Gerald Caplan
Professor of Law
B.A., M.A., J.D., Northwestern University
E-mail Professor Caplan
Tel: 916.739.7251
In 2001, Gerald Caplan completed his ninth year as dean of Pacific McGeorge and rejoined the law school faculty. Before serving as dean, he enjoyed a distinguished legal career in public administration. He served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, general counsel for the Metropolitan Police of the District of Columbia in the early 1970s and, from 1973-1977, was the director of the National Institute of Justice of the U.S. Department of Justice. While a law professor at George Washington University, Professor Caplan was retained by the Department of Justice to review the use of deadly force by the Los Angeles Police Department. Subsequently, he headed an independent commission that critiqued the Philadelphia Police Department following the MOVE bombing and row-house fire. He has also served as interim president of the Legal Services Corporation (1982) and Deputy Director of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau (1991-92). Professor Caplan's essay on Justice Holmes has been widely praised.
Courses: Contracts | Criminal Law
Curriculum Vitae:
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:
1991-1992
Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, D. C. (while on sabbatical leave)
1977-1992
Professor of Law, National Law Center George Washington University
1986-1987 Director, Philadelphia Police Performance Study Commission (Chaired by Dean Robert McKay, New York University Law School)
1982 Acting President, Legal Services Corporation (staff complement of 200; annual budget of $240 million)
1973-1977 Director, National Institute of Justice U.S. Department of Justice (staff complement of 100; annual budget $40 million)
1971-1973 Professor of Law, Arizona State University
1970-1971 General Counsel, Washington, D. C. Police Department
1969 Senior Researcher, Urban Institute, Washington, D.C.
1968-1969 General Counsel, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration US Department of Justice
1968 Executive Assistant, Director of Public Safety District of Columbia
1967 Staff, White House Task Force on Crime
1967 Chief, Planning and Research, Legal Services Program Office of Economic Opportunity
1965-1967 Staff, President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
1964-1965 Assistant US Attorney, District of Columbia
EDUCATION:
Undergraduate: Northwestern University, B.A. (1959)
Graduate:
Northwestern University, M.A., Political Science (1960)
Northwestern University, JD (1963)
(Honors: Order of the Coif; Note & Comment Editor, Law Review; Hardy Scholar; Lowden-Wigmore Moot Court Prize)
Yale University, Political Science Dept.
(1963-1964); Falk Fellowship
Senior Guggenheim Fellow, Yale Law School
(Spring semester, 1984)
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & ACTIVITIES:
Admitted Illinois, Florida, and DC Bars
Member, Criminal Justice Council, American Bar Association (1972-1976)
Director, Law Enforcement Rulemaking Project (Ford Foundation Funded) (1972-1974)
Member, Police Chief Search Committee, Prince George's County (1978)
Vice-Chair, American Bar Association Task Force on Crime (1981-1985)
Board of Trustees, Vera Institute of Justice (1979-1987)
US Department of Justice consultant to evaluate police shootings in Los Angeles County (1979-1980)
USIA consultant on corrections policies, Argentina (March, 1980)
Reporter, Criminal Justice Mental Health Standards, American Bar Association (1981-1983)
George Washington University: Chair, Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee (1986-1987); Member, Admissions Committee (1980-1987, 1989-1990); Chair, Clinical Committee (1988); AALS Representative (1988); Vice-Chair, Dean Search Committee (1987-1988); Member, Promotion and Tenure Committee (1989-1990); Chair, Peer Review Committee (1990)
American Association of Law Schools: Chair, Governmental Relations Committee (1988-1989)
Reporter, Standards for Issuance of Search Warrants, American Bar Association (1988-1990)
Member, US Court of Appeals Merit Screening Committee to Select DC Federal Public Defender (1989-1990)
Member, Board of Directors, Council for Court Excellence, Washington, DC (1991-1996)
Member, Advisory Committee, ABA Special Committee on the Drug Crisis (1991-1992)
Advisor, Judicial Subcommittee, Albanian Parliamentary Constitutional Drafting Commission, sponsored by American Bar Association & US Information Agency (1991)
University of the Pacific: Member, Provost Search Committee, 1993-1994; Member Presidential Search Committee, 1995; Vice-Chair, Provost Search Committee, 1995; Chair, Search Committee for UOP Vice President for Finance, 1996-1997; Chair, University Handbook Committee, 1996-1998); Member, Presidential Commission on Student Life (1997-1998); Chair, Search Committee for Associate Provost (Chief Information Officer) (1998)
Member, Sacramento Police Department Advisory Committee (1995-1997)
Member, Board of Directors, Safe Streets, Inc. (1996-1998)
Chair, Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Animal Care at the Sacramento Zoo, appointed by City Manager (1996)
Member, Advisory Board, Friends Outside (1996- )
