Richard Epstein

Epstein was born on April 17, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. His grandparents were Ashkenazi Jews who immigrated to the United States from Russia and Austria in the early 20th century. Epstein's father, Bernard Epstein (1908{{ndash}}1978), was a radiologist, and his mother, Catherine Epstein (née Reiser; 1908{{ndash}}2004), managed his father's medical office.Frey (2009). He has two sisters. He attended elementary school at P.S.{{nbsp}}161, a school that is now one of the Success Academy Charter Schools.{{cite podcast |url=http://www.hoover.org/research/libertarian-education-libertarian |title=The Education of a Libertarian |website=The Libertarian Podcast |publisher=Hoover Institution |host=Troy Senik; Richard Epstein |date=July 29, 2015 |access-date=September 6, 2015 }} Epstein and his family lived in Brooklyn until 1954, when his father began working at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center and their family moved to Great Neck, Long Island.

Epstein attended Columbia University as an undergraduate in the early 1960s. He had wide-ranging academic interests and did not wish to select a single major, obtaining special permission from the university to pursue a self-selected program of study across sociology, philosophy, and mathematics. He graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, in 1964.{{Cite web|last=Hannemann|first=Benjamin|title=Richard A. Epstein|url=https://www.bradleyfdn.org/prizes/winners/richard-a.-epstein|access-date=2020-07-27|website=www.bradleyfdn.org|language=en}}

Epstein's undergraduate performance earned him a Kellett Fellowship, an award at Columbia that pays for two of each year's top graduates to spend two years in England studying at either Cambridge University or Oxford University; Epstein chose Oxford, where he studied jurisprudence at Oriel College. He received a B.A. with first-class honours in 1966, and then returned to the United States to attend Yale Law School. Because he had an English law degree, Epstein entered Yale as a transfer student with second-year standing. He graduated in 1968 with a LL.B., cum laude.

After graduating from law school, Epstein became an assistant professor at the Gould School of Law of the University of Southern California (USC). He taught at USC for four years before moving to the University of Chicago Law School in 1972. Epstein taught at Chicago for 38 years, eventually holding the title of James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law. Epstein formally retired from Chicago in 2010, but quickly came out of retirement to join the faculty of the New York University School of Law as its inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law. He remains a professor emeritus and senior lecturer at Chicago, occasionally teaching courses there. In 2013, NYU Law established a new academic research center, the Classical Liberal Institute, and named Epstein its inaugural director.{{cite web | author= | title =Classical Liberal Institute launched at conference on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac | url = http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/fannie-freddie-conference-cli | publisher = NYU School of Law | date = September 20, 2013 | access-date = July 12, 2015 }}

Since 2001, Epstein has served as the Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, a prominent American public policy think tank at Stanford University. He has served in many academic and public organizations and has received a number of awards. In 1983, he was made a senior fellow at the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Medical School, and, in 1985, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/epstein Richard A. Epstein], University of Chicago. He was editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991 to 2001. In 2003, Epstein received an honorary LL.D. degree from the University of Ghent, and in 2018 he received an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Siegen.{{Cite news|url=https://www.uni-siegen.de/start/news/oeffentlichkeit/824152.html|title=Universität Siegen zeichnet Richard A. Epstein aus|access-date=October 11, 2018|language=de}} In 2005, the College of William & Mary awarded him the Brigham–Kanner Property Rights Prize for his contributions to the field of property rights.{{cite web|title=Hoover Fellow Richard A. Epstein Honored With Brigham-Kanner Property Rights Prize From College of William and Mary Law School|url=http://www.hoover.org/press-releases/hoover-fellow-richard-epstein-honored-brigham-kanner-property-rights-prize-college|website=Hoover.org}} In 2011, he was awarded a Bradley Prize by the Bradley Foundation.{{Cite web |url=http://bradleyprizes.org/recipients/ |title=Recipients – The Bradley Prizes |access-date=February 26, 2015 |archive-date=February 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226160344/http://bradleyprizes.org/recipients/ |url-status=dead }}

