Felix Cohen, Anti-Semitism and American Indian Law

Abstract:     
Felix Cohen and his work and legacy are discussed in several new books, including an important intellectual biography of Cohen by Dalia Tsuk Mitchell. Using the Mitchell biography as a starting point, this essay discusses an important episode in Cohen's life, involving apparent anti-Semitism at the Department of Justice. Because the episode is not fully explored in this otherwise excellent biography, Cohen and his motivations in Indian law remain a mystery in some respects. The essay also discusses some of the paradoxes of Cohen's key involvement in federal Indian policy and the contemporary importance of some of his legacies in American Indian law.

Keywords: Federal Indian law, Native American law, anti-Semitism, jurisprudence, tribal constitutions, tribal consultation

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