Charles Edward Rice (August 7, 1931 – February 25, 2015) was an American legal scholar. He was a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, where he taught at Notre Dame Law School from 1969 to 2014. He was the co-editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence from 1970 to 1996.

Early life and education

Rice was born in New York City on August 7, 1931. He was of Irish descent. His father was active in Irish-American and Catholic organizations in New York.

Rice graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy 1953. As an undergraduate at Holy Cross, he was a member of the college's AFROTC and wrote a senior thesis titled, "The Ethics of Kant". He earned his Juris Doctor (JD) from Boston College Law School in 1956, then a Master of Laws (LLM) in 1959 and Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD) in 1962 from New York University. His doctoral dissertation was titled, "Freedom of association".

Career

He practiced law in New York City and taught at New York University Law School and Fordham Law School before joining, in 1969, the faculty of law at Notre Dame.

He was instrumental in the founding of the Conservative Party of New York in the 1960s. He served as vice-chairman of the party from 1962 to 1969.

Rice served in the Marine Corps and was a retired lieutenant colonel who served in the Marine Corps Reserve.

From 1981 to 1993, Rice was a member of the Education Appeal Board of the United States Department of Education. He also served as a consultant to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and to various Congressional committees on constitutional issues and was an editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence. He was a member of the governing boards of Franciscan University of Steubenville and the Eternal Word Television Network. He served as chairman of the Center for Law and Justice International in New Hope, Kentucky, and a director of the Thomas More Law Center in Ann Arbor. He was an assistant coach of the Notre Dame Boxing Club.

Rice was one of the co-founders of Ave Maria School of Law in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is also a board member of Blackstone Fellowship the Christian conservative legal training program run by Alliance Defending Freedom.

Personal life

He lived with his wife, Mary E. Rice, in Mishawaka, Indiana. They had 10 biological children and 41 grandchildren, and adopted a son from South Vietnam.

Publications

Video lectures

Rice made several video lectures on Natural Law Theory and other topics, including The Good Code for EWTN, Right Reason with Dr. Charles Rice alongside Michael Voris for Church Militant.tv, and Natural Law: What It Is and Why We Need It for International Catholic University.

Books

Columns

Rice was a regular columnist for The Irish Rover, a student-run newspaper serving the University of Notre Dame campus.

References

• http://law.nd.edu/people/faculty-and-administration/teaching-and-research-emeriti-faculty/charles-e-rice

• Rice, Charles E. (1990). No Exception: A Pro-Life Imperative. Human Life International.