Epstein became famous in the American legal community in 1985 with Harvard University Press's publication of his book Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain. In the book, Epstein argued that the "Takings Clause" of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution{{mdash}}which reads, "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation", and is traditionally viewed as a limit on the governmental power of eminent domain{{mdash}}gives constitutional protection to citizens' economic rights,{{sfnp|Ely|2006|p=421}} and so requires the government to be regarded the same as any other private entity in a property dispute. The argument was controversial and sparked a great deal of debate on the interpretation of the takings clause after the book's publication. During Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court Justice confirmation hearings in 1991, then-Senator Joe Biden, "in a dramatic movement", held the book up and "repeatedly interrogated" Thomas about his position on the book's thesis.{{sfnp|Ely|2006|p=421}} The book served as a focal point in the argument about the government's ability to control private property.{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/epsteintakings.html|title=News & Media | University of Chicago Law School|website=www.law.uchicago.edu}} It has also influenced how some courts view property rights{{cite news | title = Takings Exception | author = Steve Chapman | publisher = Reason | date = April 1995 | url = http://www.reason.com/news/show/29662.html | access-date = October 26, 2008 }} and been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court four times, including in the 1992 case Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council.

At the height of the HIV pandemic in 1988, Epstein argued that companies ought to be able to discriminate against "AIDS carriers" and that anti-discrimination laws were unfair to employers. In place of such laws, Epstein argued that "AIDS carriers" ought to have their health insurance premiums subsidized via taxation so as to "discipline the behavior of government and interests groups, here by requiring citizens to make choices about how much they individually are prepared to pay to subsidize AIDS carriers." Furthermore, he argued that "[t]here is no reason to suppose that any public benefit obtained from having employers and their insurers care for AIDS victims will be at some level that matches the additional costs that are imposed." Instead, Epstein proposed that employers have the right to refuse to hire suspected "AIDS carriers".{{Cite journal|last=Epstein|first=Dick|title=AIDS, Testing and the Workplace|url=https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=uclf|journal=University of Chicago Legal Forum|volume=1988|pages=33–56}}

Epstein is an advocate of minimal legal regulation. In his 1995 book Simple Rules for a Complex World, he consolidates much of his previous work and argues that simple rules work best because complexities create excessive costs. Complexity comes from attempting to do justice in individual cases. Complex rules are justifiable, however, if they can be opted out of. Drawing on Gary Becker, he argues that the Civil Rights Act and other anti-discrimination legislation ought to be repealed. Consistent with the principles of classical liberalism, he believes that the federal regulation on same-sex marriage, the Defense of Marriage Act, should be repealed,{{cite magazine | title = Judicial Offensive Against Defense Of Marriage Act | author =Richard A. Epstein | magazine = Forbes | date = July 12, 2010 | url = https://www.forbes.com/2010/07/12/gay-marriage-massachusetts-supreme-court-opinions-columnists-richard-a-epstein.html | access-date = September 6, 2010 }} stating:

: "Under our law, only the state may issue marriage licenses. That power carries with it a duty to serve all-comers on equal terms, which means that the state should not be able to pick and choose those on whom it bestows its favors. DOMA offends this principle in two ways. First, it excludes polygamous couples from receiving these marital benefits. Second, it excludes gay couples. Both groups contribute to the funds that support these various government programs. Both should share in its benefits."

Epstein has criticized the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges.{{cite news | title = Hard Questions On Same-Sex Marriage | author =Richard A. Epstein | publisher = Hoover Institution | date = June 29, 2015 | url = https://www.hoover.org/research/hard-questions-same-sex-marriage | access-date = January 3, 2018 }}{{cite magazine | title = Richard Epstein on Obergefell | author =Mark Joseph Stern | magazine = Slate | date = July 2, 2015 | url = http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/07/02/richard_epstein_on_obergefell_unintelligible_incomprehensible_and_embarrassing.html}} In 2007, he defended the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies against the cheaper, generic production of AIDS drugs, writing that "disregarding property rights in the name of human rights reduces human welfare around the globe".{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/540bec3c-fcbb-11db-9971-000b5df10621 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/540bec3c-fcbb-11db-9971-000b5df10621 |archive-date=December 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=AIDS drugs: Are property rights and human rights in conflict?|newspaper=Financial Times|date=May 15, 2007|author-first1=Richard A. |author-last1=Epstein}}

