JAY SILVER Obituary
SILVER--Jay Sterling. Jay Sterling Silver died on October 16th, 2024 at the age of 72. Born September 18th, 1952 to parents Ralph and Lois at Wesley Memorial Hospital in downtown Chicago, Jay grew up in Glencoe, Illinois alongside his lifelong friend Paul where he attended New Trier High School. Jay graduated with a B.A. from Washington University before receiving his J.D. from Vanderbilt University School of Law and his LL.M. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. After serving as a public defender in Pittsburgh, Jay became a tenured professor at St. Thomas University College of Law where he taught for 36 years. His scholarship appeared in leading law reviews including Vanderbilt and UCLA and in 2015, at the request of the Mongolian government, Jay helped draft revisions to the country's Soviet-style Code of Criminal Procedure. After retiring in 2022 as Professor Emeritus, he continued to contribute commentary to national media outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post. Jay is survived by his life partner of 21 years, Beth, his three children Ari (Jennifer), Elina, and Miriam, their mother Mary, his sister Cappy, and his beloved grandson.
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Published by New York Times on Nov. 24, 2024.

We received word this month that Jay had died after a sudden illness. Following here is information about Jay's education and most recent employment at St. Thomas University College of Law in Miami Gardens, Florida. At the bottom you will find the death notices for his late parents.

