Legal News
Despite his humble beginnings in a city known for forging steel, Pittsburgh-born Robert Sedler was seemingly destined for legal distinction, a fact that became known as tributes poured in this week for the former Wayne State University Law School professor who died Jan. 4 at age 89.
As a high school senior, Sedler was selected as his class speaker, a coveted graduation ceremony honor that fittingly corresponded with being voted most likely to succeed, the smartest student, and the best orator.
Those honors earned Sedler a trio of scholarships that he needed to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he made his way to campus each day by streetcar en route to even more scholastic glory by gaining membership in Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the United States that includes presidents, U.S. Supreme Court justices, and Nobel laureates.
Sedler used his Pittsburgh degree as a springboard to law school at his alma mater, graduating with high honors while a member of the law review and prestigious Order of the Coif.
It was during law school that Sedler found his life’s calling, the study and practice of constitutional law, according to his son Eric.
“He considered the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to be the most magnificent documents ever created,” said Eric. “When he received his law degree, he considered it such a privilege that he wanted to use his degree to make the world a better place.
“To impart his knowledge of the Constitution to others, he wanted to become a professor of law. He began that track with an internship at Rutgers and as an assistant professor at St. Louis University Law School.”
In 1963, Sedler took his constitutional knowledge to Ethiopia, where with funding from the Ford Foundation he helped establish a law school in the second-most populous country in Africa. Sedler and his wife, Rozanne, stayed in Ethiopia for three years, time that he spent also writing a textbook that is still used today.
Last year, the law school marked its 60th anniversary, a milestone occasion that Sedler participated in via video.
Upon his return stateside, Sedler landed a professorship at the University of Kentucky College of Law, where he was a member of the faculty for nine years before beginning his distinguished career in 1977 at Wayne State, an urban university featuring a blend of students.
“He loved teaching there,” said his son of Wayne State. “He loved interacting with students and colleagues and made wonderful friendships. On April 22 of this year, he will honored — posthumously — by his inclusion in the Wayne State Law School Wall of Fame.
“Of course, a significant part of becoming a professor is the teaching,” Eric said of his father in whose name is a scholarship that is awarded to a student with a particular interest in constitutional law. “It’s also the research and the writing, which he did in abundance.
Articles, books, law review articles.”
But it was in the courtroom where Sedler’s brilliance was on full display. Early in his career as a professor, Sedler argued a case in Missouri that focused on efforts to integrate the local public school system. He later served as the lead attorney in a lawsuit filed against the state of Kentucky to force the desegregation of the Louisville and Jefferson County school systems.
The case resulted in a court-ordered busing program that began in 1975.
“He argued many cases involving constitutional issues over six decades, including two before the United States Supreme Court in 1970 and 1974,” his son indicated. “He prevailed in both.”
Some 50 years later, Sedler was enlisted by a former student — current Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel — to help with a case that challenged bans on marriage for same-sex couples.
With Sedler’s assistance, the plaintiffs in DeBoer v. Snyder won a landmark decision before the U.S. Supreme Court, a ruling that legalized same-sex marriages. It affirmed a lower court ruling issued in 2014 by U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman.
Jack Lessenberry, a former journalism professor at Wayne State and the University of Michigan, was a longtime admirer of Sedler, calling him “one of the most astute commentators” in the legal profession.
“He also was a good friend, a distinguished law professor, and someone who did much to help humanity and was on the right side of many good causes,” said Lessenberry, an author who formerly served as a host of radio and television programs on PBS outlets around the state. “His immigrant father had barely an elementary school education, and Bob went on to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, and win, more than once.
“If you don’t know more about him, you should. We need more stories like his.”
Paula Neuman, a former features editor for Heritage Newspapers, became acquainted with Sedler while working in a communications role for Wayne State Law School.
“I was always impressed by him for many reasons,” Neuman said of Sedler. “When I worked at the law school in communications, some of the professors were aloof, seemingly considering themselves better than mere staffers without law degrees. Not so Professor Sedler, who went out of his way to befriend me.
“He often was tapped by various journalists for comments on whatever newsworthy events needed his expertise,” Neuman added. “Here, in my eyes, is the mark of a great man: Professor Sedler would give just as much of his time and wisdom to a high school student writing a paper as he would to a New York Times reporter.”
The recipient of the 2019 Champion of Justice Award from the Michigan Association for Justice, Sedler possessed the “strongest sense of morality, values, and charity,” according to his son.
“He was a lifelong student and lifelong teacher,” said Eric. “He always wanted to learn and share knowledge with others. . . He was so amazed at the life he was living. He was amazed that he and Rozanne visited 59 countries over 65 years of marriage. And lived abroad twice — in Ethiopia and Italy. He had a zest for life.”
A funeral service took place Jan. 7 at The Dorfman Chapel in Farmington Hills. He is survived by his wife, Rozanne; his two children, Eric (Marla) Sedler and Beth (Thomas) Foster; four grandchildren, Braden and Chloe Sedler, and Brielle and Jayce Foster; and many other loving family members and friends.
Memorial gifts can be made to the Professor Robert Sedler Endowed Scholarship at Wayne Law https://give.wayne.edu/campaigns/37573/donations/new or by check mailed to
Wayne State University, Gift Processing, 5700 Cass Ave, Suite 1200, Detroit, MI 48202.
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