Philip Hamburger

Philip Hamburger
Name	Philip Hamburger
Birth date	1953
Occupation	Legal scholar, lawyer, author
Education	Yale University (B.A.), Harvard Law School (J.D.)
Employer	Columbia Law School
Notable works	The New Constitutionalism, Separation of Church and State, Is Administrative Law Unlawful?

Philip Hamburger Philip Hamburger is an American legal scholar and litigator known for work on constitutional law, administrative law, and the relationship between religion and public authority. He has written extensively on the history of limits on governmental power, the role of judicial review, and the First Amendment, and has litigated cases involving free exercise rights, separation claims, and administrative regulation. His scholarship engages historical sources, precedents, and institutional actors to challenge prevailing doctrines in United States Supreme Court jurisprudence.

Early life and education

Hamburger was born in 1953 and raised in the United States during an era shaped by the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, and debates over federal authority. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he studied alongside peers who went on to careers at institutions such as United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the United States Department of Justice. During graduate study he engaged with archival materials from collections tied to figures like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, informing his later historical approach to constitutional questions.

Legal and academic career

Hamburger began his career in private practice and clerking before moving into academia and public-interest litigation. He has taught at Columbia Law School and guest-lectured at institutions including Yale Law School and New York University School of Law. Hamburger has been affiliated with organizations such as the Federalist Society and has served as counsel in cases brought by public-interest groups like the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and the American Civil Liberties Union in matters before the United States Supreme Court and lower federal courts. His professional network includes interactions with scholars from Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, University of Chicago Law School, and policy actors from Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Major writings and scholarship

Hamburger's major books include The New Constitutionalism, Separation of Church and State, and Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, each engaging sources from the English Bill of Rights era, Founding Fathers debates, and administrative expansion in the twentieth century. In The New Constitutionalism he analyzes historical resistance to arbitrary power by invoking cases and figures like John Locke, Charles I of England, and institutions such as the King's Bench. Separation of Church and State traces legal disputes involving entities like the Church of England, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and decisions from the Supreme Court of the United States including debates surrounding Engel v. Vitale and Lemon v. Kurtzman. Is Administrative Law Unlawful? challenges modern administrative agencies and cites episodes involving the Interstate Commerce Commission, the New Deal, and litigation before the D.C. Circuit. His articles in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Columbia Law Review discuss doctrines tied to actors like Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Abe Fortas and reference statutes including the Administrative Procedure Act.

Notable court cases and litigation

Hamburger has been counsel or advisor in cases that reached federal appellate courts and the Supreme Court of the United States. He participated in litigation concerning the Free Exercise Clause and Establishment Clause that implicated precedents like Employment Division v. Smith and Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. He has represented parties in disputes involving regulatory overreach traced to administrative bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency. In litigation over historical church-state entanglements, Hamburger invoked records related to the First Congress and municipal practices in cities such as Boston and New York City. His filings frequently cite historical documents from archives tied to figures like Thomas Jefferson and institutions like the Library of Congress.

Criticisms and influence

Hamburger's work has drawn both praise and critique. Supporters from networks including the Federalist Society and conservative scholars at Claremont Institute argue his historical scholarship offers a corrective to progressive readings favored at institutions like American Civil Liberties Union and some faculties of Harvard Law School. Critics from journals and scholars at University of California, Berkeley and Georgetown University Law Center contend his readings overemphasize seventeenth-century materials and underplay twentieth-century jurisprudence shaped by cases like Brown v. Board of Education and statutes such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Debates about administrative power pit his arguments against defenders of agencies at think tanks including the Brookings Institution and the Heritage Foundation. Hamburger's influence is visible in amici briefs filed in cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and in curricula at law schools such as Columbia Law School and Yale Law School.

Personal life and honors

Hamburger has received fellowships and awards from organizations including the Guggenheim Foundation and lectured at venues like the American Enterprise Institute and Hoover Institution. He lives in the New York area and participates in public debates hosted by institutions like Harvard Club of New York City and cultural organizations in Manhattan. His honors include citations from legal societies and invitations to testify before committees of the United States Congress on matters relating to administrative and constitutional law.

Category:American legal scholars Category:Columbia Law School faculty