In 2014, Epstein argued against reparations for African Americans in a piece published on the Hoover Institution's website.{{Cite web|title=The Case Against Reparations for Slavery|url=https://www.hoover.org/research/case-against-reparations-slavery|access-date=2022-02-23|website=Hoover Institution|language=en}}

Contributing to the anthology Our American Story (2019), Epstein addressed the possibility of a shared American narrative. Taking a decidedly skeptical approach, Epstein concluded that no new national narrative can be achieved "unless we engage in what I call American minimalism—a conscious reduction of the issues that we think are truly best handled as a nation and not better address by smaller subnational groups: states, local governments, and, most importantly, all sorts of small private organizations that are free to choose as they please in setting their own membership and mission."{{cite book |editor-last1=Claybourn |editor-first1=Joshua |editor-link1=Joshua Claybourn |title=Our American Story: The Search for a Shared National Narrative |date=2019 |publisher=Potomac Books |location=Lincoln, NE |isbn=978-1640121706 |pages=175–188 }}

In March and April 2020, Epstein wrote several essays published by the Hoover Institution giving a contrarian account of the COVID-19 pandemic and warning against extensive containment and mitigative United States responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, which he called an "overreaction".{{cite news|title=Coronavirus Overreaction |author=Richard A. Epstein |publisher=Hoover Institution |date=March 23, 2020 |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-overreaction |access-date=March 29, 2020}} In a piece published on March 16, he argued that the word "pandemic" is not to be used lightly and that the virus should be allowed to run its course, predicting there would be 500 U.S. deaths. In early June, the U.S. death total surpassed 100,000.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/coronavirus-us-cases-deaths/|title=Coronavirus USA Cases Deaths |newspaper=Washington Post|date=June 1, 2020}} On March 24, when U.S. deaths had already exceeded 500, Epstein added a "Correction & Addendum", in which he changed his forecast to 5,000 deaths{{Cite news|last=Heer|first=Jeet|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/epstein-trump-coronavirus-crackpot/|title=All the President's Crackpots|journal=The Nation|date=March 30, 2020|access-date=April 2, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0027-8378}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/2020/3/31/21195449/richard-epstein-trump-coronavirus-theory-pandemic|title=The legal scholar who shaped Trump's coronavirus response defends his theory|last=Coaston|first=Jane|date=March 31, 2020|website=Vox|language=en|access-date=April 2, 2020}}{{cite news |title=Coronavirus Perspective |author=Richard A. Epstein |publisher=Hoover Institution |date=March 16, 2020 |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-isnt-pandemic |access-date=March 29, 2020 |archive-date=March 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200328142147/https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-isnt-pandemic |url-status=dead }} without changing the underlying model that had led him to his first estimate.{{Cite web|url=https://rexdouglass.github.io/TIGR/Douglass_2020_How_To_Be_Curious_Instead_of_Contrarian_About_Covid19.nb.html|title=How to be Curious Instead of Contrarian About COVID-19: Eight Data Science Lessons From 'Coronavirus Perspective' (Epstein 2020)|last=Douglass|first=Rex W.|date=March 30, 2020|language=en|access-date=April 26, 2020}} On April 6, when the death toll had already far surpassed his earlier predictions, he again revised that figure, with the "Correction & Addendum" section declaring under the inaccurate date stamp "March 24, 2020" that the "original erroneous estimate of 5,000 dead in the US [was] a number 10 times smaller than [he had] intended to state", implying that both "500" and "5,000" had been misprints for "50,000".{{Cite web|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20200421/15301544347/famed-law-professor-richard-epsteins-ever-changing-claims-about-how-many-people-will-die-covid-19.shtml|title=Famed Law Professor Richard Epstein's Ever Changing Claims About How Many People Will Die From COVID-19|last=Masnick|first=Mike|date=April 22, 2020|publisher=Techdirt|language=en|access-date=April 26, 2020}} After several news reports about Epstein's ever-increasing estimates, on April 21 an editor's note appeared on the website that explained the latest changes as an "editing error" and clarified that Epstein's original prediction had been 500 deaths.{{cite news |title=Coronavirus Perspective |author=Richard A. Epstein |publisher=Hoover Institution |date=March 16, 2020 |url=https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-isnt-pandemic |access-date=April 26, 2020 |archive-date=April 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200405104049/https://www.hoover.org/research/coronavirus-isnt-pandemic |url-status=dead }} In December 2020, when the death toll from COVID-19 in the U.S. was over 333,000, Politico named Epstein's predictions among "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year".{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/12/29/worst-predictions-about-2020-451444|title=The Worst Predictions of 2020|date=December 29, 2020|access-date=December 30, 2020|work=Politico|first=Zack|last=Stanton}}

