Richard Posner, Reagan-Appointed Appeals Court Judge, Dies At 87
Richard Posner, the federal appeals court judge and legal scholar who helped make economic analysis a central part of American law, died Tuesday at age 87.
The University of Chicago Law School, where Posner taught for decades and remained a senior lecturer after leaving the bench, announced his death Wednesday.
"Judge Richard A. Posner, senior lecturer in law and a towering figure in American law and legal thought, died on November 10, 2026," the law school said.
He is survived by his wife, Charlene, their two sons, Eric and Kenneth, and their families.
READ MORE: BREAKING: LONGTIME DEMOCRAT SENATOR DIES - D.C. IN MOURNING
Three Decades On The 7th Circuit
President Ronald Reagan appointed Posner to the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 1981, shortly after taking office. The Senate confirmed him, and he served on the court for more than three decades, including as chief judge from 1993 through 2000.
Posner was widely regarded as one of the most influential federal judges never to serve on the Supreme Court. He wrote thousands of judicial opinions, dozens of books and hundreds of academic articles, and his decisions were frequently cited by courts across the country.
He was also known for an extraordinary workload, turning out opinions at a pace unusual for appellate judges while publishing books and scholarly articles at the same time. He also wrote books on national security, sex, aging, intelligence reform, plagiarism, democracy and the federal judiciary, subjects far beyond the usual boundaries of judicial commentary.
Born in New York City in 1939, Posner graduated from Yale University and then Harvard Law School, where he finished first in his class in 1962. He later clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr.
He worked at the Federal Trade Commission and in the office of Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall before joining the University of Chicago Law School faculty in 1969.
The Law-And-Economics Movement
Posner's 1973 book, "Economic Analysis of Law," helped establish the law-and-economics movement as a major force in American legal scholarship.
READ MORE: THUNE IN TROUBLE – 6 GOP SENATORS MOVE TO BLOCK HIM
The approach looked at how legal rules affect incentives, costs, markets and behavior instead of viewing disputes only through traditional legal doctrines. It went on to shape antitrust, contracts, tort law, intellectual property and regulatory policy.
A Break With Conservatives
Although he was appointed by a Republican president and was first associated with conservative legal thought, Posner resisted ideological labels. His opinions often reflected a pragmatic focus on the practical consequences of judicial decisions.
Later in his career he became an outspoken critic of several conservative legal positions and publicly criticized Justice Antonin Scalia's originalist approach to the Constitution.
In 2014, Posner wrote the 7th Circuit opinion striking down bans on same-sex marriage in Indiana and Wisconsin. His questioning during oral arguments drew national attention, as he pressed attorneys defending the bans to explain what practical harm same-sex marriage caused. The Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide the following year.
Posner described himself at various points as conservative, libertarian and pragmatic, but eventually said he no longer considered himself a conservative.
He retired abruptly from the 7th Circuit in September 2017. He later said disagreements with colleagues over how the courts handled cases brought by people representing themselves contributed to his departure, and he focused on helping those pro se litigants after leaving the bench.