Distinguished professor of law, Robert E. Knowlton Scholar; and director of the Constitutional Rights Clinic (Constitutional Rights Clinic; civil procedure; election law; public interest advocacy)
Professor Askin entered Rutgers School of Law-Newark in September
1963 as a student -- after an earlier career as a journalist -- and has
been here ever since. He was appointed to the faculty upon his
graduation with highest honors in 1966. Admitted to the law school
without an undergraduate degree, he was awarded a B.A. from City College
of New York at the same time he received his J.D. from Rutgers.
In
1970, Professor Askin established the Constitutional Rights Clinic
as part of the law school's curriculum; he still is associated with the
clinic. Under his guidance, the clinic litigated the first police
surveillance cases in the nation; battled the FBI over the investigation
and maintenance of files on two precocious New Jersey high schoolers
who corresponded with "the wrong persons;" defended affirmative action
programs up to the U.S. Supreme Court; challenged the New Jersey State
Police for stopping and searching "long-haired travelers" on the state's
highways; argued for the right of the homeless to vote and to have
access to public library facilities; and protected the right of
grassroots advocacy groups to take their messages door-to-door and to
privately owned shopping malls.
Most recently, Professor Askin and his students have successfully
extended the free speech provisions of the New Jersey Constitution to
protect homeowners in privately-run residential communities (POAs, HOAs,
etc.), making New Jersey the first state to provide such protection
through litigation.
Frank Askin has been a member
of the National Board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) since 1969
and has been one of the ACLU's four general counsel since 1976. He is
also a member of the board of directors of Project Vote. In 1986, he was
the (unsuccessful) Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey's
11th District, covering parts of Essex and Morris Counties. Professor
Askin is one of the featured writers on the Star-Ledger's NJ Voices.com. His memoir, Defending Rights: A Life in Law and Politics, was published in 1997 by Humanities Press. He is listed in Woodward & White's Best Lawyers in America.
