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[[File:Peter Adler.jpg|thumb|Peter Adler 2021]]
'''{{FULLPAGENAME}}}''', J.D., M.A., from Massachusetts, USA, is a law professor and legal scholar who has published numerous articles about [[circumcision]] and the law, three of which laid the groundwork for lawsuits in the U.S.
Adler has a B.A. in Philosophy from [https://home.dartmouth.edu/ Dartmouth] College (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), a M.A. in Philosophy and Ethics from [https://www.cam.ac.uk/ Cambridge] (with Honours), and a J.D. from the University of [https://www.law.virginia.edu/ University of Virginia School of Law] (Law Review).
== Legality article and lawsuit ==
In 2012, Adler published “Is Circumcision Legal?” in the Virginia Journal of Law and Public Policy<ref>{{REFjournal |title=Is Circumcision Legal? |url=https://scholarship.richmond.edu/jolpi/vol16/iss3/3/ |last=Adler |first=Peter W. |init=PW |author-link=Peter W. Adler |volume=16 |journal=Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest (J.L. & Pub. Int.) |issue=439 |date=2013 |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref>, arguing that under U.S. law, as a court had ruled in a case in Cologne, Germany earlier that year, it is assault and a crime for a physician to circumcise a boy for religious reasons, as it violates the child’s right to bodily integrity and self-determination, and the child’s rights supersede the parents’ religious and other rights. The article was used and cited in a federal lawsuit in 2015 in Florida in a “spite circumcision” case that gained national attention, but the lawyer for the plaintiff dropped the suit. The mother, [[Heather Hironimus]], wanted to protect her son from [[circumcision]], while the estranged father was intent on having him circumcised in accordance with their separation agreement. A judge in state court put the mother in jail until she gave permission for the [[circumcision]]. A physician circumcised the young boy against his wishes and over the objection of the mother<ref>{{REFnews |quote= |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220170018/http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime--law/charges-dropped-against-boynton-mom-who-fought-son-circumcision/2GDmBYbkPXC8prlU91r1aL/ |title=Charges dropped against Boynton mom who fought son’s circumcision |last=Duret |first=Daphne |publisher=Palm Beach Post |archived=yes |date=2017-02-20 |accessdate=2019-09-14}}</ref> using a false diagnosis of phimosis or a tight foreskin.
== Fraud article and lawsuit ==
In 1999, the legal scholar Matthew Giannetti had published an article in the Iowa Law Review arguing that the 1989 and 1999 [[circumcision]] guidelines of the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] ([[AAP]]) were biased, scientifically indefensible, negligent, and possibly fraudulent<ref>{{REFweb |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/legal/giannetti/ |title=Circumcision and the American Academy of Pediatrics: Should Scientific Misconduct Result in Trade Association Liability? |last=Giannetti |first=Matthew R. |init=MR |journal=Iowa Law Review |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=1507-1568 |date=2000-05 |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref>.
In 2012, the AAP made even more extravagant claims that legal scholars<ref>{{REFjournal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236060629_Out_of_step_Fatal_flaws_in_the_latest_AAP_policy_report_on_neonatal_circumcision |title=Out of step: Fatal flaws in the latest AAP policy report on neonatal circumcision |last=Svoboda |first=J. Steven |init=JS |author-link=J. Steven Svoboda |last2=Van Howe |first2=Robert S. |init2=RS |author2-link=Robert S. Van Howe |date=2013-03 |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |volume=39 |issue=7 |DOI=10.1136/medethics-2013-101346 |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref> and medical experts and ethicists<ref>{{REFweb |url=http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/08/the-aap-report-on-circumcision-bad-science-bad-ethics-bad-medicine/ |title=The AAP report on circumcision: Bad science + bad ethics = bad medicine |last=Earp |first=Brian D. |init=BD |author-link=Brian D. Earp |date=2013-05-27 |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref> in the United States<ref>{{REFweb |url=https://www.academia.edu/23431341/Statement_by_Statement_Analysis_of_the_2012_Report_from_the_American_Academy_of_Pediatrics_Task_Force_on_Circumcision_When_National_Organizations_are_Guided_by_Personal_Agendas_II |title=Statement by Statement Analysis of the 2012 Report from the American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force on Circumcision: When National Organizations are Guided by Personal Agendas II |last=Van Howe |first=Robert S. |init=RS |author-link=Robert S. Van Howe |date= |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref> and Europe<ref>{{REFjournal |url=https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/4/796 |title=Cultural Bias in the AAP’s 2012 Technical Report and Policy Statement on Male Circumcision |last=Frisch |first=Morten |init=M |author-link=Morten Frisch |etal=yes |journal=Pediatrics |date=2013-04 |volume=131 |issue=4 |pages=796-800 |DOI=10.1542/peds.2012-2896 |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref> criticized.
On July 24, 2014, at the [[Genital Autonomy America]] Symposium in Boulder, Colorado, Adler gave a presentation asking "Is the Circumcision of Children a Fraud?". After the talk, [[Robert Van Howe]], {{MD}}, suggested that they publish an article based on it as a sequel to Giannetti’s article.
In November 2020, Adler, Van Howe, [[Travis Wisdom]], and Felix Daase published “Is Circumcision a Fraud?” in the Cornell Journal of Law and Policy<ref>{{REFdocument |url=https://community.lawschool.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Adler-et-al-final.pdf |title=Is Circumcision a Fraud? |last=Adler |first=Peter W. |init=PW |author-link=Peter W. Adler |format=PDF |accessdate=2021-06-19}}</ref>. They argued that [[circumcision]] is a complex multibillion dollar per year fraud dating back 150 years, as follows:
# Physicians use fraudulent conduct in the hospital: they target newborn boys who are unable to defend themselves; target mothers who have just given birth, often on medications, who they should know are legally incapacitated; and medical professionals often badger the parents to give permission numerous times, which constitutes coercion.