Stephan Kinsella | |
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Born | Norman Stephan Kinsella 1965 (age 58–59) Prairieville, Louisiana, U.S. |
Education | Louisiana State University (BS, MS, JD) King's College London (LLM) |
Occupation | Attorney |
Member of the Libertarian Party Judicial Committee[1] | |
Assumed office May 29, 2022 | |
Website | Official Website |
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Libertarianism in the United States |
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This article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject, potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral. (May 2023) |
Norman Stephan Kinsella (/kɪnˈsɛlə/; born 1965) is an American patent attorney, author, and deontological [citation needed] anarcho-capitalist.[2] His legal works have been published by Oxford University Press, Oceana Publications, Mises Institute, Quid Pro Books and others.
Born in Prairieville, Louisiana, he attended Louisiana State University where he earned Bachelor of Science (BS) and Master of Science (MS) degrees in electrical engineering, and a Juris Doctor (JD) from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center (formerly known as LSU Law Center). He also obtained an LL.M. at King's College London.
Kinsella was general counsel of Applied Optoelectronics, Inc., of Sugar Land, Texas from 2000 to 2012 and is currently in private practice in Houston, Texas. He was formerly an adjunct scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a right-libertarian think-tank for the promotion of Rothbardian political thought and the Austrian School of economics, where he was Book Review Editor for the Journal of Libertarian Studies[3] and a faculty member of the Mises Academy.[4] Kinsella also founded the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom (C4SIF) of which he currently is the Director.[5][third-party source needed] In May 2022 he was elected to the Libertarian Party Judicial Committee, but was subsequently disqualified due to being two months short of the 4 year Libertarian Party membership requirement to hold the office. As of August 2022, he is eligible and it's believed that he'll be appointed by the LP Judicial Committee to fill the vacancy caused by his ineligible run in May 2022.[6][non-primary source needed]
Kinsella's legal publications include books and articles about patent law, contract law, e-commerce law, international law, and other topics.[third-party source needed]
Kinsella is a strong opponent of intellectual property,[7] arguing that patents and copyrights should not form part of a proper libertarian law code.[8] He is a proponent of Hans-Hermann Hoppe's theory on argumentation ethics.[9] He is an atheist, having previously been a devout Catholic.[10][third-party source needed]