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PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III:

MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS*

* NOTE: Prof. Banzhaf does not maintain a conventional resume listing all of his writings – including articles, Op-Ed pieces, letters to the editor, etc., – nor his thousands of appearances at conferences and on major TV and radio programs both here and abroad because they are too numerous and, in any event, are only means towards achieving public interest goals. This documents lists those accomplishments – the specific public interest goals he was able to achieve by using his legal skills and abilities. This list was last updated in 2004.

       1. Filed a complaint, and successfully defended a major legal action, leading to a requirement that radio and television stations broadcasting cigarette commercials make hundreds of millions of dollars worth of free broadcast time available for antismoking messages, Banzhaf v. F.C.C., 405 F.2d 1082 (DC Cir. 1968). This caused the first sustained decline in cigarette consumption in the U.S. and was estimated to have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

    2. With this success, he started the modern nonsmokers’ rights movement – one which has been more successful that virtually any other in the public health field – and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the first organization devoted solely to the problems of smoking. This later proved to be the first step of an even broader trend towards using legal action as a weapon against social problems, and helped lead the way towards the environmental protection movement, the disability rights movement, and others.

       3. This legal decision led directly to the ban on cigarette commercials which he successfully defended from attacks based upon constitutional grounds, Capital Broadcasting Co. v. Mitchell, 333 F. Supp. 582 (3-judge, DC 1971), aff'd 405 U.S. 1000 (1972). See generally, INVOLVED AMERICANS: The Man Behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials, Reader's Digest, March, 1971.

    4. His subsequent complaints led to an amendment extending the ban on TV and radio commercials to include commercials for so-called "little cigars."

       5. Obtained the first copyrights ever registered on computer programs, thereby establishing the first recognized form of legal protection for a new industry – one which now depends upon them. See Banzhaf, Copyright Protection for Computer Programs, 64 Colum. L. Rev. 1274 (1964).

    6. Thereafter he successfully asked Congress to amend the copyright law to deal expressly with data processing, and published one of the first articles on the legal problems created by computers. Banzhaf, When a Computer Needs a Lawyer, 71 Dick. L. Rev. 240 (1967).

       7. Developed a new mathematical method of analyzing voting power termed the "Banzhaf Index"), and persuaded New York State's highest court to adopt it as a legal requirement for approving so-called weighted voting reapportionment plans, Iannucci v. Board of Supervisors, 229 N.E. 2d 195 (1967). See generally, Banzhaf, Weighted Voting Doesn't Work: A Mathematical Analysis, 19 Rutgers L. Rev. 317 (1965).

       8. Subsequently the technique of analysis was extended, and applied to the Electoral College (for electing the president), multi-member districting, and other voting systems. See Banzhaf, 3.312 Votes, A Mathematical Analysis of the Electoral College, 13 Villanova L. Rev. 303 (1968); Banzhaf, Multi-Member Electoral Districts -- Do They Violate the "One Man, One Vote" Principle?, 75 Yale L. J. 1309 (1966); Banzhaf, One Man, ? Votes: Mathematical Analysis of Voting Power and Effective Representation, 36 Geo. W. L. Rev. 808 (1968).

    9. The so-called “Banzhaf Index of Voting Power” is now widely known and accepted as the methodology for the distribution of voting power in complex situations, see, e.g, The Games Scholars Play, NEWSWEEK, [9/6/82]; See also book review of John Allen Paulos, A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper, New York Times [4/12/95] ("Mr. Paulos's little essay explaining the Banzhaf Index . . is itself worth the price of the book.").

       10. Filed the petition for rule making which obtained separate no-smoking sections on U.S. airlines, and subsequently, through a series of complaints, petitions, law suits, and legislative activity, helped achieved a total smoking ban on virtually all domestic airline flights. See, e.g., Action on Smoking and Health v. Civil Aeronautics Board, 699 F.2d 1209 (DC Cir. 1983); National Ass’n of Motor Bus Owners v. U.S., 370 F.Supp 408 (D.D.C. 1974).