Epstein compared COVID-19 to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic and suggested that public health measures "are done better at the level of plants, hotels, restaurants, and schools than remotely by political leaders." He argued that "the response of the state governors to the coronavirus outbreak has become far more dangerous than the disease itself", writing that the number of deaths had been exaggerated.{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/richard-epstein-coronavirus-500-5000-deaths.html|title=Richard Epstein Can't Stop Being Wrong About the Coronavirus|date=April 21, 2020}} His essays, containing a number of factual errors and misconceptions about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, circulated in conservative circles and in the Trump administration upon their publication.{{cite magazine|title=The Contrarian Coronavirus Theory That Informed the Trump Administration |author=Isaac Chotiner |magazine=The New Yorker |date=March 30, 2020 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-contrarian-coronavirus-theory-that-informed-the-trump-administration |access-date=April 10, 2020}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-signals-growing-weariness-with-social-distancing-and-other-steps-advocated-by-health-officials/2020/03/23/0920ea0a-6cfc-11ea-a3ec-70d7479d83f0_story.html |title=Trump weighs restarting economy despite warnings from U.S. public health officials |date=2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} In an article published on June 6, Epstein praised Republican-governed states like Florida for their crisis management, linking the then greater deaths in Democratic-governed states to their "interventionist policies".{{cite news|title=Red state, blue state |author=Richard A. Epstein |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=June 6, 2020 |url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/richard-a-epstein/richard-a-epstein-red-state-blue-state-2047567/ |access-date=July 18, 2020}}

File:Epsteinatgmu.jpg (2009)]]

In 2006, the American scholar James W. Ely Jr. wrote: "It is a widely accepted premise that Professor Richard A. Epstein has exercised a pervasive influence on American legal thought."{{sfnp|Ely|2006|p=421}} In 2000, a study published in The Journal of Legal Studies identified Epstein as the 12th-most cited legal scholar of the entire 20th century.{{cite journal |last=Shapiro |first=Fred R. |year=2000 |title=The Most-Cited Legal Scholars |journal=Journal of Legal Studies |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=409–26 |doi=10.1086/468080 |s2cid=143676627 }} In 2008, he was chosen in a poll taken by Legal Affairs as one of the most influential legal thinkers of modern times.{{cite web |url=http://www.legalaffairs.org/poll/ |title=Who Are the Top 20 Legal Thinkers in America? |access-date=July 4, 2008 |work=Legal Affairs }} A study of legal publications between 2009 and 2013 found Epstein to be the 3rd most frequently cited American legal scholar, behind only Cass Sunstein and Erwin Chemerinsky.[http://www.leiterrankings.com/faculty/2014_scholarlyimpact.shtml 2014 Scholarly Impact – Leitner Rankings].

Epstein's former students include a number of prominent judges, lawyers, and law professors, including Neomi Rao, Michael McConnell, Noel Francisco, Martha Pacold, and David McIntosh.

Epstein has said that when voting, he chooses "anyone but the Big Two" who are "just two members of the same statist party fighting over whose friends will get favors".{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagomaroon.com/2009/03/09/richard-epstein-lays-down-the-law/|title=Richard Epstein lays down the law|website=www.chicagomaroon.com|language=en|access-date=April 15, 2020}} He has voted Libertarian.{{cite news | title = Who's Getting Your Vote? | publisher = Reason | date = November 2004 | url = http://www.reason.com/news/show/29304.html | access-date = October 27, 2008 }} Epstein says he is "certainly a Calvin Coolidge fan; he made some mistakes, but he was a small-government guy". Epstein served on The Constitution Project's Guantanamo Task Force.