Jay Sterling Silver
Professor of Law
Email: jsilver@stu.edu
Mail:
St. Thomas University College of Law
Faculty Suite (209)
16401 NW 37th Ave
Miami Gardens, FL 33054
Education:
B.A., Washington University
J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law
LL.M., University of Pennsylvania School of Law
Expertise:
Criminal Law
Torts
Jay Sterling Silver
Jay Sterling Silver teaches Criminal Law, Juvenile Law, Torts, and a seminar on “Moral Dilemmas in the Practice of Law.” His scholarship has appeared in the Vanderbilt, Iowa, Wisconsin, William and Mary, Ohio State, UCLA, Texas A&M, and Rutgers law reviews, and his commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The National Law Journal, The Guardian, CNBC, The Christian Science Monitor, The Hill, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and other national and local media, has been discussed on C-Span, cited on MSNBC, reprinted in The International Herald Tribune, Madrid’s El Pais, The Buenos Aires Herald, and The Quatar Tribune, and assigned reading in courses at, among others, NYU’s Stern School of Business, Vanderbilt Law School, and American University’s Washington College of Law.
Professor Silver is the Director of the Criminal Litigation Certificate Program, served as Associate Dean from the 1994-95 school year through 2001-02, as Vice Dean in 2002-03, and as Special Counsel to the University President in 2003-04. Prior to teaching, he worked as a legal services staff attorney in a coal-mining region at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and as a public defender in Pittsburgh.
Scholarship & Research
Scholarship
Books:
Jay S. Silver, Legal Intent and the Human Mind (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press).
Articles:
Jay Silver, Intent Reconceived, 101 Iowa L. Rev. 371 (2015). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, Responsible Solutions: Reply to Tamanaha and Campos, 2 Tex. A&L. Rev. 215 (2015). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, Pedagogically Sound Cuts, Tighter (Not Looser) Accreditation Standards, and a Well-Oiled Doomsday Machine: The Responsible Way Out of the Crisis in Legal Education, 66 Rutgers L. Rev. 353 (2014). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, The Case Against Tamanaha’s Motel 6 Model of Legal Education, 60 UCLA L. Rev. Discourse 50 (2012).
Jay Silver, Professionalism and the Hidden Assault on the Adversarial Process, 55 Ohio St. L.J. 855 (1994). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, Truth, Justice, and the American Way: The Case Against the Client Perjury Rules, 47 Vand. L. Rev. 339 (1994). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, Equality of Arms and the Adversarial Process: A New Constitutional Right, 1990 Wis. L. Rev. 1007 (1990). HeinOnline
Jay Silver, The Duty to Rescue: A Reexamination and Proposal, 26 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 423 (1985) Reprinted at 42 Revista de Doutrina e Jurisprudência 86. HeinOnline
Additional Publications:
Jay Silver, Week-long FBI investigation likely a Pyrrhic victory, The Hill (Oct. 3, 2018), available at: The Hill
Jay Silver, The Contamination of Student Assessment, Inside Higher Ed (Aug. 9, 2018), available at: Inside Higher Ed
Jay Silver, Trump Is Close to Being Right on the Attorney-Client Privilege—But for All the Wrong Reasons, The National Law Journal (Apr. 23, 2018), available at: The National Law Journal
Jay Silver, Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen faces the real price of client loyalty, CNBC (Apr. 11. 2018), available at: CNBC; reprinted at Yahoo! Finance
Jay Silver, The ‘Serious Illogic’ in the Arguments Against Gun Control, CNBC (Feb. 22, 2018), available at: CNBC; reprinted at Yahoo! Finance
Jay Silver, When a Lesson on Historical Oppression Takes an Ugly Turn, The Hill (June 19, 2017), available at: The Hill
Jay Silver, Brokered Conventions and the Paradox of Trump as a Symbol of Democracy, St. Thomas Lawyer 14 (2016), available at: The St. Thomas Lawyer Magazine
Jay Silver, Another Argument Against Laptops in the Classroom, Inside Higher Ed (Aug. 19, 2016), available at: Inside Higher Ed
Jay Silver, Law Schools’ Shell Game of Minority Enrollment, National Law Journal (2015), abstract reprinted in The Year in Opinion: Minority Enrollment Games, National Law Journal (2015).
Jay Silver, Comment, This ‘Extra Credit’ Question Does No Credit to Fairness, The Chronicle of Higher Education (2015).
Jay Silver, Comment, The Only People Who Need to Fear an Affirmative Consent Standard for Rape Are Rapists, The Guardian (2015).
Jay Silver, Comment, Voluntary Station-House Confession as Oxymoron, St. Thomas Lawyer 20 (2015).
Jay Silver, Taking Snowden’s Christmas Message Seriously, The Huffington Post (2014).
Jay Silver, Fixing the Conflict of Interest at the Core of Police Brutality Cases, The Washington Post (2014), reprinted in Dallas Morning News, Louisville Courier-Journal, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Buenos Aries Herald.
Jay Silver, U. of I. Did Right, But Maybe for Wrong Reasons, The Chicago Sun-Times (2014).
Jay Silver, Top 10 Ironies in the Case Against Snowden, The Huffington Post (2013).
Jay Silver, Posturing in the U.S. v. Snowden, The Huffington Post (2013).
Jay Silver, On the Hearing to Put Jodi Arias to Death, The Huffington Post (2013).
Jay Silver, Making Sense of Incognito’s Bullying, Tikkun Daily (2013).
Jay Silver, On the Importance of Subtle Distinctions: A Short Exercise in Close Reading and Critical Thinking, L. Tchr (2013).
Jay Silver, Rethinking Success: Justice Fred Lewis’ Remarks at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the St. Thomas Law Review, 25 St. Thomas L. Rev. 291 (2013).
Jay Silver, Todd Akin’s Remarks: The Broader Meaning, The Huffington Post (2012), originally appearing in Huffington Magazine (2012).
Jay Silver, Trayvon Martin’s Killing and the Arrest No One Understands, National Law Journal (2012).
Jay Silver, The Flawed Past and Perilous Future of Political Conventions, The Detroit News (2012), reprinted in The Huffington Post, For Convention Junkies: The Flawed Past and Perilous Future, (2012).
Jay Silver, Brutality On Field and Off Seems Linked, San Francisco Chronicle (2012).
Jay Silver, Can the Law Make Us Be Decent?, The New York Times (2012), reprinted in The International Herald Tribune (2012).
Jay Silver, Scott Brown’s Racial Stereotyping of Elizabeth Warren, Tikkun Daily (2012).
Jay Silver, Sandy Hook Exposes the Logic Gap In Opposition to Gun Control, Christian Science Monitor (2012), highlighted on Google News.
Jay Silver, Drew Peterson’s Case: The Lesson for Both Sides, National Law Journal (2012).
Jay Silver, Todd Akin’s Remarks: The Broader Meaning, The Huffington Post (2012).
Jay Silver, Raising the Consciousness of Lawmakers Instead of Our Children’s Pants, The Huffington Post (2012).
Jay Silver, Our Hubris Over American Criminal Justice, The Huffington Post (2012).
Jay Silver, The Indignities of Public Defending, National Law Journal (2012).
Jay Silver, On the Appropriate Breadth of Coverage, 19 L. Tchr 24 (2012).
Jay Silver, Trayvon Martin’s Killing and Probable Cause, National Law Journal (2012), cited on MSNBC.
Jay Silver, Blaming the Jews: Old Wine in a New Bottle, Tikkun Daily (2012).
Courses
- Criminal Law
- Moral Dillemas Seminar
- Torts
Lois Silver OBITUARY
Silver, Lois
Lois Silver (nee Reich) of Glencoe, Illinois passed away at the age of 80 on July 15, 2009. Mrs. Silver, who attended the University of Illinois, had a lengthy history of public service to the North Shore, including counseling cancer patients; serving 40 years as a volunteer at Highland Park Hospital; sponsoring, with her husband, the Ralph and Lois Silver Chair in Human Genomics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovat, Israel, the Ralph and Lois Silver Business Center located in the Glencoe Public Library, and the Ralph and Lois Silver Foundation. Mrs. Silver is survived by her husband of 58 years, Ralph David Silver; her children, Jay Sterling Silver and Cappy Ann Silver; her grandchildren, Shayla Silver-Balbus, Ari Rae-Silver, Eli Rae-Silver, and Miriam Rae-Silver; her sister, Shirley DuBow; her brother, Robert Reich; her nieces, Joy DuBow Grossman, Nancy DuBow Himmelstein, and Beth Reich Epand; and her nephew, Allen Reich. In addition to the family’s deep loss, the North Shore has lost a benefactor, and the community has lost a friend. In lieu of a service, a gathering for family and friends took place on Friday, July 17th and Saturday, July 18th at the family’s home in Glencoe. A charitable gift or the signing of an organ donor card are preferred over flowers. For more information, contact (847) 835-2001.
RALPH SILVER Obituary
Ralph D. Silver, North Shore philanthropist and former Barton Brands CFO, was 88. He established the Ralph and Lois Silver Foundation and had been active in civic affairs. A chair in human genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, and the Silver Business Center at the Glencoe Public Library are named in his honor. Ralph Silver graduated from the University of Chicago in 1943 at the age of 19, and served as a naval officer in the Pacific theater in World War II. He was the loving husband of the late Lois Reich Silver, and is survived by son Jay Sterling Silver, daughter Cappy Ann Silver, grandchildren Shayla Silver- Balbus, Ari Rae-Silver, Eli Rae-Silver, and Miriam Rae-Silver, and brothers Harold and Ronald Silver. Shiva will be held at the residence in Glencoe, located at 1124 Old Elm Lane (off Green Bay Rd.), between 6:00 and 8:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 10, and Monday, June 11. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the American Jewish Committee or the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

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