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Philip Hamburger is an American legal scholar in the fields of
constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
and
legal history Legal history or the history of law is the study of how law has evolved and why it has changed. Legal history is closely connected to the development of civilizations and operates in the wider context of social history. Certain jurists and his ...
. He is the Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law at
Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...
, where he the school's Center for Law and Liberty in 2014. He founded the
New Civil Liberties Alliance New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 2017 by Columbia Law School professor Philip Hamburger. The group challenges what it views as unlawful uses of administrative power. It is headquart ...
in 2017 and serves as the CEO.


Career

Hamburger received a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
with a major in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
from
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 1979 and a
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
from
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 ...
in 1982. From 1982 to 1985, Hamburger was an associate of the Philadelphia law firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis. He then became an associate professor at the University of Connecticut Law School from 1985 to 1988, then becoming a full professor, a position he held until 1992. During that time, in the fall of 1986, he was a visiting professor at the
University of Virginia Law School The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 as part of his "academical village", and now ...
, and at the George Washington University National Law Center from 1991 to 1992. In 1992 he became Professor of Law and Legal History at GWU until 1995, when he became the Oswald Symister Colclough Research Professor of Law until 2000. During his time at George Washington, Hamburger was the Jack N. Pritzker Distinguished Visiting Professor at
Northwestern University Law School The Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (formerly known as Northwestern University School of Law from 1891 to 2015) is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. The law school is located on the univer ...
in the fall of 1999. He was also a visiting professor at the
University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It employs more than 180 full-time and part-time facul ...
in the winter of 2000. In 2000, he became the John P. Wilson Professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where he was also director of the Bigelow Program and the Legal History Program. He held this position until 2005. From there he moved to Columbia University Law School, becoming the Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law there in 2006."Philip Hamburger CV"
Columbia University website


Scholarship

Hamburger is a scholar of the
First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
who has studied "Jefferson's thinking and actions with respect to matters of church and state". He is known for arguing that "the First Amendment, originally thought to limit the government, has been increasingly interpreted by the Court to mean limiting religion and confining it to the private sphere." Hamburger has criticized Justice
Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, ass ...
, who served on the Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971, arguing that Black's views on the need for separation of church and state were deeply tainted by prominent roles in the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
, which, beyond its well-known role as an anti-Black extremist hate group, also harbored extreme anti-Catholic views.


New Civil Liberties Alliance

In 2017, Philip founded the
New Civil Liberties Alliance New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public interest law firm founded in 2017 by Columbia Law School professor Philip Hamburger. The group challenges what it views as unlawful uses of administrative power. It is headquart ...
, which describes itself as "a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded ... to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State." The NCLA has received financial support from entities affiliated with
Charles Koch Charles de Ganahl Koch ( ; born November 1, 1935) is an American billionaire businessman and engineer. As of May 2025, he is ranked as the 22nd richest man in the world on the '' Bloomberg Billionaires Index'', with an estimated net worth of US ...
and
Leonard Leo Leonard Anthony Leo (born November 1965) is an American lawyer, businessman, and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and is currently, along with Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the or ...
.


Publications


Books

* ''Separation of Church and State'' (
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...
, 2002) * ''Law and Judicial Duty'' (Harvard University Press, 2008) * ''Is Administrative Law Unlawful?'' (
University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...
, 2014) * ''The Administrative Threat'' (
Encounter Books Encounter Books is a book publisher in the United States known for publishing conservative authors. It was named for '' Encounter'', the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and Stephen Spender. Based in New York City since 20 ...
, 2017) * ''Liberal Suppression: Section 501(c)(3) and the Taxation of Speech'' (University of Chicago Press, 2018) * ''Purchasing Submission: Conditions, Power, and Freedom'' (Harvard University Press, 2021)


Articles

* ''Revolution and Judicial Review: Chief Justice Holt's Opinion in'' City of London v. Wood, 94 COLUM. L. REV. 2091 (1994). * "Liberality," ''
Texas Law Review The ''Texas Law Review'' is a student-edited and -produced law review affiliated with the University of Texas School of Law (Austin). The ''Review'' publishes seven issues per year, six of which include articles, book reviews, essays, commentaries ...
'' (2002) * "Law and Judicial Duty," ''
George Washington Law Review ''The George Washington Law Review'' is a bimonthly law review edited and published by students at the George Washington University Law School. The ''Law Review'' was established in 1931 and is a continuation of the ''Constitutional Review'', publ ...
'' (2003) * "The New Censorship: Institutional Review Boards," ''
Supreme Court Review ''The Supreme Court Review'' is an annual peer-reviewed law journal covering the legal implications of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States. It is published by the University of Chicago Press and was established in 1960. The journal ...
'' (2004) * "Religious Liberty in Philadelphia," ''
Emory Law Journal The ''Emory Law Journal'' is a student-run law review A law review or law journal is a scholarly journal or publication that focuses on legal issues. A law review is a type of legal periodical. Law reviews are a source of research, imbedded wi ...
'' (2005) * "Beyond Protection," ''Columbia Law Review'' (2009)


See also

*


References

Notes Further reading * Steinfels, Peter (July 6, 2002
"Beliefs; Behind the concept of the separation of church and state, a scholar finds some unsettling origins"
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamburger, Philip Columbia University faculty Living people American legal scholars American scholars of constitutional law Princeton University alumni Yale Law School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)