       11. Subsequently assisted in obtaining the passage of the first statewide nonsmokers' rights laws in Arizona and South Dakota, thereby stating the nonsmokers’ rights movement which is now in the process of banning smoking in public places in most U.S. states and around the world. He also first developed and produced the “Thank You For Not Smoking” sign which was subsequently translated into many languages and featured around the world and in many movies.

    12. He assisted in the first case to establish the right of office workers to be protected from tobacco smoke, and helped obtain an injunction against smoking in her office, see Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Company, 145 N.J. Super. 516, 368 A.2d 408 (1976).

    13. First helped develop the theory and to bring the initial proceedings establishing that persons especially sensitive to tobacco smoke can and should be entitled to protection from tobacco smoke pollution as “handicapped persons.” See, e.g., Pletten v. Dept. of the Army, # 03810087 E.E.O.C. (4/8/83).

    14. Served as a catalyst and major promoter of the concept of bringing tort actions for damages as a means of putting additional pressure on tobacco companies. One result was the $246 billion Multi-State Tobacco Settlement which resulted in the death of Joe Camel, the end of cigarette billboards, and a very dramatic increase in the price of cigarettes which helped reduce consumption by children

    15. Another dramatic result was the initial victory in a class action law suit by flight attendants made ill by exposure to tobacco smoke on airplanes. This victory created procedural advantages and set the stage for subsequently law suits for other flight attendants. See, e.g. Broin v. Philip Morris Cos., Inc., 641 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994), review denied, 654 So. 2d 919 (Fla. 1995).

    16. It also resulted in a $300 million settlement which Prof. Banzhaf helped to defend and was used to found the Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute in Miami, of which Prof. Banzhaf served as the Chairman of the Advisory Board. See, e.g., Ramos v. Philip Morris Cos., 743 So. 2d (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 3d Dist. 1999).

    17. Established legal "standing" for individuals and organizations to challenge harmful environmental actions which affect many or all individuals, and expanded the reach of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to reach governmental actions only indirectly affecting the environment. United States v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures (SCRAP), 412 U.S. 669 (1973).

       18. Brought legal actions to persuade the Federal Trade Commission to adopt the new remedy of "corrective advertising," under which a manufacturer found guilty of deceptive advertising may be required to confess his deception to the public in future ads, and to persuade the agency to provide funding for public interest participation. See Campbell Soup Co., 77 F.T.C. 664 (1970); Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 81 F.T.C. 398 (1971).

    19. Helped bring a legal challenge to the license of a televison broadcasting company in the District of Columbia because it was allegedly not serving the needs and interests of its African American viewers. The challenge led to the first African American appearing on a major television station anywhere in the U.S. in a significant role, to the increased hiring and promotion of Blacks on television, and to more programming directed towards their interests, initially in the District of Columbia, but ultimately also elsewhere. See, e.g. Stone v. FCC, 151 U.S. App. D.C. 145, 466 F.2d 316 (1972).

       20. Helped obtain a Special Prosecutor (now called "Independent Counsel") to investigate former president Richard Nixon and Attorney General Edwin Meese, and almost obtained one to investigate "Debategate," see, e.g., Banzhaf v. Smith, 588 F. Supp. 1489 & 1498, rev'd on other grounds, 737 F.2d 1167 (DC Cir. 1984).

    21.Subsequently filed the complaints which led to investigations of the affairs of vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, and others

       22. Initiated the unprecedented law suit in which citizens, over the objection of the state, successfully sued former governor and former vice president Spiro T. Agnew to recover the money he unlawfully received in bribes. See, e.g., Agnew v. State of Maryland, 446 A.2d 425 (1982).

       23. With law students: brought legal actions which resulted in safety standards for school buses, clearer warnings on birth control pills, smoke detectors in airplane lavatories, auto bumper standards, the elimination of deceptive claims for certain contraceptives, new police procedures for dealing with wife beaters, the end of a scheme to defraud veterans, cleaner air in Washington DC, clearer labeling of foods, and many other victories.

       24. Successfully petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to require that emergency warning messages on television be broadcast in visual as well as oral form for the benefit of deaf viewers.

    25. Subsequently established the National Center for Law and the Deaf to bring public interest legal actions on behalf of the deaf and hard of hearing.

