Correction to: Criminal Law Forum https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-023-09459-7


I write in response to Roger Clark’s reflection, published on May 29, 2023, in Criminal Law Forum, on the life of Benjamin B. Ferencz, a former Nuremburg prosecutor who died at the age of 103 this past April (“ROGER S. CLARK, IN MEMORIAM: BENJAMIN BERELL FERENCZ 1920–2023). For more than 25 years I had the honor of serving Mr. Ferencz in various capacities, supporting his work in pursuit of international justice and legal accountability. Early on, Mr. Ferencz asked me to develop a website to archive his writings, which I have curated and maintained for since 2000. I write to note an error in Mr. Clark’s reflection, in which he claims that Mr. Ferencz sometimes wrote under a “nom de plume” of “Daniel Skinner,” which he speculates was “apparently borrowed from an amanuensis of John Milton.”

I assure you that Mr. Ferencz never published a word under a nom de plume. I assure you, as well, that the Dan Skinner at issue is me, as my name appears throughout Mr. Ferencz’s website only because I assisted him by posting his writings. The website (benferencz.org) is quite clear that I serve as webmaster with the sole mission of chronicling and celebrating Mr. Ferencz’s life’s work.

Those who knew Mr. Ferencz know that he spoke clearly, courageously, and in his own voice in his efforts to advocate the rule of law over the scourge of war. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Clark took an opportunity of memorialization to introduce an error into the record—an error that could have been avoided with a simple email. I hope this communication clears things up and request that Criminal Law Forum memorialize the mistake in its formal, published erratum.


Roger’s reply


When I checked Ben’s website in the course of writing my reflections, I noticed (as I had previously) that several entries in Ben’s stories (obviously written in Ben’s style) had authorship attributed to a Daniel Skinner. This included the hilarious entry referenced in footnote 9 of my tribute. Knowing Ben’s quirky sense of humour, I inferred (incorrectly as Professor Skinner explains) that Ben had deliberately used a nom de plume. I did not find any reference on the website to Professor Skinner or his important role as webmaster. I now notice upon returning to the website that the entries in question have been re-attributed to list Benjamin Ferencz as author.