Clint Bolick
Clint Bolick
Clint Bolick in January, 2014
Born (1957-12-26) December 26, 1957 (age 66)
EducationDrew University
Alma materUniversity of California Davis School of Law
Occupation(s)Vice President for Litigation, Goldwater Institute
Years active1980–present

WP:DR WP:RFC

Clint Bolick (born December 26, 1957) is the Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Bolick co-founded of the Institute for Justice, where he was the Vice President and Director of Litigation from 1991 until 2004. INSERT TEXT ABOUT LITIGATION AT SUPREME COURT.

Early life and education edit

Career edit

Mountain States Legal Foundation edit

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission / Justice Department edit

Bolick joined the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1985. While he only stayed at the EEOC for a year, he became friends with its chairman, future Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. (Thomas is the godfather to Bolick's second son.[1]) Thomas helped convince him that removing economic barriers for the poor was more important than fighting race-based reverse discrimination.[2] His conversations with Thomas bolstered Bolick's belief that racism was a formidable barrier to blacks and other people of color. In 1991, he would support adding punitive damages to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He explained, "It seemed to me that if you didn't want quotas, you had to have tough remedies and punitive damages against recalcitrant discriminators ... That very much came out of Thomas."[3] Thomas also shaped his preferred remedy for inequality: removing unnecessary (and often racist) laws and regulations that prevented the poor from starting small businesses. Thomas did this in part by telling Bolick about his grandfather, who began with a hand-built pushcart and built a profitable delivery service that comfortably supported his family, only to encounter threats from regulations designed to destroy black-owned businesses.[1]

Bolick left the EEOC to join the Justice Department in 1986. In 1988, he wrote his first book, Changing Course. In this book, he defined "civil rights" in part from the perspective of removing economic and regulatory barriers for the poor and disadvantaged.[4]

Landmark Center for Civil Rights edit

Regarding Pin Pointers' visit: Easton (page 231) says that Landmark's role in visit was "later revealed by journalists Jane Mayer and Jill Abramson ..."[5] In their book Strange Justice (page 185) they say "though few people knew it at the time ...,"[6] and go on to relate Landmark's role. Mayer & Abramson's source for this is a Washington Post article from August 1, 1991, which includes an indirect quote from Bolick given to the Post the prior day - laying out the amounts his organization contributed. In other words, the role of Landmark wasn't "later revealed." It was openly given to the Post on the day of the visit. If the "few people" who knew it at the time included the Washington Post reporter and anyone who read coverage of the event in the Post.

Institute for Justice edit

  • Split of duties - Bolick & Mellor
  • Does opposition to race-based restrictions on adoption belong here?

Alliance for School Choice edit

Goldwater Institute edit

Joined in 2007, when Goldwater added litigation group.[7]

Subscription-only link: Bolick to open new litigation center at Goldwater.[8]


Controversy - What was that business / politics legislative drafting thing? Did Goldwater and/or Bolick participate in that?

Publications edit

In 2013, Bolick co-wrote Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution with politician Jeb Bush.[9] ADD THIS TO JEB BUSH ARTICLE, AS IT IS NOT MENTIONED THERE.

Awards edit

In 2006, Bolick won one of the four Bradley Prizes given that year. The Bradley Prize included a one-time $250,000 stipend.[10] Bolick is currently a Research Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.[11] American Lawyer magazine named him one of three Lawyers of the Year in 2003. In 2009, Legal Times magazine included him in their list of the "90 greatest Washington lawyers of the past 30 years".[11]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Easton, Nina J. (2000). Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade. Simon & Schuster. p. 196. ISBN 0743203208.
  2. ^ Easton, Nina J. (20 April 1997). "Welcome to the Clint Bolick Revolution". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  3. ^ Easton, Nina J. (2000). Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade. Simon & Schuster. p. 197. ISBN 0743203208.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference GangOfFive198 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Easton, Nina. Gang of Five. p. 231.
  6. ^ Mayer, Jane. Strange Justice. p. 185.
  7. ^ Lacey, Marc (25 December 2011). "A Watchdog for Conservative Ideals". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  8. ^ Mauro, Tony (22 January 2007). "Rose-Colored: Bolick Opening a New Constitutional Litigation Center". Legal Times. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  9. ^ Roig-Franzia, Manuel (8 March 2013). "Book review: 'Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution' by Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  10. ^ "Dissenting voices rewarded". The Washington Times. 28 May 2006. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Clint Bolick, Research Fellow". The Hoover Institution web site. Retrieved 8 February 2014.

External links edit