A True Judicial Maverick: Judge Jed Rakoff

Original Jurisdiction

Our independent judiciary has been described—accurately so, in my opinion—as “the crown jewel of our constitutional republic.” And when it comes to the federal judiciary, few of its members are as independent-minded as Judge Jed S. Rakoff.

Judge Rakoff, 81, has served on the Southern District of New York since 1996. During his almost three decades on the bench, he has authored more than 2,000 opinions—many of them groundbreaking and headline-making, and some quite controversial.

In addition to his prodigious judicial output, Judge Rakoff is a leading commentator on the American legal system. He contributes regularly to The New York Review of Books, and he wrote an excellent book of his own: Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free, and Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System (2021).

With a new Term of the U.S. Supreme Court starting next week, I thought it would be interesting to interview Judge Rakoff about his latest column for The Review, which discusses the current Court—and doesn’t pull any punches. And in our conversation, Judge Rakoff didn’t walk back any of his criticism. When I asked him if he respects the Court, he artfully dodged—and later on in our interview, he described the Court’s rulings on gun control as not only “misguided,” but “immoral.”

We found time to discuss fun stuff, too. We talked about his approach to clerk hiring—being in FedSoc is not a black mark—as well as his hobbies. In his spare time, he enjoys participating in international ballroom dance competitions (with his wife Ann), writing satirical lyrics to musical compositions, and officiating at weddings (91 and counting). Check it all out, in the latest Original Jurisdiction podcast.

Show Notes:

• Judge Jed Rakoff bio, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

• Hon. Jed S. Rakoff, by Luke McGrath for the Federal Bar Association

• The Most Conservative Branch, by Judge Jed S. Rakoff for The New York Review of Books

Prefer reading to listening? For paid subscribers, a transcript of the entire episode appears below.

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Judge Jed Rakoff (photo by The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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