{{cite news| url= http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/TF_Members_Dec%20132010.pdf| title= Task Force members| publisher= The Constitution Project| date= December 17, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110725192624/http://www.constitutionproject.org/pdf/TF_Members_Dec%20132010.pdf

| archive-date= July 25, 2011| url-status= dead| access-date= June 11, 2015}}

{{cite news| url= http://www.constitutionproject.org/| title= Task Force on Detainee Treatment Launched| publisher= The Constitution Project| date= December 17, 2010

| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101215120344/http://constitutionproject.org/| url-status= dead| archive-date = December 15, 2010}}{{cite news

| url= https://online.wsj.com/article/APc6cee95477334766afca698cfc3a3611.html| title= Think tank plans study of how US treats detainees | newspaper= Wall Street Journal| date = December 17, 2010| archive-url = https://archive.today/20101219013031/http://online.wsj.com/article/APc6cee95477334766afca698cfc3a3611.html| url-status= dead| archive-date = December 19, 2010}} Epstein has said that Learned Hand should have been on the Supreme Court and that his favorite English judge was Baron Bramwell.{{Cite web|title=Interview with Richard Epstein|url=https://www.maxraskin.com/interviews/interview-with-richard-epstein|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Interviews with Max Raskin|language=en-US}}

In early 2015, Epstein commented on his relationship to the modern American political landscape, stating: "I'm in this very strange position: I'm not a conservative when it comes to religious values and so forth, but I do believe, in effect, in a strong foreign policy and a relatively small domestic government, but that's not the same thing as saying I believe in no government at all.""Special Edition: Epstein and Levin on Progressivism, Classical Liberalism, and Conservatism", The Libertarian Podcast, Hoover Institution, February 4, 2015. He has also been characterized as a libertarian conservative.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u93Mj3A-tH8C&pg=PA110|title=Ideologies and Institutions: American Conservative and Liberal Governance Prescriptions Since 1933|last=Piper|first=J. Richard|year=1997|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0847684595|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.law.nyu.edu/news/Defining-Richard-Epstein|title=Defining Richard Epstein: A renowned libertarian takes on a new mantle {{!}} NYU School of Law|website=www.law.nyu.edu|access-date=October 7, 2016}} During a debate with Chris Preble in December 2016, Epstein identified himself as being a "libertarian hawk".{{Cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?419726-1/soho-forum-hosts-debate-us-decisions-war|title=U.S. Involvement in War | C-SPAN.org|website=www.c-span.org}}

In 2023, Epstein co-authored an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal defending the 2023 Israeli judicial reform.{{Cite web |last1=Epstein |first1=Richard A. |last2=Raskin |first2=Max |date=2023-01-29 |title=Israel's Proposed Judicial Reforms Aren't 'Extreme' |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/israels-proposed-judicial-reforms-arent-extreme-economists-credit-rating-balances-knesset-politics-standing-11675014190 |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} Epstein has defended Israel's policies vis-à-vis Palestinians, calling allegations of apartheid a canard.{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4247809-us-academic-leaders-must-stop-coddling-genocidal-hatred-of-israel-on-campus/|title=Opinion: US academic leaders must stop coddling genocidal hatred of Israel on campus|date=October 11, 2023|first1=Richard A.|last1=Epstein|first2=Alexander|last2=Talel|website=TheHill.com}}

In January 2025, Epstein argued against birthright citizenship in the United States, a right enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.{{cite web|url=https://www.civitasinstitute.org/research/the-case-against-birthright-citizenship|title=The Case Against Birthright Citizenship|date=2025-01-28|first=Richard |last=Epstein|website=civitasinstitute.org}}

