Goldstein, Abraham S. 1925–2005

(Abraham Samuel Goldstein)

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born July 27, 1925, in New York, NY; died of heart failure, August 20, 2005, in Woodbridge, CT. Lawyer, educator, dean, and author. Goldstein was Sterling Professor of Law and a former dean at Yale University. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in demolitions, the military police, and finally intelligence, he attended City College. He earned an economics degree in 1946, and then enrolled at Yale to complete a law degree in 1949. After graduating, he worked as a law clerk for two years and then was a partner for the firm Donohue & Kaufman in Washington, DC. Returning to Yale, he joined the faculty in 1956 and five years later was promoted to professor of law. Goldstein served as dean of the school from 1970 to 1975, and in 1978 was named provost. However, he resigned from the latter post amid allegations that he had spent too much money renovating the university-owned provost's house. He continued to teach at Yale, however, as Sterling Professor, going into semi-retirement in the spring of 2005. Goldstein gained a reputation as a scholar who argued persuasively on such topics as plea bargaining, judicial authority, and the insanity plea. He was the author of several books, including The Insanity Defense (1967) and The Passive Judiciary: Prosecutional Discretion and the Guilty Plea (1981).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005, p. B11.

New York Times, August 24, 2005, p. C16.

Washington Post, August 24, 2005, p. B5.