Peter H. Irons

Peter H. Irons (born August 11, 1940) is an American political activist, civil rights attorney, legal scholar, and professor emeritus of political science. He has written many books on the U.S. Supreme Court and constitutional litigation.

Education

Irons graduated from Antioch College (an early incubator of progressive politics).

He embarked on his current path in 1963 when he was sentenced to three years imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut for refusing military induction on the ground that the Federal government perpetuated racial discrimination. While serving most of that sentence, he began corresponding with Howard Zinn, who sent him books on civil liberties and American politics. His conviction was ultimately reversed by a federal judge on the ground of prosecutorial misconduct. Later, President Gerald Ford granted him a pardon for refusing induction.

Career Irons completed a PhD at Boston University in 1973. Afterwards, Zinn helped arrange for him to work at a law firm defending Daniel Ellsberg, who was under federal prosecution at the time for stealing the Pentagon Papers. His work at the law firm would later serve as motivation for him to pursue a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, which he received in 1978. He has lectured on constitutional law and civil liberties at the law schools of Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Stanford, and more than 20 other schools.

Awards 1984 – Durfee Award 1986 – UCSD certificate of excellence 1989 – Ceil Podoloff Award by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) 1989 – American Bar Association Certificate of Merit award The Courage of Their Convictions: Sixteen Americans Who Fought Their Way to the U.S. Supreme Court

Works

Books

2000 Silver Gavel Award Honorable Mention

2003 Silver Gavel Award Winner

Video courses

Articles