       26. Filed complaints of sex discrimination in the District of Columbia against the Cosmos Club and the Metropolitan Club which forced both clubs to begin admitting women as members, and making Washington D.C. the first major city to be free of large private male-only clubs. A similar subsequent complaint forced the Women's National Democratic Club to permit its male members to vote, hold office, and to enjoy all of the privileges of membership accorded to female members.

       27. Forced dry cleaners in the District of Columbia to cease sex discrimination against women, and to charge the same price to launder men's and women's shirts, even if the latter do not fit on automatic pressing equipment designed only for men's shirts. Similar results have also been achieved in the Washington D.C. area suburbs, and other states.

       28. Wrote an article outlining the legal defense of "subway shooter" Bernhardt Goetz which was published in New York City the day before – and may have helped cause – the initial grand jury to refuse to indict him. See, “It Is Not 'Vigilantism.' It's Self-Defense," Washington Post, January 12, 1985, reprinted in New York Daily News as "The Defense of Bernhardt Goetz."

       29. Helped on several different occasions to prevent student organizations from prohibiting the showing of X-rated films on the George Washington University campus.

       30. Filed a legal complaint which led to legal action by the Department of Justice to require The Citadel (university) in Charleston, W.V. to cease refusing to admit women to its undergraduate classes. This complaint served as the catalyst for the eventual admission of the first woman to a state previously- all-male-military college, shattering a 152-year tradition of sex discrimination, as well as to the eventual admission of more women cadets.

       31. Generated national publicity, through the filing of a criminal complaint against Congressman Barney Frank, which forced the Congressman to admit that his relationship with a male prostitute included criminal acts, and to seek an investigation by the House ethics committee; an investigation which led to the Congressman's reprimand.

       32. Brought a legal action which forced the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to propose a rule to ban smoking in virtually all workplaces. Was also a major factor in obtaining a similar rule now in effect in Maryland. See generally, COMAR 09.12.23 (2005).

       33. Used threats of legal action and the requirements of due process [fundamental fairness] to force the George Washington University to desist from a plan to seek the expulsion of editors of the school newspaper based upon their writings; and subsequently helped to force the university to agree not to prevent the distribution of the newspaper in areas under the control of the medical school.

       34. Provided indirect legal assistance in defending "Jacuzzi shooter" Carl Rowan on charges of illegally possessing a gun and using it to defend his home from intruders.

       35. Helped prevent any improper plea bargain in the criminal trial of D.C. Mayor Marion Barry by filing a motion (soon joined by the A.C.L.U.) before the court opposing any possible plea bargain under which the defendant would agree either to step down from office or to agree not to seek reelection, and by filing an equally-well publicized demand under the Freedom of Information Act for the key videotape showing the "sting" operation directed at the Mayor.

       36. By filing a legal action, forced the National Park Service to agree not to again permit a tournament sponsored by a tobacco company to be held in Rock Creek National Park.

       37. Wrote the first article on restroom equity, Banzhaf, Final Frontier for the Law, Natl. L. J. [4/18/88], a new movement which has now led to several "Potty Parity" laws and a federal complaint.

       38. Forced hair cutters in the District of Columbia to cease sex discrimination against women, and to charge the same price to cut men's and women's hair.

    39. Filed a complaint of discrimination based upon handicap when Gallaudet University (for the Deaf) in Washington DC initially announced that they would not consider a deaf person as a candidate for president of the university. That decision was subsequently reversed, and a deaf person was hired as president.

       40. Used the threat of legal action — a complaint under the ADA — to force Dulles Airport to provide luggage carts for passengers arriving on domestic flights.

       41. Brought a legal against which established a new legal principle under which the FDA asserted jurisdiction of nicotine in cigarettes, Action on Smoking and Health v. Harris, 655 F.2d 236 (D.C. Cir. 1980); moreover, the tobacco industry's complaint against the FDA charged that ASH's "threats," "pressure," and "a carefully orchestrated public relations campaign" were behind the agency's action.

       42. Filed a legal complaint which forced Mrs. Simpson's dance class to adopt an affirmative action plan to admit more African-American and Jewish students; and another which forced The City Paper of Washington D.C. to agree not to run sexually-discriminatory ads, and to publish statements about the law and its new policy in its pages.

