| Birth Date: | 1935 1, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Burbank, CA, U.S. |
| Resting Place: | Wyuka cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska, Oakwood Cemetery, U.S. |
| Institution: | University of Nebraska College of Business Administration Southwestern University School of Law |
| School Tradition: | Austrian School |
| Alma Mater: | University of Chicago |
| Influences: | Burt Blumert, Hayek, Mises, Nock, Ron Paul, Murray Rothbard,Aristotle, Aquinas, Barnes, Bastiat, Bawerk, Calhoun, Cantillon, Chodorov, Locke, Mencken, Menger, Oppenheimer, Plato, Rand, Say, Schumpeter, Socrates, Spencer, Spooner, Sumner |
| Contributions: | Anarcho-capitalism, libertarianism, title-transfer theory of contract |
| Color: | Firebrick |
| Movement: | Libertarianism and anarchism in the United States |
| Organization: | Mises Institute --> |
Butler D. Shaffer (January 12, 1935 – December 29, 2019) was an American author, law professor and speaker, known for his numerous libertarian books and blog articles for LewRockwell.com.[1] He was a professor of Law Emeritus at the Los Angeles-based Southwestern University School of Law.[2]
Shaffer completed his B.S. (Law) in 1958 and B.A., Arts and Sciences in 1959 from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and received his J.D. in 1961 from University of Chicago.[3] During this time, he became a member of the Colorado and Nebraska State Bars. Not long after graduating from law school, Shaffer took a position with the Midwest Employers Council in Lincoln, Nebraska as a labor relations consultant, and soon established a private law practice in Omaha.[4]
Later, he joined the firm of Nelson, Harding, Marchetti, Leonard and Tate and started an academic career at the University of Nebraska College of Business Administration. Professor Shaffer began teaching at the Southwestern Law University in 1977, and continued as a faculty member until he retired in 2015.[5] He taught courses such as administrative law, antitrust law, legal reasoning, possession and ownership, and property transactions.[6]
In 2002, Shaffer was named the Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law in recognition of his outstanding contributions to legal education and scholarship. In 2011, he received the Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 2015, he took Emeritus status.[7] In 2012, Shaffer was awarded the Gary G. Schlarbaum Prize for Lifetime Achievement in the Cause of Liberty, which was bestowed by the Mises Institute.[8]
In his early years, Shaffer was attracted to conservative elements in the Republican Party. In 1961, he became the Executive Secretary of the Republican Party.[9] By 1964 he had declared his support for the U.S. presidential candidacy of Sen. Barry Goldwater.[10] After the defeat of Goldwater in 1964, Shaffer increasingly moved away from the world of politics, arguing in Calculated Chaos: Institutional Threats to Peace and Human Survival, that “institutions are the principle means by which conflict is produced and managed in society. Peace is incompatible with institutional activity.”[11]
During this period, Shaffer had come to the conclusion “that limited government was a chimera and that the state was by nature opposed to liberty.” Eventually, he became more responsive to the anarcho-capitalist ideology of Murray Rothbard and Robert LeFevre. Taking a strong libertarian position, Shaffer wrote a weekly column for Freedom Communications Newspaper chain for many years.
Impressed with the classical liberal ideals of Robert LeFevre, who founded the Freedom School/Rampart College, Shaffer conducted a number of classes at the college from 1966 to 1968 in Colorado.[12] He joined with Sy Leon in helping to operate Rampart College in Santa Ana, California, after LeFevre resigned his position in 1973.