Nadine Strossen

Nadine Strossen (born August 18, 1950) is an American civil liberties activist who was president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from February 1991 to October 2008. A liberal feminist, she was the first woman and the youngest person to ever lead the ACLU. A professor at New York Law School, Strossen sits on the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nadine Strossen
Born (1950-08-18) August 18, 1950
Jersey City, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHarvard College,
Harvard Law School
MovementAmerican Civil Liberties Union
Spouse(s)Eli Noam

Early life

Strossen was born in Jersey City, New Jersey.[1] Her maternal grandfather was an immigrant from Yugoslavia who held Marxist views. Her father was born in Germany and defined as a "half Jew" by Hitler's racial laws because his mother was Jewish, although he was raised Lutheran.[2][3][4][5] She has stated that the experiences of her family were her inspiration to pursue a career in civil liberties. "My father was a Holocaust survivor and my mother's father was a protester during World War I when he came to this country as an immigrant, and he was literally spat upon for not going to fight in the war", said Strossen in an interview. "His official sentence for being a conscientious objector was to be forced to stand against the courthouse in Hudson County, New Jersey so that passers-by could spit on him."[6] Strossen received her B.A. degree from Harvard College in 1972 Phi Beta Kappa, and her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1975, magna cum laude. In law school, she served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Career

Strossen practiced law in Minneapolis and New York City for nine years before becoming a Professor of Law at New York Law School in 1988.

In February 1991, Strossen became the president of the American Civil Liberties Union, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Norman Dorsen. As president, Strossen made over 200 public presentations. In May 2008, she announced her resignation. On October 18, 2008, the ACLU selected Susan Herman, a constitutional law professor at Brooklyn Law School in New York, to replace her.[7]

She is also a founding member of Feminists for Free Expression.[8]

She appeared in the 2000 docudrama Dirty Pictures.[9] In October 2001, Strossen made her theater debut as the guest star in Eve Ensler's play, The Vagina Monologues at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.[10]

In 2019, her book, "Hate: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship", was chosen as the Washington University in St. Louis Common Reading book.[11] On August 26th, Strossen delivered a keynote address at the university.[12]

Personal life

Strossen is married to Eli Noam, a professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business.

Select publications
  • 1995: Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex and the Fight for Women's Rights (ISBN 0-8147-8149-7)
  • 1996: Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties (ISBN 0-8147-3090-6)
  • 2018: Hate: Why We Should Resist It with Free Speech, Not Censorship (ISBN 0-1908-5912-1)

References
  1. West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2, The Gale Group, Inc., 2008: "Strossen, Nadine M."
  2. "CIVIL LIBERTIES LUMINARY NADINE STROSSEN TO STEP DOWN AS ACLU PRESIDENT". ACLU.org. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  3. ""More speech is the best counter to hate speech"". University of Delaware. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  4. "Liberty's Defending Angel". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  5. "Why Do People Establish Scholarship Funds". New York Law School. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
  6. Interview with Nadine Strossen, Wikinews, October 30, 2007.
  7. "Across the nation | Detroit Free Press". freep.com. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  8. Feminists For Free Expression Archived 2007-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "'Pictures': Worth A Thousand Words" by Tom Shales, The Washington Post, May 27, 2000
  10. "Vagina Monologues at the National: The Privates Go Public" by Nelson Pressley, The Washington Post, October 19, 2001
  11. "HATE: Why We Should Resist It With Free Speech, Not Censorship". Diversity & Inclusion. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  12. "Hate: Why We Should Resist It With Free Speech, Not Censorship | Assembly Series | Washington University in St. Louis". assemblyseries.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
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