Stephen L. Carter
Stephen L. Carter born October 26 1954 is an American law professor, legal- and social-policy writer, columnist, and novelist. He is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where he has taught since 1982. He earned a B.A. from Stanford University in 1976 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. After graduation, Carter clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
Carter was raised in Ithaca, New York. He graduated from Ithaca High School in 1972, and his essay "The Best Black" is based on his experiences there. At IHS, he was the editor-in-chief of The Tattler and pushed hard for student representation on the local school board. In 2003 Carter received an honorary LL.D. from Bates College.
He currently resides in Cheshire, Connecticut with his wife and two children. His son Andrew is at Yale in the undergraduate class of 2010 and his daughter is at Dartmouth in the undergraduate class of 2008.
Books and other writing
His policy writings include the following books:
- Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby. New York: Basic Books, 1991 ISBN 0-465-06871-5.
- The Culture of Disbelief. New York: Anchor, 1991 ISBN 0-385-47498-9.
- Integrity. New York: Harper Perennial, 1997 ISBN 0-06-092807-7. This book regards the current state of public integrity and its philosophical underpinnings.
- The Dissent of the Governed: A Meditation on Law, Religion, and Loyalty. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-674-21266-5.
- Civility. New York: Harper Perennial, (1999) ISBN 0-06-097759-0.
- God's Name in Vain: The Wrongs and Rights of Religion in Politics. New York: Basic Books, 2001 ISBN 0-465-00887-9.
His novels include:
- New England White (2007)
- The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002) ISBN 0-375-71292-5 which he describes as having been conceived before the confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas for his U.S. Supreme Court associate-justice post, has its principal character experience significantly similar confirmation hearings.
In addition to his policy writings and novels, Carter writes a feature column in Christianity Today magazine.