Frank Pommersheim

Frank Pommersheim
Born 12 December 1943
Queens, New York, US
Nationality United States
Fields American Indian Law
Alma mater Columbia Law School
Harvard University
Colgate University[1]
Known for The Camden 28

Frank Pommersheim is an American professor, author, and poet specializing in the field of American Indian law. Pommersheim is serving on several tribal appellate courts and serves as the Chief Justice for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals and the Rosebud Sioux Supreme Court[2] and is also notable for his involvement in The Camden 28.[3][4]

Early life and education

Frank Pommersheim was born in New York City but moved to the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in 1974 where he worked for 10 years before joining the University of South Dakota faculty in 1984.[1] Pommersheim graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University. He earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School in 1968 and a MPA from Harvard University.

Pommersheim was employed as the Director of Dakota Plains Legal Service from 1980-1983. As a Senior Consumer Law Specialist for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs from 1971-1973 and as an Attorney and Volunteer Leader for the VISTA program in Alaska from 1968-1970.[1]

Career

Frank Pommersheim began teaching at the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1984 where he is currently a professor specializing in American Indian law.[5] Pommersheim has also taught at the Lewis and Clark College of Law, Tulsa University. College of Law in Dublin, Ireland, Sinte Gleska University, and the University of New Mexico.

Pommersheim serves on tribal appellate courts and is currently the Chief Justice for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court of Appeals as well as Associate Justice for the Rosebud Sioux Supreme Court.[1]

Awards

University of South Dakota Belbas‐Larson Award for Excellence in Teaching,[6] South Dakota Peace and Justice Center Reconciliation Award, and the John Wesley Jackson Award as the Outstanding Professor of Law.[7]

Involvement in the Camden 28

FBI surveillance photo of three of the Camden 28 lurking outside the draft board offices in the morning hours of August 22, 1971.

The Camden 28 were an eclectic group of anti-Vietnam War activists. The group included young students, blue-collar workers, four Catholic priests and a Protestant minister. In 1971 they planned and executed a The Camden 28 raided a Camden, New Jersey draft board and destroyed records containing Class 1-A status draft registrants.[8] Pommersheim, who was appropriately 28 at the time, was a member of this group's anti-Vietnam War activists. The group faced felony charges for their actions, but subsequently were acquitted by a jury in 1973. The high-profile trial against the activists that was seen by many as a referendum on the Vietnam War and as an example of successful use of jury nullification.[9] In 2007, PBS produced The Camden 28 (film) a documentary on the event and the events surrounding it.

Personal life

Frank married a fellow member of the Camden 28, Anne Dunham. The couple left the East coast and lived and worked on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota for 10 years. Anne and Frank later moved to Vermillion, South Dakota. They have three children.[10]

Books

Poetry

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Frank Pommersheim Bio". University of South Dakota School of Law. Retrieved 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  2. Richland, Justin B. (Sep 15, 2008). Arguing with Tradition: The Language of Law in Hopi Tribal Court. University of Chicago Press. p. 13.
  3. Giacchino, Anthony. ""The Camden 28". POV Documentaries with a Point of View". Public Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. McGowan, Edward (2001). Peace warriors : the story of the Camden 28. Nyack, N.Y.: Circumstantial Productions Pub. ISBN 1891592130.
  5. Aylward, Casey. "Talk focuses on Indian relations". http://thedartmouth.com/. The Dartmouth (Newspaper). Retrieved 27 June 2014. External link in |website= (help)
  6. "Belbas-Larson Awards". University of South Dakota. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  7. Johnson, Brendan. "Indian Country" (PDF). The State Bar of South Dakota and The Committee on Continuing Legal Education. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  8. "The Camden 28". TheCamden28.org. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  9. A Scheflin, J Van Dyke (1979), Jury nullification: The contours of a controversy, Law & Contemp. Probs.
  10. "Conversations with Frank Pommersheim". South Dakota Public Television. 1990. Retrieved 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  11. Elkins, James R. "Strangers to Us All". Lawyers and Poetry. Retrieved 2013. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

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