About: David Halperin
Twitter: @DaHalperin
Bio: David Halperin, a self-employed lawyer based in Washington DC, engages in public advocacy work on a wide range of issues, including higher education and climate change. He also advises organizations and companies on strategy, policy, communications, and legal matters, and he is of counsel to Public.Resource.org.
Halperin was previously: founding director of Campus Progress and senior vice president at the Center for American Progress; senior policy advisor for Howard Dean's presidential campaign; founding executive director of the American Constitution Society; White House speechwriter and special assistant for national security affairs to President Clinton; co-founder of the Internet company Progressive/RealNetworks; counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee; and law clerk to U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell.
He has represented clients in the U.S. Supreme Court and various state and federal courts.
He writes at Republic Report, and his articles also have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation, Politico, Slate, Foreign Policy, and other outlets. In recent years he has testified before the House Oversight Committee and at the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Transportation, and spoken at major events held by the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Federation of America, Arizona State University, American Educational Research Association, and Center for American Progress.
Halperin has served for more than a decade on the board of directors of Public Citizen.
He graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School.
Walden U Will Pay $28.5 Million to Settle Claims It Deceived Black and Female Students
For-profit Walden University has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging that the school used false advertising aimed at Black and female students. Walden also agreed to make significant changes in its programs and disclosures to students. The settlement had been flagged in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last
Continue Reading >>>
Idaho Senate Rejects Bill to Salvage U of Phoenix Deal (As UAGC Facts Get Uglier)
The Idaho Senate yesterday rejected legislation aimed at fixing legal problems with the deal for the University of Idaho to acquire the giant for-profit University of Phoenix. By a vote of 14-19, senators voted down Senate Bill 1450, which sought to convert Four Three Education, a non-profit created by the state Board of Education for
Continue Reading >>>
Check Out These Oil Executives Literally Destroying Our World and Not Giving a Shit
The Guardian reports this morning that top executives of major oil and gas companies, gathered this week at an industry conference in Houston, are scoffing at efforts to rapidly transition from fossil fuels to clean energy, despite the clear scientific evidence that a failure to reduce greenhouse gases soon will create chaos for our climate
Continue Reading >>>
Congress Should Reject Bill To Let Private Groups Control Access To U.S. Laws
Last summer, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jerry Nadler (NY), the committee’s ranking Democrat, offered at a committee meeting legislation called the PRO Codes Act, as part of a package of three bills they declared to be common sense bipartisan measures. But after the committee adopted the other
Continue Reading >>>
U of Idaho President Pressed Alumni Group To Hire Lobbyist for Phoenix Deal
At the urging of University of Idaho president C. Scott Green, the school’s alumni association recently hired a lobbyist whose duties have included trying to persuade state legislators not to thwart Green’s plan for his school to acquire the for-profit giant University of Phoenix. The proposed deal to spend $685 million to buy Phoenix, a
Continue Reading >>>
Is the FTC Investigating U of Phoenix Again? Idahoans Deserve An Answer.
The University of Idaho’s proposed $685 million deal to buy the for-profit University of Phoenix is becoming increasingly controversial in the state of Idaho. It could get even more controversial if it turns out, as might well be the case, that the University of Phoenix, which has a long history of predatory practices and resulting
Continue Reading >>>
Education Department Needs Stronger Rules for Accreditors
I’m scheduled to offer a brief public comment at today’s session of the Department of Education’s negotiating rulemaking meetings, where representatives of various higher education constituencies have come together to debate new proposed regulations governing issues including distance education, state government authorization of schools, and standards for the private accrediting bodies that oversee schools. My
Continue Reading >>>
Idaho House Committee Votes Against U. of Phoenix Deal
The Idaho House State Affairs Committee today voted unanimously for a resolution urging the Idaho State Board of Education to reconsider the deal for the University of Idaho to acquire the for-profit University of Phoenix, and authorizing the Legislature to sue if necessary to stop the purchase. The vote came just a day after University
Continue Reading >>>