Robert Cover
Encyclopedia
Robert Cover was a law professor, scholar, and activist, teaching at Yale Law School
from 1972 until his untimely death at age 42 in 1986. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1943. He attended Princeton University
and Columbia Law School
. His most noted works include Justice Accused: Antislavery and the Judicial Process, Violence and the Word, and Nomos and Narrative. He lent his strong support to the campaign to divest Yale of apartheid South Africa
n financial holdings. He was also interested in Jewish social and legal history, and was translating a renaissance Hebrew text on the law of jurisdiction at the time of his death. Prior to his death from heart problems, many friends and colleagues speculated that, given his extraordinary success at such a young age, he would one day be considered for the Supreme Court
.
In his most famous article on Violence and the Word, he says that "Legal interpretation takes place in a field of pain and death. This is true in several senses. Legal interpretive acts signal and occasion the imposition of violence upon others: A judge articulates her understanding of a text, and as a result, somebody loses his freedom, his property, his children, even his life. Interpretations in law also constitute justifications for violence which has already occurred or which is about to occur. When interpreters have finished their work, they frequently leave behind victims whose lives have been torn apart by these organized, social practices of violence. Neither legal interpretation nor the violence it occasions may be properly understood apart from one another".
This article has been the source of inspiration for many discussions on the relationship between law, language and violence.
He also wrote "Your Law Baseball Quiz" a brief piece published on the New York Times Editorial Page on April 5, 1979 that amusingly and insightfully compared Supreme Court Justices to baseball players. It spawned an underground cottage industry of law-baseball and law-other metaphorical devices that still persists. That piece can be found at the end of a collection of his essays titled "Narrative, Violence, and the Law: The Essays of Robert Cover" published in 1995 by the University of Michigan Press.
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...
from 1972 until his untimely death at age 42 in 1986. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1943. He attended Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
. His most noted works include Justice Accused: Antislavery and the Judicial Process, Violence and the Word, and Nomos and Narrative. He lent his strong support to the campaign to divest Yale of apartheid South Africa
History of South Africa in the apartheid era
Apartheid was a system of racial segregation enforced by the National Party governments of South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority 'non-white' inhabitants of South Africa were curtailed and white supremacy and Afrikaner minority rule was maintained...
n financial holdings. He was also interested in Jewish social and legal history, and was translating a renaissance Hebrew text on the law of jurisdiction at the time of his death. Prior to his death from heart problems, many friends and colleagues speculated that, given his extraordinary success at such a young age, he would one day be considered for the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
.
In his most famous article on Violence and the Word, he says that "Legal interpretation takes place in a field of pain and death. This is true in several senses. Legal interpretive acts signal and occasion the imposition of violence upon others: A judge articulates her understanding of a text, and as a result, somebody loses his freedom, his property, his children, even his life. Interpretations in law also constitute justifications for violence which has already occurred or which is about to occur. When interpreters have finished their work, they frequently leave behind victims whose lives have been torn apart by these organized, social practices of violence. Neither legal interpretation nor the violence it occasions may be properly understood apart from one another".
This article has been the source of inspiration for many discussions on the relationship between law, language and violence.
He also wrote "Your Law Baseball Quiz" a brief piece published on the New York Times Editorial Page on April 5, 1979 that amusingly and insightfully compared Supreme Court Justices to baseball players. It spawned an underground cottage industry of law-baseball and law-other metaphorical devices that still persists. That piece can be found at the end of a collection of his essays titled "Narrative, Violence, and the Law: The Essays of Robert Cover" published in 1995 by the University of Michigan Press.
External links
- Robert M. Cover Dies; Legal Scholar at Yale - New York Times Obituary