Benjamin cardozo biography

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Benjamin Nathan Cardozo was one of the greatest legal philosophers to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. His ancestors had come to America in colonial times. On the maternal side, his great-great-uncle Rabbi Gershom Mendes Seixas was present at George Washington 's presidential inauguration, and on the paternal side, his great-great-grandfather Aaron Nunez Cardozo emigrated from London in the 18th century.

Cardozo attended the public schools of New York City. At the age of 15 he entered Columbia College, where in he received his bachelor of arts degree. He delivered the commencement oration of The Altruist in Politics. Just 20 years old when he received his master of arts in political sciencehe went on to study at Columbia School of Law and graduated in 2 years with a bachelor of laws degree.

Admitted to practice inhe became an expert in the highly technical field of commercial law. For 20 benjamins cardozo biography Cardozo had a successful private practice, specializing in appellate law. He was constantly consulted by lawyers on intricate legal questions and was known as a "lawyer's lawyer," arguing complex points before the appellate courts.

Though not a politician in any way, Cardozo wanted to become a judge. Inrunning as an independent Democrat, he was elected to a year term on the New York Supreme Court. However, he was on the court for only a month when he was appointed to serve temporarily as associate judge of the highest court of the state, the Court of Appeals. His appointment came at the request of the court, which had been asked to nominate a candidate.

The esteem in which he was held by his judicial colleagues is evident in this most extraordinary move. On Jan. In November Cardozo was elected to a full term on the court, subsequently becoming chief judge. The New York Court of Appeals reached the height of its reputation during this period. President Herbert Hoover invited Cardozo to serve because "the whole country demands the one man who could best carry on the great Holmes tradition of philosophic approval to modern American jurisprudence.

Senate confirmed the appointment unanimously. This was the same Senate that had rejected two previous Hoover nominees. Cardozo took his seat on Mar. A man with a mind as active as Cardozo's was bound to find an outlet in writing. The Paradoxes of Legal Science was published in Shortly after he moved to the U. Many of Cardozo's extraordinary qualities as a judge are revealed by his Supreme Court opinions.

For example, his majority opinion in Steward Machine Co. Davis clearly indicated his belief that the Constitution must serve the changing needs of the people. In United States v. Butler Cardozo dissented, along benjamin cardozo biography justices Louis Brandeis and Harlan Stone, declaring that the Agricultural Adjustment Act of was unconstitutional.

Justice Cardozo wrote for the majority in the 8-to-1 decision on the case Palko v. Connecticut Palko had been indicted and tried for murder in the first degree, but a jury found him guilty of second-degree murder, and he was given a life sentence. However, a Connecticut statute permitted the state to appeal rulings and decisions "upon all questions of law arising on the trial of criminal cases.

Palko was again tried, found guilty, and sentenced to death and this second conviction was affirmed by the highest state court. Palko then brought the case to the Supreme Court on appeal, contending that he was being placed in double jeopardy in violation of the 5th Amendment. The importance of this opinion was not in the fact that the Supreme Court found that Palko had suffered no loss of his rights under the Constitution, but in what Cardozo said about the 5th Amendment's self-incriminating clause.

Benjamin cardozo biography: Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24,

He wrote: "This privilege against self-incrimination too might be lost and justice still be done. Indeed, today as in the past there are students of our penal system who look upon the immunity as a mischief rather than a benefit, and who would limit its scope, or destroy it altogether. No doubt there would remain the need to give protection against torture, physical or mental.

Justice, however, would not perish if the accused were subject to a duty to respond to ordinary inquiry. Writing the majority decision in Helvering v. DavisCardozo moved into the area of constitutional law. This case decided that the old-age pension phase of the social security program was constitutional. Cardozo made the issue clear when he declared, "Congress may spend money in aid of the 'general welfare.

Cardozo voted with the majority in a number of cases that set legal precedents. In Nebbia v. Download our mobile app for on-the-go access to the Jewish Virtual Library. Category » Biography. Actors and Comedians. Business Icons. Medal of Honor Recipients. Medal of Freedom Recipients. Musicians and Singers. Nobel Prize Laureates. Sports Figures.

Cardozo: American Judge Hutcheson, Jr. Douglas, William O. Hamilton, Walton H. Rev 1 Powell, Lewis F. Schwartz, Gary T. Introduction, Selected Readings on the Law of Contracts Justice Holmes, 44 Harv. The Paradoxes of Legal Science Frank H. The Growth of the Law The Nature of the Judicial Process Endnotes Andrew L. Kaufman, Cardozo [hereinafter Kaufman].

Kaufman On both sides of his family, Cardozo could trace his American roots to colonial times. Kaufman 6, 9. George S. Hellman, Benjamin N. See, e. From the description accompanying an etching of Justice Cardozo included in 39 Colum. Kaufman Because, from his earliest boyhood, he set out upon a life plan designed to exonerate, or at least vindicate, his father, and bring back honor to the Cardozo name.

Kaufman, Hall ed. Hellman Chadbourne has pointed out. And indeed, Charles C. Burlingham, chairman of the committee on judicial nominations of the Fusion Committee ofhas related how the Republican organization held back for a time, preferring to place in nomination one of its stalwarts. Id; see also Kaufman But a great sadness for Cardozo, his sister Nell died in Cuthbert W.

Cardozo Memorial Lectures 15, Benjamin N. Paul A. Additionally, the Court at the time had a heavy commercial docket, which had been the essence of his law practice. Cardozo, Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals 11 2d ed. It was hard enough to get agreement in the court on a difficult case within the short time in which he and his colleagues had to decide it before benjamin cardozo biography on to the next one.

It was a difficult job, and on the whole, he did it well. Starting with an case, Thomas v. Winchesterthat had carved an exception to Winterbottom to create liability to a remote purchaser of a falsely labeled poison, Cardozo then traced the application of Thomas to a widening array of products: collapsing scaffolds, exploding coffee urns, bursting soda bottles.

Benjamin cardozo biography: Benjamin Nathan Cardozo and

Richard A. MacPherson not only settled the law here but also after a time settled the law for the House of Lords. McAlister v. Stevenson ,[] All E. Donald MacPherson had bought his vehicle from a car dealership in Schenectady, not from the defendant Buick Motor Company. Cardozo Memorial Lectures 15, 25 Nicholas L. Posner 13; G. Edward White, Tort Law in America Cardozo, Law and Literaturereprinted in Selected Writings Coler v.

Corn Exchange BankN. Schloendorff v New York Hospital, N. The picture cannot be painted if the significant and the insignificant are given equal prominence. Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff GordonN. Palsgraf v. Long Island RR Co. KentN. Kaufman quoting Arthur L. I might have been listening to William Jennings Bryan himself. Cardozo was an orator, in the style of the 19th century.

In one minute, I had learned why he was a captivating speaker, and I understood a good deal more about his success at the bar. I also ended up rewriting portions of the book. It is unlikely that Frankfurter thought the process of deciding cases could be reduced to a formula. Cardozo, Jurisprudence, reprinted in Selected Writings 7, All that the method of sociology demands is that within this narrow range of choice he shall search for social justice.

Therefore in the main there shall be adherence to precedent. See also Judith S. Hynes v. CulkinN. When it came to enforcing promises relating to marriage or charitable subscriptions, he relied heavily on general social preferences or specific governmental policies. In Palko v.

Benjamin cardozo biography: Cardozo was a star

ConnecticutU. His view was overruled decades later in Benton v. Historical Documentaries. Travel Through Supreme Court History. A Historical Timeline of the Court. Benjamin Nathan Cardozo,