[1][2] He was a leading authority in the field of criminal law, and was widely known for his legal analyses of some of the deepest social problems in the United States.
[2] Kaplan received a bachelor of science degree in physics from Harvard University, then worked in a Naval research lab for several years.
United States Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. recommended this article in a footnote of In re Winship, as an "interesting analysis" of the factfinding process.
.. Heroin maintenance won't work and free availability would be even worse", noting that "increased law enforcement may not prove very cost-effective.
[3] As one of the major social scientists of criminal law, he was known as demanding that legal theory confront the hard facts produced by criminological research.
[1][3] Kaplan was known to his colleagues, students, and community for his academic brilliance, teaching skills, activist concern for others, high energy level, and sense of humor.
[4] Harvard law professor James Q. Wilson said Kaplan was "one of the ablest and brightest people I know in the field of criminal justice", and additionally was one of the best "conversationalists" he knew.
"[1] His sense of self-deprecating humor was described as being of the "New York type" in the Stanford law school newspaper, comparing Kaplan to comedic film director Woody Allen.
[1] The student press described him as being the worst dresser on campus, and having a desk littered with books, manuscripts, messages, tape recorders, and professorial odds and ends ... and with Kaplan's feet, which he hastily removed and started putting some papers in the wastebasket.
"[1] He once broadcast his Criminal Law mid-term like a baseball game over the campus radio station, with "a color commentator, pre-exam warm-up, and interviews with students and TA's after the event".
[3] Colleague Robert Weisberg commented that Kaplan's motives for undergoing experimental treatment derived from his "selfless interest in seeing whether this therapy might work" for others.