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Yale Kamisar, the Clarence Darrow Distinguished University Professor, was a professor in the University of Michigan Law School from 1965 to 2004. An expert in criminal law, particularly the exclusionary rule of the Fourth Amendment and the Miranda right based on the Fifth Amendment, Kamisar was a proponent of defendant rights, and wrote extensively on the subject. In the 1960s, his arguments were influential as Chief Justice Earl Warren's Supreme Court ruled on several key defendants' rights issues, such as search and seizure (Mapp v. Ohio), guaranteed legal counsel to the poor (Gideon v. Wainwright), the right to counsel while in custody (Escobedo v. Illinois), and the right to remain silent (Miranda v. Arizona). Kamisar also wrote and lectured extensively on assisted suicide, euthanasia, and mercy killing. His collection consists of research topical files; speech, debate, lecture, and presentation files; teaching files; and writings.

The Yale Kamisar papers include biographical information, topical files, correspondence with law school colleagues, Supreme Court justices, judges, lawyers, and students. They also include teaching files and articles on constitutional and criminal law, particularly the exclusionary rule and the Miranda rule, as well as material on Kamisar’s work on assisted suicide, euthanasia, and mercy-killing and other topics. The papers are divided into four series: Research Topical Files; Speech, Debate, Lecture, and Presentation Files; Teaching Files; and Writings.