David Schoenbrod

Trustee Professor of Law, Emeritus

Contact Information
T 212.431.2339
E david.schoenbrod@nyls.edu

Education
Yale, LL.B. 1968; B.A. 1963 magna cum laude; Oxford, B. Phil., 1965, Marshall Scholar

Profile

A pioneer in the field of environmental law, David Schoenbrod was at the forefront of environmental justice, taking on big business. Now, his concern has turned to Congress evading accountability to voters.

Professor Schoenbrod’s most recent book, DC Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington, shows how politicians from both parties take credit for popular promises, but avoid blame for unpopular consequences and points the way to stopping the trickery. He also frequently contributes to the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other newspapers and periodicals.

Professor Schoenbrod is a co-leader for Breaking the Logjam: An Environmental Law for the 21st Century project, along with New York University (NYU) professors Richard Stewart and Katrina Wyman. The project is a joint undertaking of NYLS, NYU School of Law, and NYU’s Environmental Law Journal.

Professor Schoenbrod began in law practice as Director of Program Development at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. He then was a staff attorney for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Committee on Electric Power and the Environment before heading to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) where he led the charge to get lead out of gasoline, helping to dramatically reduce the amount of the brain-damaging contaminant in the air. At the NRDC, Professor Schoenbrod also served as Co-Director of the Council’s Project on Urban Transportation with Professor Ross Sandler. They co-authored A New Direction in Transit, a plan to renovate the city’s subway system that was endorsed by all the city’s major newspaper editorial boards and ultimately adopted by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Professor Schoenbrod’s widely-praised 1993 book, Power Without Responsibility: How Congress Abuses the People Through Delegation, was the genesis for legislation in Congress and litigation that went to the Supreme Court. Also widely-praised is a second book, Democracy by Decree: What Happens When Courts Run Government, written together with Professor Ross Sandler. The Supreme Court cited it in adopting the book’s most important recommendation.

Professor Schoenbrod’s academic career includes former positions at Yale Law School and NYU School of Law. He is a member of the Board of Advisors for the New Civil Liberties Alliance, a member of the Advisory Council for the C. Boyden Gray Center of George Mason University, and a member of the American Law Institute, the Federalist Society, and the Heterodox Academy.

As a member of the American Tree Farm Association, Professor Schoenbrod has managed a woods at his country home in the Adirondacks.

Publications

Visit Professor Schoenbrod’s SSRN Author Page.

Visit Professor Schoenbrod's Digital Commons Page.

Books

D.C. Confidential: Inside the Five Tricks of Washington, with forewords by Governor Howard Dean and Senator Mike Lee (Encounter Books, 2017)

Breaking the Logjam: Environmental Protection That Will Work, co-authored with R.B. Stewart and K.M. Wyman (Yale University Press, 2010)

Remedies: Public and Private, Fourth Edition, co-authored with A. Macbeth, D. Levine, D. Jung (West Publishing Co., 2006)

Saving Our Environment from Washington: How Congress Grabs Power, Shirks Responsibility, and Shortchanges the People (Yale University Press, 2005)

Democracy by Decree: What Happens When Courts Run Government, co-authored with R. Sandler (Yale University Press, 2003)

Remedies: Public and Private, Third Edition, co-authored with A. Macbeth, D. Levine, D. Jung (West Publishing Co., 2002)

Remedies: Public and Private, Second Edition, co-authored with A. Macbeth, D. Levine, D. Jung (West Publishing Co., 1996)

Power Without Responsibility: How Congress Abuses the People Through Delegation (Yale University Press, 1993)

Remedies: Public and Private, First Edition, co-authored with A. Macbeth, D. Levine, D. Jung (West Publishing Co., 1990)

Book Chapters

“Protecting the Environment in the Spirit of the Common Law,” in The Common Law and the Environment: Rethinking the Statutory Basis for Modern Environmental Law (Rowman & Littlefield, 1999)

“Why States, Not EPA, Should Set Pollution Standards,” in Environmental Federalism (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997)

“Why Regulation of Lead has Failed,” in Low Level Lead Exposure: The Clinical Implications of Current Research (Raven Press, 1980)

Articles

“Consent of the Governed: A Constitutional Norm That the Court Should Substantially Enforce,” 43 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 213 (2020)

