# Joseph Sax

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{{short description|American lawyer (1936–2014)}}
{{infobox person
|name=Joseph Sax
|birth_name=Joseph Lawrence Sax
|birth_date={{birth date|1936|2|3}}
|birth_place=[Chicago](/source/Chicago), [Illinois](/source/Illinois), U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|2014|3|9|1936|2|3}}
|education=[Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University)<br>[University of Chicago Law School](/source/University_of_Chicago_Law_School) ([JD](/source/Juris_Doctor))
|occupation={{flatlist|
*Lawyer
*environmental law professor
}}
|known_for=Developing the [public trust doctrine](/source/public_trust_doctrine)
|awards=[Blue Planet Prize](/source/Blue_Planet_Prize) (2007)
}}
'''Joseph Lawrence Sax''' (February 3, 1936 – March 9, 2014) was an American environmental law professor, known for developing the [public trust doctrine](/source/public_trust_doctrine).<ref name="nytobit">Douglas Martin, [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/us/joseph-l-sax-who-pioneered-legal-protections-for-natural-resources-dies-at-78.html "Joseph Sax, Who Pioneered Environmental Law, Dies at 78"] (obituary), ''[New York Times](/source/New_York_Times)'', March 10, 2014.</ref>

Born and raised in Chicago, Sax graduated from [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) in 1957 and then earned a J.D. degree in 1959<ref name="berkeley-profile" /> from the [University of Chicago Law School](/source/University_of_Chicago_Law_School).<ref name="nytobit" />  After a few years in private practice and at the Department of Justice he began teaching, first with the University of Colorado in 1962 and then at the University of Michigan in 1965.<ref name="nytobit" />  He joined the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1986.<ref name="berkeley-profile">[http://www.law.berkeley.edu/php-programs/faculty/facultyProfile.php?facID=141 Joseph L. Sax]  (faculty profile), Berkeley Law (last visited March 11, 2014).</ref>

From 1994 to 1996, Sax worked with the [Clinton Administration](/source/Clinton_Administration) under Interior Secretary [Bruce Babbitt](/source/Bruce_Babbitt).<ref name="berkeley-profile" />

Sax was involved in environmental and conservation law from early in his career, working with the [Sierra Club](/source/Sierra_Club) in Colorado.<ref name="nytobit" /> drafting Michigan's environmental law<ref name="nytobit" /> (known as the "Sax Act")<ref>"Boalt Mourns Loss of Joseph Sax and Henry Ramsey, Jr. '63", Boalt Hall eNews, April 2014.</ref> and working on a variety of water resource cases in California.<ref>[Dan Farber](/source/Dan_Farber), [http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/Berkeley-Law-environmental-law-3361107.php "Berkeley Law: Environmental Law"], ''[SFGate](/source/SFGate)'', Feb. 26, 2012.</ref>

==Works==
; Books
* ''Playing Darts With a Rembrandt: Public and Private Rights to Cultural Treasures'' (1999)
* ''Mountains Without Handrails''
* ''Water Law--Planning and Policy''
* ''Water Law--Cases and Commentary''
* ''Defending the Environment''

; Scholarly articles
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121013004606/http://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/PA395-CMN-ASSTS/articles/sax.pdf "The Public Trust Doctrine in Natural Resource Law: Effective Judicial Intervention"], 68 ''[Michigan Law Review](/source/Michigan_Law_Review)'' 471 (1970)

== Awards ==
* [Blue Planet Prize](/source/Blue_Planet_Prize) - 2007, from the Asahi Glass Foundation ("likened to a Nobel for environmental science"<ref name="nytobit" />)
* [American Academy of Arts and Sciences](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Sciences), fellow<ref name="berkeley-profile" />
* Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award, University of Michigan<ref name="berkeley-profile" />
* Elizabeth Haub Environmental Prize of the Free University of Brussels<ref name="berkeley-profile" />
* [Audubon Society](/source/Audubon_Society)'s Conservationist of the Year Award<ref name="berkeley-profile" />
* [William O. Douglas](/source/William_O._Douglas) Legal Achievement Award from the Sierra Club<ref name="berkeley-profile" />
* Environmental Quality Award of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<ref name="berkeley-profile" />

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sax, Joseph}}
Category:1936 births
Category:2014 deaths
Category:American legal scholars
Category:American environmental lawyers
Category:Harvard University alumni
Category:University of Chicago Law School alumni
Category:University of Colorado Law School faculty
Category:University of Michigan faculty
Category:UC Berkeley School of Law faculty
Category:Lawyers from Chicago
Category:20th-century American lawyers

{{US-legal-academic-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Sax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sax) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sax?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.