Law Atlas

How The Law Decides
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Jurist

Robert Bork

Modern Constitutional and Supreme Court Judges of the Americas

Robert Bork was an American legal scholar and judge credited with proposing the first modern theory of originalism in 1971, arguing that a court should take from constitutional text rather specific values that the text or its history show the framers actually intended, rather than reading the document to reach a preferred result. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Role
Proposed the first modern theory of originalism in 1971. 4
Nationality / Jurisdiction
American 2
Born
1927 3
Birth Date
1927-03-01 3
Birthplace
Pittsburgh 3
Died
2012 3
Death Date
2012-12-19 3
Place of Death
Arlington County 3
Role
Role (category)
Jurist 3
Role (category)
Judge 3
Role (category)
Lawyer 3
Role (category)
Politician 3
Classification
Field of Law
Common Law 1
Gender
Male 2
Robert Bork
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Formulated

Credited with proposing the first modern theory in 1971.

Source Originalism (Wikipedia)

In Legal System

Source Originalism (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Robert Bork (Wikipedia)
2. Robert Bork (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Introduction, gender
    A law professor by training, he was acting United States Attorney General from 1973 to 1974 and a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit from 1982 to 1988.
  • Introduction, nationality
    Robert Bork was an American legal scholar and judge credited with proposing the first modern theory of originalism in 1971, arguing that a court should take from constitutional text rather specific values that the text or its history show the framers actually intended, rather than reading the document to reach a preferred result.
View the Source
3. Wikidata: Robert Bork
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P569 date of birth claim (year)
    P569 (date of birth): 1927
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P569 date of birth claim (full date)
    P569 (date of birth): 1927-03-01
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P570 date of death claim (year)
    P570 (date of death): 2012
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P570 date of death claim (full date)
    P570 (date of death): 2012-12-19
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P19 place of birth claim
    P19 (place of birth): Pittsburgh
  • Wikidata Q1365780, P20 place of death claim
    P20 (place of death): Arlington County
View the Source
4. Originalism (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • History section - entity-description
    take from the document rather specific values that text or history show the framers actually to have intended
  • History section - role
    Jurist Robert Bork is credited with proposing the first modern theory of originalism in his 1971 law review article, Neutral Principles and Some First Amendment Problems, published in The Yale Law Journal.
  • In Category: Jurists, Category placement - in-category
  • In Legal System: Law of the United States, History section - in-legal-system
  • Formulated: Constitutional Interpretation, History section - formulated-by bork
View the Source
Frequently Asked Questions

What role did Robert Bork play in the Saturday Night Massacre?

As Solicitor General he became Acting Attorney General after two superiors resigned, and he fired Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox on Nixon's order.

On October 20, 1973, President Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox after Cox requested tapes of Oval Office conversations. Richardson resigned rather than carry out the order, and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus, who also considered it fundamentally wrong, resigned as well, making Solicitor General Bork Acting Attorney General. When Nixon repeated the order, Bork fired Cox. Bork said he acted under pressure from Nixon's attorneys and meant to resign afterward, but was persuaded by Richardson and Ruckelshaus to stay for the good of the Justice Department. He served as Acting Attorney General until January 4, 1974.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.