“Make Democracy Real Again,” The Hill (2019)

“From Chevron to ‘Consent of the Governed,” Regulation (2018–19)

“Let’s Make Congress More Accountable,” City Journal (2018)

“Cuts in Social Security and Medicare are inevitable. Delaying reform will make it worse,” co-authored with B. Riedl, USA Today (2018)

“Which Came First, the President or the Lie?” Inside Sources (2018)

“LegBranch Conversations: An Interview With David Schoenbrod,” Legbranch.com (2018)

“Trump Will Perpetuate Bailouts by Signing Bank Reform Bill,” The Hill (2018)

“Holding Congress Accountable: A New Deal-era Proposal Would Produce More Effective, Less Burdensome Regulation,” co-authored with R. Sandler, The Regulatory Review (2018)

“Wanted: Lawmakers Who Shoulder Responsibility,” The Hill (2018)

“An Antidote for Our Poisoned Politics,” The Hill (2018)

“How to Salvage Article I: The Crumbling Foundation of Our Republic,” 40 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 663 (2017)

“How to Put the Representation Back Into Taxation,” The Hill (2017)

“Like Russia, Congress Pits Americans Against Each Other,” The Hill (2017)

“Populism Is Powerful Because Washington Deserves a Kick in the Pants,” co-authored with H. Dean, USA Today (2017)

“Congress Created a Regulatory Scheme That Keeps Its Hands Clean — Time for accountability,” The Hill (2017)

“Only Congress Can Undo Its Regulatory Mess,” Wall Street Journal (2017)

“Trump’s Cynical Infrastructure Plan,” New York Daily News (2017)

“The Root of the Healthcare Mess,” Investor’s Business Daily Politics (2017)

“Washington’s War Against the People,” The Daily Caller (2017)

“The Mass Murder of America’s Trees Must Stop,” New York Observer (2016)

“American Voters Deserve Credit for Civil-Rights Victories, Too” National Journal Online – The Next America (2014)

“A Small Step (Cough) for Clean Air,“ The Hill (2014)

“The Overwhelming Case for Clean Air Act Reform,” co-authored with B. Pedersen, 43 Environmental Law Reporter News and Analysis 10969–10972 (2013)

“We Need Truth in Spending” Huffington Post (2013)

“Responsibility for War a la Carte,” Huffington Post (2013)

“Statutory Arteriosclerosis,” co-authored with M. Witte, 28 Environmental Forum 24 (2011)

“Rescuing the Clean Air Act from Old Age,” co-authored with M. Witte, The American (2011)

“Budget Policy Talk in the Dark,” co-authored with J. Gokhale, Politico (2011)

“REINS Would Improve Environmental Protections,” Inside EPA (2011)

“The EPA’s Faustian Bargain,” 29(3) Regulation 36-42 (2006)

“Toxic Regulation,” 16 City Journal 74–81 (2006)

“Appellate Div. Sends Message to Court of Appeals in CFE Case,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 12 CityLaw 49–52 (2006)

“The Lawsuit that Sank New Orleans,” The Wall Street Journal, pg. A18 (2005)

Book Review of Passing the Buck: Congress, the Budget, and Deficits by Jasmine Farrier,” 120 Political Science Quarterly (2005)

“CFE Ruling Does Not Bind Legislature, Policy Briefing No. 2, Empire Center for New York State Policy,” Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (2005)

“DeGrasse’s New Clothes,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Post, pg. 28 (2005)

“The Supreme Court, Democracy and Institutional Reform Litigation,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 49 New York Law School Law Review 915-942 (2004–05)

“What Happened to the Skeptical Environmentalist,” co-authored with C. Wilson, 46 New York Law School Law Review 211–244 (2002–03)

“Politics and the Principle that Elected Legislators Should Make the Laws,” 26 Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 239–280 (2003)

“Governance by Lawyers,” co-authored with R. Sandler, National Law Journal, pg. A12 (2003)

“N.Y. Unbound,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Post (2003)

“New York in Handcuffs,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Post, (2003)

“Schools in Handcuffs: How Courts (Mis)rule N.Y.C.,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Post (2003)

“Some Thoughts on Reparations,” 7 The BLSA News Journal 4 (2003)

Essay in Eight Blocks Away: Memoirs of September 11, 2001 at 78–79 (New York Law School, 2002)