       43. Helped to bring a law suit which held — after the court concluded that their evidence was "hogwash," "trash," and "worthless" — that Hertz illegally discriminated in refusing to rent cars to persons under 26 years of age.

       44. As a member of the Advisory Committee on Tobacco Policy and Public Health chaired by former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and former FDA Commissioner David Kessler, Prof. Banzhaf was a major force in strengthing the proposal for a universal tobacco settlement made by the tobacco industry; an accomplishment publicly acknowledged by chief negotiator Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore. He remained one of most outspoken and most quoted critics of the weaknesses of the plan, and was ultimately instrumental in preventing it from being adopted by the White House and by the United States Congress.

    45. Lead a successful campaign to prevent the George Washington University from instituting a new sexual harassment policy which would have applied to classroom discussions, and arguably did not provide the accused with sufficient procedural protections.

    46. Helped start a movement which has now led at least 16 states to rule that exposing a child to secondhand tobacco smoke can be a factor in custody proceedings, and that parents who allow their children to be exposed to tobacco smoke may even lose custody of their children. See generally, NO SMOKING AROUND CHILDREN: Judge William F. Chinnock, The Family Courts’ Mandatory Duty to Restrain Parents and Other Persons From Smoking Around Children, 45 Ariz. L. Rev. 801 (1993).

    47. Was a major factor in the ratification of the first world anti-smoking and nonsmokers’ rights treaty – the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control [FCTC]. He now helps oversee the worldwide organization most responsible for its successful implementation and enforcement [the Framework Convention Alliance, a consortium of more than 200 organizations in more than 100 countries], and will continue to play a major role regarding the FCTC in the future.

    48. The Banzhaf Index of Voting Power was recently used to analyze the distribution of voting power in a proposed voting system for the new European Union, and to show that it provided hidden advantages of France, Britain, and Italy, and hidden disadvantages to other countries, especially Poland. See, e.g. Nature Magazine [http://www.nature.com/nsu/040524/040524-5.html] and the Centre for European Studies [http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe?204&OIDN=251307&-tt=fu]

    49.Began a movement to ban smoking around foster children to protect them from the documented health dangers. Two states now prohibit smoking around foster children in their homes or cars, and five additional states have tentatively agreed to do so.

    50. With his law students at George Washington University, he helped initiate the first successful fat law suit against McDonald’s – one which resulted in a $12.5 million settlement, increased disclosure about the fat in french fries, and a public apology. It has led to a new movement – of which Prof. Banzhaf is the prime spokesman, and which has already resulted in six additional successful fat law suits, and one recently reinstated by the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals – which is pressuring food companies to make major changes to deal with the current obesity epidemic. As a result, he has been called "the Ralph Nader of Junk Food,""The Man Who Is Taking Fat to Court," "The Man Big Tobacco and Now Fast Food Love to Hate," the lawyer "Who's Leading the Battle Against Big Fat," and "a Major Crusader Against Big Tobacco and Now Among Those Targeting the Food Industry." Fortune magazine has predicted that “Fat [is] the Next Tobacco.”

NOTE: Professor Banzhaf has also been called "Ralph Nader of the Tobacco Industry," "Mr. Anti-Smoking," "One of the Most Vocal and Effective Anti-Tobacco Attorneys," a "Radical Feminist," a "Man Who Lives by his Writs," the "Father of Potty Parity" "the Area's Best-Known 'Radical' Law Professor," an "Entrepreneur of Litigation, [and] a Trial Lawyer's Trial Lawyer ," one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Washington,""a Driving Force Behind the Lawsuits That Have Cost Tobacco Companies Billions of Dollars," "the Renowned and Often Flamboyant Public-Interest Law Professor at George Washington University," "the Fastest Legal Gun in the East,"" Dean of Public Interest Lawyers" and "the law professor who masterminded litigation against the tobacco industry.”

    51. Professor Banzhaf is probably the only GWU professor to not only provide technical assistance to a movie, but to actually appear in it: the Academy-Award nominated documentary “Super Size Me.”