, conformity and assimilation, as well as queer (LGBT
) and personal liberty issues. He has been a co-plaintiff
in cases related to his specialties. A Japanese American
, and openly gay
man, Yoshino also writes poetry for personal enjoyment or at least as yet has not published.
During the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years, he served as a visiting professor at New York University School of Law, and in February 2008 he accepted a full-time tenured position as the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law.
In May 2011, Yoshino was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers
, where he will serve a six-year term.
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
. Formerly, he was the Guido Calabresi Professor of Law at Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
. His work involves Constitutional law
Constitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
, anti-discrimination law
Anti-discrimination law
Anti-discrimination law refers to the law on people's right to be treated equally. Some countries mandate that in employment, in consumer transactions and in political participation people may be dealt with on an equal basis regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexuality and sometimes...
, civil
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, as well as law and literature
Law and literature
The law and literature movement focuses on the interdisciplinary connection between law and literature. This field has roots in two major developments in the intellectual history of law -- first, the growing doubt about whether law in isolation is a source of value and meaning, or whether it must...
, and Japanese law and society. He is actively involved with several social and legal issues and is also an author.
Education
Yoshino graduated from Phillips Exeter AcademyPhillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
(1987) and Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, obtaining a B.A. in English literature summa cum laude in 1991. Between undergraduate years Yoshino worked as an aide for various members of the Japanese Parliament
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
. He moved on to Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
as a Rhodes Scholar, attaining a M.Sc. in management studies (industrial relations) in 1993. In 1996 he earned a J.D. from Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal
Yale Law Journal
The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
.
Career
He was soon published in multiple major law reviewLaw review
A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...
s. From 1996 to 1997 Yoshino served as a law clerk
Law clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
for federal appellate judge
United States federal judge
In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 1998 he received a tenure-track position at Yale Law School as an associate professor, and in 2003 the school bestowed a full professorship. In 2006 he was named the inaugural Guido Calabresi Professor of Law.
Yoshino is also a prolific author in numerous periodicals and newspapers, including The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, The Advocate
The Advocate
The Advocate is an American LGBT-interest magazine, printed monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a web site. Both magazine and web site have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to LGBT people...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, and FindLaw
FindLaw
FindLaw is a business of Thomson Reuters that provides online legal information and online marketing services for law firms. FindLaw was created by Stacy Stern, Martin Roscheisen and Tim Stanley in 1995, and was acquired by Thomson West in 2001....
. Additionally, he is active as a speaker at various conferences on an assortment of legal and social issues. Yoshino is an expert guest on various public and commercial television and radio programs.
His first book Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights
Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, published in 2006 is both an analysis on society’s views on race and sexuality and a collection of autobiographical anecdotes. Kenji Yoshino, the author, is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law...
was published in 2006. It is a mix of argument intertwined with pertinent biographical narratives. His second book, A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice was published in 2011.
Major areas of interest include social dynamics, conformity and assimilation, as well as queer (LGBT
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
) and personal liberty issues. He has been a co-plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
in cases related to his specialties. A Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
, and openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man, Yoshino also writes poetry for personal enjoyment or at least as yet has not published.
During the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years, he served as a visiting professor at New York University School of Law, and in February 2008 he accepted a full-time tenured position as the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law.
In May 2011, Yoshino was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers
Harvard Board of Overseers
The Harvard Board of Overseers is one of Harvard University's two governing boards...
, where he will serve a six-year term.
Major works
- (1996). "Suspect Symbols: The Literary Argument for Heightened Scrutiny for Gays". Columbia Law ReviewColumbia Law ReviewThe Columbia Law Review is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. In addition to articles, the journal regularly publishes scholarly essays and student notes. It was founded in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who served as the review's first...
, 96 (1753). - (1997). "The Lawyer of Belmont". Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities. 9 (183).
- (1998). "Assimilationist Bias in Equal Protection: The Visibility Presumption and the Case of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell'". Yale Law JournalYale Law JournalThe Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
108 (487). - (2000). "The Epistemic Contract of Bisexual Erasure". Stanford Law ReviewStanford Law ReviewThe Stanford Law Review is a legal journal produced independently by Stanford Law School students. The journal was established in 1948 with future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher as its first president...
, 52 (2). - (2000). "The Eclectic Model of Censorship". California Law ReviewCalifornia Law ReviewThe California Law Review is the flagship law journal of UC Berkeley School of Law . Founded in 1912, the Review was the first student law journal published west of Illinois....
, 88 (5). - (2002). "Covering". Yale Law JournalYale Law JournalThe Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
, 111 (769). - (2005). "The City and the Poet" Yale Law JournalYale Law JournalThe Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
, 114 (1835). - (2006). Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil RightsCovering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil RightsCovering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, published in 2006 is both an analysis on society’s views on race and sexuality and a collection of autobiographical anecdotes. Kenji Yoshino, the author, is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at the NYU School of Law...
. Random HouseRandom HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. ISBN 0-375-50820-1. - (2011). "The New Equal Protection" Harvard Law ReviewHarvard Law ReviewThe Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:According to the 2008 Journal Citation Reports, the Review is the most cited law review and has the second-highest impact factor in the category "law" after the...
, 124 (747). - (2011). A Thousand Times More Fair: What Shakespeare's Plays Teach Us About Justice. HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
. ISBN 978-0-06-176910-8.