Member, Advisory Board, Salvation Army (1996-1998)
Member, Access to Justice Working Group, California State Bar Association (Chaired by Justice Earl Johnson, Jr.) (1994-1996)
Chair, Blue Ribbon Committee to Evaluate Selected Police Policies and Practices, City of Sacramento, appointed by City Manager (1998)
Chair, Reginald Heber Legal Services Book Award Committee, National Equal Justice Library (1998-1999)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Freedom from Political Association, 56 NORTHWESTERN UNIV. LAW REVIEW 777 (1962)
The Making of "Natural Justice" in British Africa, 13 JOURNAL OF PUBLIC LAW 120 (1964)
Book Review: LaFave, Arrest, 80 HARVARD LAW. REVIEW 484 (1966-1967)
The Police Legal Advisor, JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE (1967), reprinted by the US Department of Justice
"Career Inhibiting Factors: Problems of the Public Prosecutor and Defender," in The Politics of Local Justice, ed. by Klonoski and Mendelsohn (1970)
The Case for Rulemaking by Law Enforcement Agencies, 36 LAW & CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS 500 (1971)
Reflections on the Nationalization of Crime, 3 LAW & THE SOCIAL ORDER 583 (1973)
"Discipline," in Police Personnel Administration, ed. by Stahl and Stauffenberger (1974) (Co-author)
Criminology, Criminal Justice and the War on Crime, 14 CRIMINOLOGY 3 (1976)
Book Review: Kamisar, Police Interrogation and Confessions, NATIONAL LAW JOURNAL p. 33 (Sept. 22, 1980)
Editor, ABSCAM Ethics: The Moral Issues and Uses of Deception in Law Enforcement (Ballinger: 1983)
Understanding the Controversy Over the Legal Services Corporation, 28 N.Y. LAW REVIEW 583 (1983)
The Facts of Life About Teenage Prostitution, 30 CRIME & DELINQUENCY 69 (Jan., 1984)
Miranda Revisited, (Review Essay), 93 YALE LAW JOURNAL 1375 (1984)
Questioning Miranda, 38 VANDERBILT LAW REVIEW 1417-76 (1985) reprinted in Wasserstrom & Snyder, A CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ANTHOLOGY 268 (1996)
Model Procedures for Police Interrogation 27 pp. Police Executive Research Forum 1987) (Adopted by numerous law enforcement agencies)
Philadelphia and Its Police: Toward a New Partnership (195 pages) (1987) (Editor and Co-author)
Book Review: Miller & Bowman, Death by Installments, 57 GEORGE WASHINGTON LAW REVIEW 1643 (1989)
The Ethics of the "Unprofessional Profession" (Review Essay), 88 MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW 1698 (1990)
Guidelines: Issuance of Search Warrants (82 pages) (American Bar Assn., 1990) (Reporter)
Fostering Integrity, LOCAL GOVERNMENT POLICE MANAGEMENT (3d Ed. 1991) pp. 239-71. (Co-Author, Patrick Murphy)
Criminal Justice in the Lower Courts: A Study in Continuity, (Review Essay) 89 MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW 1694 (1991)
CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY:
Subcommittee on Domestic & International Scientific Planning & Analysis of the Committee on Science and Technology, House of Representatives (April 1, 1975; May, 1977)
Subcommittee on Crime, House Judiciary Committee (April 1, 1976)
New Directions for Federal Involvement in Crime Control, Workshop sponsored by Subcommittee on Crime, Judiciary Committee, House of Representatives (Dec. 1, 1976)
Subcommittee on Crime, Judiciary Committee, House of Representatives (March 10, 1983)
House Subcommittee on Energy and Power on the Octane Display and Disclosure Act of 1991 (June, 1991)
OPINION-EDITORIALS:
"The Case for a National Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics," THE CRIMINOLOGIST (March, 1977)
"Why Government Alone Can't End the Crime Wave," US NEWS & WORLD REPORT (April 11, 1977)
"Whatever Happened to the Crime 'Issue'?" THE WASHINGTON POST (Nov. 25, 1980)
"Policing Prostitution," THE WASHINGTON POST (March 18, 1981)
"Sweet Riddance for a Sour Agency," LOS ANGELES TIMES (March 31, 1981)
"ABSCAM Wasn't Worth It," THE WASHINGTON POST (May 5, 1981)
"Another Crime Report," NEW YORK TIMES (June 15, 1981)
"More Drugs, Less Crime," THE WASHINGTON POST (June 18, 1981)
"Myths About the Hooker-Pimp Relationship," THE WASHINGTON POST (September 13, 1981)
"The British Riots: An American View," LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH (1982)
"Should Reagan Kill Legal Services?" WALL STREET JOURNAL (Dec. 9, 1982)
"Justices Shouldn't Take Each Fall So Hard," WALL STREET JOURNAL (October 2, 1984)
"Confession Can Be Good for the Soul -- and Community," LOS ANGELES TIMES (February 20, 1987)
"Must We Report Drug Users?" LOS ANGELES TIMES (May 1, 1987)
"To Heat Up Drug War, Turn Down the Rhetoric," LOS ANGELES TIMES (April 10, 1989)
"Grappling With A Sport That Thrives on Fakery," LOS ANGELES TIMES (May 17, 1989)
CONSULTANT:
Department of Justice (1973)
Ford Foundation (1977-1979)
German Marshall Fund (1977)
Department of Agriculture (1978)
Police Foundation (1977-1978, 1981, 1983-1984)
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (1979-1981, 1984)
National Broadcasting Company (1980)
President's Commission on Organized Crime (1984-1986)
National Institute of Justice (1985, 1989)
Police Executive Research Forum (1986)
Montgomery County Public Defender (1988)
Philadelphia City Solicitor (1989)
American Bar Association (1991)
City of Sacramento (1996)