Epstein's wife, Eileen W. Epstein, is a fundraiser and educator who serves on the board of trustees for the philanthropic organization American Jewish World Service. They have three children: two sons, Benjamin M. and Elliot, and a daughter, Melissa. Epstein is a first cousin of the comedian and actor Paul Reiser.{{Cite web|url=http://ricochet.com/main-feed/The-Chicken-or-The-Egg|title = The Chicken or the Egg?| date=February 13, 2014 }}

Epstein, who had a bar mitzvah, has described himself as "a rather weak, non-practicing Jew."{{cite podcast | url=http://www.hoover.org/research/libertarian-indiana-discrimination-and-religious-liberty| title=Indiana, Discrimination, and Religious Liberty | website=The Libertarian | publisher=Hoover Institution| host=Troy Senik, Richard Epstein | date=March 31, 2015| access-date=April 11, 2015 }}

• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | title = Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain | url = https://archive.org/details/takingsprivatepr00epst_0 | url-access = registration | location = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 1985 | isbn = 0674867297}}
• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws | location = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0674308084 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/forbiddengrounds00epst }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Epstein | first1 = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | last2 = Stone | first2 = Geoffrey R. | last3 = Sunstein | first3 = Cass R. | author-link2 = Geoffrey R. Stone | author-link3 = Cass Sunstein | title = The Bill of Rights in the Modern State | url = https://archive.org/details/billofrightsinmo0000ston | url-access = registration | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1992 | isbn = 978-0226775326 }}
• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Simple Rules for a Complex World | location = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 1995 | isbn= 978-0674808218 }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Epstein | first1 = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | last2 = Sunstein | first2 = Cass R. | author-link2 = Cass Sunstein | title = The Vote: Bush, Gore & the Supreme Court | publisher = University of Chicago Press | location = Chicago | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0226213071 }}
• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration, and the Rule of Law | location = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2011 | isbn= 978-0674061842}}
• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government | location = Cambridge | publisher = Harvard University Press | year = 2014 | isbn= 978-0674724891}}
• {{cite book | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Dubious Morality of Modern Administrative Law | location = Lanham | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield | year = 2020 | isbn = 978-1-5381-4149-6 }}

• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | title = A Theory of Strict Liability | journal = Journal of Legal Studies | volume = 2 | issue = 1 | pages = 151–204 | year = 1973 | doi = 10.1086/467495 | s2cid = 153758836 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Substantive Due Process by Any Other Name: The Abortion Cases | journal = Supreme Court Review | year = 1973 | volume = 1973 | pages = 159–86 | doi = 10.1086/scr.1973.3108804 | jstor = 3108804 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Unconscionability: A Critical Reappraisal | journal = Journal of Law and Economics | volume = 18 | issue = 2 | pages = 293–315 | year = 1975 | doi = 10.1086/466814 | s2cid = 153434595 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Nuisance Law: Corrective Justice and Its Utilitarian Constraints | journal = Journal of Legal Studies | year = 1979 | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | pages = 49–102 | doi = 10.1086/467602 | s2cid = 153518407 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Social Consequences of Common Law Rules | journal = Harvard Law Review | year = 1982 | volume = 95 | issue = 8 | pages = 1717–51 | doi = 10.2307/1340646 | jstor = 1340646 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Notice and Freedom of Contract in the Law of Servitudes | journal = Southern California Law Review | year = 1982 | volume = 55 | issue = 6 | pages = 1353–68 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles/1194/ }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Historical Origins and Economic Structure of Workers' Compensation Law | journal = Georgia Law Review | year = 1982 | volume = 16 | issue = 4 | pages = 775–820 | doi = }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = A Common Law for Labor Relations: A Critique of the New Deal Labor Legislation | journal = Yale Law Journal | year = 1983 | volume = 92 | issue = 8 | pages = 1357–1408 | doi = 10.2307/796178 | jstor = 796178 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2243&context=journal_articles }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Toward a Revitalization of the Contract Clause | journal = University of Chicago Law Review | volume = 51 | issue = 3 | pages = 703–51 | year = 1984 | doi = 10.2307/1599484 | jstor = 1599484 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = In Defense of the Contract at Will | journal = University of Chicago Law Review | volume = 51 | issue = 4 | pages = 947–82 | year = 1984 | doi = 10.2307/1599554 | jstor = 1599554 }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Proper Scope of the Commerce Power | journal = Virginia Law Review | volume = 73 | issue = 8 | pages = 1387–1455 | year = 1987 | doi = 10.2307/1073233 | jstor = 1073233 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles/1316 | url-access = subscription }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Supreme Court, 1987 Term — Foreword: Unconstitutional Conditions, State Power, and the Limits of Consent | journal = Harvard Law Review | volume = 102 | issue = 1 | pages = 4–104 | year = 1988 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2204&context=journal_articles }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council: A Tangled Web of Expectations | journal = Stanford Law Review | year = 1993 | volume = 45 | issue = 5 | pages = 1369–92 | doi = 10.2307/1229072| jstor = 1229072 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles/1312/ | url-access = subscription }}
• {{cite journal | last = Epstein | first = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 | title = The Clear View of The Cathedral: The Dominance of Property Rules | journal = Yale Law Journal | year = 1997 | volume = 106 | issue = 7 | pages = 2091–2120 | doi = 10.2307/797162 | jstor = 797162 | url = https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles/1256 }}

