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Robert David Sack (born October 4, 1939) is a senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Early life and education

Robert David Sack
Judicial Portrait of Judge Robert D. Sack
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office August 6, 2009
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office June 16, 1998 – August 6, 2009
Appointed by	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Roger Miner
Succeeded by	Denny Chin
Personal details
Born	Robert David Sack (1939-10-04) October 4, 1939 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education	University of Rochester (BA) Columbia University (LLB)

Born to Eugene and Sylvia Sack in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sack was later raised in Brooklyn, New York. His father served as rabbi of Congregation Beth Elohim for 35 years.

Sack received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Rochester in 1960 and received his Bachelor of Laws from Columbia Law School in 1963.

Legal Career

He first clerked for Judge Arthur Stephen Lane of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. In 1964, he joined Patterson, Belknap & Webb, eventually becoming a partner of the firm. During 1974, he served as Associate Special Counsel and Senior Associate Special Counsel for the House Judiciary Committee's impeachment inquiry into President Richard Nixon. Following his government service, Sack returned to Patterson Belknap. In 1986, he joined the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher as a partner until his appointment as a Circuit judge. Throughout his 33-year career in private practice, Sack specialized in press law and represented numerous United States and foreign-based media companies.

Federal judicial service

Sack was nominated by President Bill Clinton on November 6, 1997, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Roger J. Miner. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 15, 1998, and received commission on June 16, 1998. He assumed senior status on August 6, 2009. Over the course of judgeship, he has authored over 300 opinions and dozens of concurrences and dissents.

Notable opinions

Doe v. Trump Corporation, 6 F.4th 400 (2d Cir. 2021): Sack, writing for the panel, held that defendants Trump Corporation, Donald J. Trump, and members of his family were not entitled to have the district court enforce an arbitration agreement in a suit for unfair business practices and deceptive statements regarding a multi-level marketing company.

In re Arab Bank, PLC Alien Tort Statute Litigation, 808 F.3d 144 (2d Cir. 2015): Sack, writing for the panel, held that the Alien Tort Statute did not confer original jurisdiction over claims of terrorism victims against bank that allegedly financed and facilitated organizations who committed attacks in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

Barclays Capital, Inc. v. Theflyonthewall.com, 650 F.3d 876 (2d Cir. 2011): Sack, writing for the panel, concluded that the tort of hot news misappropriation was preempted by the Copyright Act as applied to the facts of the instant case, which concerned a novel lawsuit by various investment banks, which publish and disseminate equity research reports, against a small Internet-based aggregator of stock tips which sold the investment banks' recommendations to its own clients.

Arar v. Ashcroft, 585 F.3d 559 (2d Cir. 2009): Sack, dissenting in part from the majority opinion en banc, wrote that a Bivens remedy should have been available to a dual Canadian-Syrian citizen who was detained by federal officials at John F. Kennedy airport, repeatedly denied access to a lawyer, and subsequently removed to Syria to be interrogated under torture by Syrian authorities for ten months.

Blanch v. Koons, 467 F.3d 244 (2d Cir. 2006): Sack, writing for the panel, affirmed the district court's decision that artist Jeff Koons was protected by the doctrine of fair use, and therefore not liable for copyright infringement, when he incorporated a photographer's copyrighted photo of a woman's feet and lower legs into a larger collage painting, even though Koons had benefited commercially from the work.

Other activities, writings, and awards

Sack has written and lectured on the subjects of national and international press law. In 1980, he published his book entitled Sack On Defamation: Libel, Slander, and Related Problems, now in its 5th edition (2017), which provides guidance and insight into defamation claims and more broadly, communications law. Sack has also specialized in First Amendment law, offering courses as an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School and publishing law review articles about press-law topics. Sack has served as an officer and director of the William F. Kerby and Robert S. Potter Fund, which assisted in funding the legal defense of journalists abroad.

Selected Publications

• Sack on Defamation: Libel, Slander and Related Problems (5th ed. 2017) (updated annually)

• New York Times Co. v. Sullivan — 50-Year Afterwords, 66 Ala. L. Rev. 273 (2014)

• "Protection of Opinion Under the First Amendment: Reflections on Alfred Hill, 'Defamation and Privacy Under the First Amendment,'" 100 Colum. L. Rev. 294 (2000)

• Advertising and Commercial Speech: A First Amendment Guide (1999) (co-author)

• "Hearing Myself Think: Some Thoughts on Legal Prose," 4 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing 93 (1993)

• "Reflections on the Wrong Question: Special Constitutional Privilege for the Institutional Press," 7 Hofstra L. Rev. 629 (1979)

Awards and honors

In May 2008, Judge Sack was awarded the Learned Hand Medal for excellence in federal jurisprudence by the Federal Bar Council.

Personal Life

In 1989, he married lawyer Anne K. Hilker. He has three children.

See also

• List of Jewish American jurists
• List of federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton

External links

• Dell7488/sandbox at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Appearances on C-SPAN