Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
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Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., often referred to as RFK Jr. or Bobby Jr., (born 1954) is the third of eleven children born to Ethel Skakel Kennedy and the late Robert F. Kennedy. He is a lawyer, environmentalist, and radio host on the Air America Radio network.
Kennedy graduated from Harvard University and obtained a law degree from the University of Virginia Law School. In 1984, he joined the River Keepers organization as an attorney and worked with that organization to prosecute polluters of the Hudson River. With fellow environmental attorney John Cronin, Kennedy has created a partnership between the Hudson Riverkeepers and Pace University Law School. Pace University's Environmental Law Clinic allows second and third year law students to try cases against Hudson River polluters (under a special court order). Kennedy has credited the energy and intelligence of the students, as well as access to the Pace law faculty and library, to several legal victories over clients represented by New York's richest and most prestigious law firms. Kennedy currently serves as a Senior Attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC.
Kennedy divorced Emily Black and later married Mary Richardson. In 1983, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was arrested in South Dakota for heroin possession and went into drug treatment for his heroin addiction; he has been clean for over twenty years. Unfortunately, a year later, his brother David Kennedy died of a drug overdose of Demerol and cocaine.
Kennedy, who currently co-hosts Ring of Fire on Air America Radio, was considered to be a possible candidate for Attorney General of New York in 2006. However, on January 25, 2005, Kennedy announced that he had ruled out a candidacy for the office. Should Kennedy have decided to run, he likely would have faced off against brother-in-law Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary.
Kennedy had written various books and articles on environmental issues, including The Riverkeepers and Crimes Against Nature. He contributes to Sierra Club publications, such as Sierra, as well as to reports authored by the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Since May 2005 he's been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.
Example of his journalism
- "Deadly Immunity" (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/06/16/thimerosal/index_np.html) Salon.com June 15, 2005.