“Fishing for Cancer,” 114(4) Commentary 44–48 (2002)

“The Maumauing of Bjorn Lomborg,” Commentary 51 (2002)

“Smoke Signals: The Supreme Court Struck the Proper Balance by Upholding Congress’ Right to Legislate While Reaffirming Its Duty Not to Delegate,” co-authored with M. Hamilton, Legal Times, pg. 70 (2001)

“Victory in Disguise: Industry Wins One in the Form of Supreme Court Ruling for Non-Delegation Rule,” co-authored with M. Hamilton, Fulton County Daily Report, pg. 9 (2001)

“After the Court’s Ruling – What’s Next for Schools,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 7 CityLaw 1, 2–4 (2001)

“246 Glorious Cheeses or the Impact of Environmental Regulation on Small and Emerging Business,” 5 Journal of Small & Emerging Business Law 91–111 (2001)

“The Reaffirmation of Proportionality Analysis Under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment,” co-authored with M. Hamilton, 21 Cardozo Law Review 469–492 (1999)

“Delegation and Democracy: A Reply to My Critics,” 20 Cardozo Law Review 731–766 (1999)

“Remarks to the Board of Trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council,” 20 Cardozo Law Review 767–773 (1999)

“Putting the ‘Law’ Back into Environmental Law,” 22(1) Regulation 17–23 (1999)

“Clean Air, Congress and the Constitution: Why Delegation Ruling Was Correct,” On Point, No. 38, (1999)

“Environmental Controls Should Be Turned Over to the States,” USA Today Magazine, pg. 74 (1999)

“Innovative Agreement Ends Marisol Litigation,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 5 CityLaw 1, 3–5 (1999)

“By What Right Do Judges Run Prisons?” co-authored with R. Sandler, Wall Street Journal, pg. A19 (1998)

“The Yellow Brick Beltway,” Wall Street Journal, pg. A10 (1998)

“Congress Passes the Buck–Your Tax Buck,” co-authored with M.A. Hamilton, Wall Street Journal, pg. A10 (1998)

“In New York City, The Jails Still Belong to the Judges,” co-authored with R. Sandler, Wall Street Journal, pg. A23 (1997)

“The Constitution and the Line-Item Veto,” co-authored with M.A. Hamilton, Wall Street Journal, pg. A15 (1997)

“The State Regulators Have Had Enough of the EPA,” Wall Street Journal, pg. A22 (1997)

“The Delegation of Legislative Powers,” Cato Handbook for Congress: 105th Congress (1997)

“How To Put Lawmakers, Not Courts, Back in Charge,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 6 City Journal 61–67 (1996)

“Why States, Not EPA, Should Set Pollution Standards,” 19(4) Regulation 18–25 (1996)

“Putting the Classroom into Practice and Practice into the Classroom,” 14 In Brief 12 (1996)

“Soundings: ‘Prison Break,’” co-authored with R. Sandler, 6 City Journal 13 (1996)

“It’s Time Congress Took Back Its Power to Make Laws,” Wall Street Journal, pg. A21 (1995)

“Slaving Away, Pro Bono: Why Should Law Students Do the Bar’s Labor?” co-authored with A. Seward, Legal Times, pg. 24 (1995)

“On Environmental Law, Congress Keeps Passing the Buck,” Wall Street Journal, pg. A13 (1995)

“Environmental ‘Injustice’ is About Politics, Not Racism,” Wall Street Journal, pg. A21 (1994)

“Overbroad Civil Forfeiture Statutes Are Unconstitutionally Vague,” co-authored with D. Duseau, 39 New York Law School Law Review 285–310 (1994)

“Clinton and the Politics of Pork,” Legal Times, pg. 24 (1994)

“Government by Decree,” co-authored with R. Sandler, 4 City Journal 54–62 (1994)

“Presidential Lawmaking Powers: Vetoes, Line Item Vetoes, Signing Statements, Executive Orders and Delegations of Rulemaking,” 68 Washington University Law Quarterly 533–560 (1990)

“Environmental Law and Growing Up,” 6 Yale Journal on Regulation 357–368 (1989)

“How the Reagan Administration Trivialized Separation of Powers (and Shot Itself in the Foot),” 57 George Washington Law Review 459–473 (1989)

