David B. Kopel
David B. Kopel earned his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan, and his BA, with Highest Honors in History, from Brown University. He is Research Director of the Independence Institute, a public policy research organization in Golden, Colorado, and is an Associate Policy Analyst with the Cato Institute, in Washington, D.C.
Kopel is one of several contributors to The Volokh Conspiracy, a group weblog of law professors. He has written hundreds of opinion articles for periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post.
He is the author of 12 books, and 72 scholarly articles published in journals such as the Michigan Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, SAIS Review, and the Brown Journal on World Affairs. His topics include constitutional law, international law, criminal justice, technology, antitrust, media issues, and environmental policy. He has contributed entries to nine academic encyclopedias, and served on the Board of Editors for one.
His research has been cited by eight state supreme courts, three federal circuit court of appeals, and over five hundred law review articles.
Before joining the Independence Institute, he served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Colorado, dealing with enforcement of hazardous waste, Superfund, and other environmental laws. In 1998-99, he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University. From 2001 to 2009 he was a media columnist for the Rocky Mountain News.
At Brown University, his thesis on Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., was awarded the National Geographic Society Prize.