Abraham David Sofaer

Abraham David Sofaer (born May 6, 1938) is an American attorney and jurist who served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and legal adviser to the United States State Department. After resigning from the State Department, he became the George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and National Security Affairs at the Hoover Institution.

Early life and education

Born on May 6, 1938, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, Sofaer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1962 (magna cum laude in American history) from Yeshiva University and a Bachelor of Laws from New York University School of Law in 1965, where he was editor-in-chief of the New York University Law Review.

Career After law school, Sofaer served as law clerk to Judge J. Skelly Wright of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1965–66), and for Justice William J. Brennan Jr. of the United States Supreme Court (1966 to 1967). From 1967 to 1969, he was an assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York under Robert Morgenthau. His work focused on the use by Americans of foreign banks and other financial institutions to violate U.S. laws.

From 1969 to 1979, Sofaer was a professor of law at Columbia University School of Law, during which time he wrote the book War, Foreign Affairs, and Constitutional Power, an authoritative historical account of the constitutional powers of Congress and the president to control or affect issues related to the international use of force.

As a New York state administrative judge from 1975 to 1976, Sofaer handled the first major environmental action involving PCBs, regarding their discharge into the Hudson River by General Electric. After issuing an opinion holding GE liable despite its having been issued a license, Sofaer worked with Peter Berle, then head of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Sarah Chassis, lead attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Jack Welch, then a vice president at GE, to settle the case in an agreement joined by 17 environmental organizations. This work led to Sofaer being recommended to a committee established by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (chaired by former White House Counsel Leonard Garment) to screen candidates for the federal district courts in New York state.

Federal judicial service Per the recommendation of United States Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Sofaer was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on January 19, 1979, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Marvin E. Frankel. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 21, 1979, and received his commission on March 23, 1979. He resigned on June 9, 1985. and NGO Monitor.

Personal life

Sofaer's father was a cousin of the actor Abraham Sofaer. Their fathers Meyer and Isaac were born in Rangoon, Burma, the descendants of Jewish immigrants from Baghdad, Iraq. They built a trading business in Rangoon, the evidence of which can still be seen in the form of Sofaer’s Building, a large office and retail center which the city is attempting to restore along with other colonial era buildings.

Publications

"Taking The War To The Terrorists" in Forbes (10/08) "War of resources" about Hezbollah (8/06) "Should Dictators Be Put to Death?" with Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, on the Council on Foreign Relations Web site (6/06).