• {{cite book | last1 = Epstein | first1 = Richard A. | first2 = Charles | last2 = Gregory | first3 = Harry | last3 = Kalven | author-link3 = Harry Kalven | title = Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts | edition = 3rd | location = New York | publisher = Little, Brown & Co. | year = 1977 }} 4th edition (1984), New York: Little, Brown & Co.
• {{cite book | last1 = Epstein | first1 = Richard A. | author-mask = 1 |last2=Sharkey|first2=Catherine M.|author-link2=Catherine Sharkey| title = Cases and Materials on Torts | edition = 11th | location = New York | publisher =Aspen Casebooks | year = 2016 | isbn =978-1454868255}}

• Libertarian theories of law

;Footnotes

{{Reflist}}

;Works cited

• {{cite journal |first=James W. |author-link=James W. Ely Jr. |last=Ely |title=Impact of Richard A. Epstein |journal=William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal |volume=15 |number=2 |pages=421–28 |year=2006 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/73964422.pdf |access-date=January 15, 2019 |archive-date=February 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228024901/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/73964422.pdf |url-status=dead}}
• Anthony Ogus, 'The Power and Perils of Simple Ideas and Simple Rules' (1997) 17 (1) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, reviewing Simple rules for a complex world
• {{cite web |url=http://blogs.law.nyu.edu/magazine/2009/profile-richard-epstein/ |title=Introducing Richard Epstein |last=Frey |first=Jennifer S. |year=2009 |website=NYU Law Magazine |access-date=March 23, 2015 }}

• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Steelman |first=Aaron |editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |title= Epstein, Richard A. (1943– ) |chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n96.xml |year=2008 |publisher= Sage; Cato Institute |location= Thousand Oaks, CA |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n96 |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages= 153–154 |chapter=Epstein, Richard A. (1943-) }}

{{wikiquote}}

• [http://richardallenepstein.blogspot.com/ A Richard Epstein fan site with links to his work]
• [http://its.law.nyu.edu/facultyprofiles/profile.cfm?personID=26355 Richard Epstein's Home Page at NYU Law]
• [http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/epstein/ Richard Epstein's Home Page at University of Chicago]
• {{C-SPAN|5679}}
• [http://reason.com/9504/epstein.apr.shtml "Taking Exception"], interview in Reason by Steve Chapman
• {{Internet Archive author |sname= Richard Epstein }}
• {{cite web |last=Roberts |first=Russ |title=Richard Epstein Podcasts |url=http://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/richard_epstein/ |work=EconTalk |publisher=Library of Economics and Liberty |author-link=Russ Roberts}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20130912101412/http://fora.tv/2006/10/29/Uncommon_Knowledge_Richard_Epstein_John_Yoo/ Interview with Richard Epstein]}}, Hoover Institution's Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson, October 29, 2006
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080920191630/http://search.forbes.com/search/colArchiveSearch?aname=Richard+A.+Epstein&author=richard+and+epstein Forbes Magazine "The Libertarian" online column]

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