“The Measure of an Injunction: A Principle to Replace Balancing the Equities and Tailoring the Remedy,” 72 Minnesota Law Review 627–695 (1988)

“Separation of Powers and the Powers That Be: The Constitutional Purposes of the Delegation Doctrine,” 36 American University Law Review 355–389 (1987)

“The Delegation Doctrine: Could the Court Give it Substance?” 83 Michigan Law Review 1223–1290 (1985)

“Subway Scofflaws: A Proposal to Improve Enforcement,” co-authored with S. Reiss and R. Sandler, 8(3) New York Affairs 61 (1984)

“Take Subway Scofflaws Out of the Criminal Courts,” co-authored with S. Reiss and R. Sandler, Empire State Report, pg. 45 (1984)

“Congress Must Spell Out Where the Burden of Clean Air Falls,” Wall Street Journal, pg. 22 (1983)

“Limits and Dangers of Environmental Mediation: A Review Essay,” 58 New York University Law Review 1453–1476 (1983)

“Goals Statutes or Rules Statutes: The Case of the Clean Air Act,” 30 UCLA Law Review 740–828 (1983)

“Making Decisions About Transit,” 7(3) New York Affairs 5 (1982)

“Subways: Cash and Carey,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Times, pg. 15 (1979) (with R. Sandler).

“Tunnel Vision Too,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Times, pg. 18 (1978)

“Prison Reform: The Monitor’s First Report in the Nunez Case,” co-authored with R. Sandler 22 CityLaw 73 (1976)

“New York as a Cough-In,” co-authored with R. Sandler, New York Times, pg. 33 (1975)

“Electricity or the Environment: A Study of Public Regulation without Public Control,” co-authored with C.P. Case, 61 California Law Review 961–1010 (1973)

“Statement of David Schoenbrod, Joined by F.A.O. Schwartz, Jr. and Jean Silver, with Concurrence of Fritz Alexander, II,” Decentralizing City Government, Walter Farr et al., (Praeger 1972)

“Large Lot Zoning,” 78 Yale Law Journal 1418–1441 (1969)

“Jurisdictional Fetter on the FTC,” 76 Yale Law Journal 1688–1700 (1967)

“U.S. Steel Imports,” 56 American Economic Review 156 (1966)

Editing

“The Hudson River Power Plant Settlement: Materials Prepared for a Conference Sponsored by New York University School of Law and the Natural Resources Defense Council,” co-edited with R. Sandler, New York University School of Law, (1981)

Other Writing

“An Elegant but Incomplete Analysis of Delegation,” Book Review of Delegating Powers: A Transaction Cost Politics Approach to Policy Making Under Separate Powers by David Epstein and Sharyn O’Halloran, 22(4) Regulation 64-67 (1999)

“Time for the Federal Environmental Aristocracy to Give Up Power (Policy Study Number 144)” Center for the Study of American Business (1998)

“Brief Amicus Curiae for Appellees, Clinton v. City of New York,” co-authored with M.A. Hamilton, United States, No. 97–1374 (1998)

“The Common Law Approach to Pollution Prevent,” A Roundtable Discussion, Center for Private Conservation (1998)

“Time for the Federal Environmental Aristocracy to Give Up Power,” Center for the Study of American Business, Washington University, Policy Study No. 144, (1998)

“Brief Amicus Curiae for Appellees, Raines v. Byrd,” co-authored with M.A. Hamilton, United States (No. 96–1671) (1997)

“Subway Scofflaws: A Proposal to Improve Enforcement Against Farebeating and Other Minor Offenses,” co-authored with R. Sandler, Natural Resources Defense Council (1983)

A New Direction in Transit, co-authored with R. Chudd and R. Sandler, New York City Department of Planning (1978)

“Recommendations Toward a Sound Lead Criteria Document,” co-authored with T. Henderson and L. Slesin, Natural Resources Defense Council (1977)

“Reducing Crime in the New York City Subway System: Nine Recommendations,” co-authored with R. Sandler, E.A. Goldstein, S. Jurow, and F. Harris, Natural Resources Defense Council (1977)

“Electricity and the Environment: A Report of the Special Committee on Electric Power and the Environment,” Co-Author, Association of the Bar of the City of New York (West Publishing, 1972)

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