Boris Irving Bittker (November 28, 1916 – September 8, 2005) was an American legal scholar. A professor at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, he wrote textbooks and over one hundred articles on

tax law Tax law or revenue law is an area of legal study in which public or sanctioned authorities, such as federal, state and municipal governments (as in the case of the US) use a body of rules and procedures (laws) to assess and collect taxes in a ...

Early life and career

Born in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, Bittker attended

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(class of 1938) and Yale Law School (class of 1941). After law school, Bittker

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

ed for Judge

Jerome Frank Jerome New Frank (September 10, 1889 – January 13, 1957) was an American legal philosopher and author who played a leading role in the legal realism movement. He was chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and a United State ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory covers the states of Connecticut, New York (state), New York, and Vermont, and it has ap ...

. From 1942 to 1943 Bittker worked as an attorney for the

Lend-Lease Administration Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

On May 24, 1943, he joined the United States Army. During the next two years Bittker fought and was wounded in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, receiving a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the president to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. He served with the 42nd Infantry Division in France. Returning from Europe, Bittker returned to government service, working for the Office of the

Alien Property Custodian The Office of Alien Property Custodian was an office within the government of the United States during World War I and again during World War II, serving as a custodian to property that belonged to US enemies. The office was created in 1917 by ...

. Bittker reluctantly returned to his alma mater as an assistant professor in 1946. Eventually he gained tenure in 1951, became a Southmayd Professor in 1958, and

Sterling Professor of Law Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a Academic tenure in North America, tenured faculty member considered the best in their field. It is akin to the rank of distinguished professor at other universities. ...

in 1970. He retired in 1983. In 1973, Bittker wrote
The Case for Black Reparations
', inspired by SNCC leader

James Forman James Forman (October 4, 1928 – January 10, 2005) was a prominent African-American leader in the civil rights movement. He was active in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party, and the League of Revoluti ...

, who in 1969 interrupted a church service to demand reparations for slavery. Bittker defended the spirit of Forman's appeal, but argued that a reparations lawsuit for school segregation had a stronger legal basis. Bittker was also a dedicated

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

, serving as a trustee of the

Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...

Personal life

Bittker was married to Anne (died on February 2, 1997) and had two children, Susan and Daniel. Boris Bittker died on September 8, 2005.

Publications (selection)

* * * *

References

* *
Yale Law School obituary

External links

Boris I. Bittker papers (MS 1869)
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. 1916 births 2005 deaths Writers from Rochester, New York American legal writers American legal scholars Cornell University alumni Yale Law School alumni Yale Law School faculty Scholars of tax law Yale Sterling Professors United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub