Bernard Stern Meyer (June 7, 1916

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

– September 3, 2005 Valley Stream,

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Island ...

) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He graduated from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 1936, and from University of Maryland School of Law in 1938. Soon after, he was admitted to the bar in Maryland. he married and they had children. In 1941, he joined the staff of the General Counsel of the U.S. Treasury. From 1943 to 1946, he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in the Pacific Theater of Operations. After the war, he was admitted to the bar in New York, and commenced practice in 1947. In 1958, he was elected to a fourteen-year term on the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, he ran on the Democratic and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

tickets for the

New York Court of Appeals The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the Unified Court System of the State of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six Associate Judges who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by t ...

but was defeated. In 1975, he was appointed Special Deputy

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

to probe into the aftermath of the Attica Prison riot in 1971. His principal task was to evaluate a charge that crimes alleged to have been committed by law enforcement officers during the siege were later covered up by the State. In December 1975, after an eight-month inquiry, Meyer released the first volume of his findings, a 570-page document that came to be known as the ''Meyer Report''. The report concluded that, despite "serious errors in judgment," there had been "no intentional cover-up" by the prosecution. In 1979, he was appointed by Governor

Hugh L. Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Party. ...

to the Court of Appeals, to the seat vacated by the appointment of

Lawrence H. Cooke Lawrence Henry Cooke (October 15, 1914, Monticello, Sullivan County, New York – August 17, 2000, Monticello, Sullivan Co., NY) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1979 ...

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

. Meyer retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1986 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law as a senior partner in the firm o
Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein
in

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located on Long Island in Nassau County New York. It is the Greater Garden City area's anchor community. The population was 23,272 at the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within ...

. He co-authored, with Burton C. Agata and Seth H. Agata
''The History of the New York Court of Appeals, 1932-2003''
published in 2006 (with his own short bio on page 31), which continues the work ''The History of the New York Court of Appeals 1847-1932'' which was published by Judge

Francis Bergan Francis Bergan (April 20, 1902 Albany, New York – March 23, 1998 Albany, NY) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He was the son of Michael Bergan and Mary Bergan. He was educated at the New York State College for Teachers. Then he worke ...

in 1985.

Sources

Court of Appeals judges
''Bernard S. Meyer, 89; Served on New York's Top Court''
in NYT on September 8, 2005
Bernard S. Meyer Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Bernard Stern Judges of the New York Court of Appeals 1916 births 2005 deaths Johns Hopkins University alumni Politicians from Baltimore People from Valley Stream, New York New York Supreme Court Justices University of Maryland, Baltimore alumni People from Garden City, New York Lawyers from Baltimore 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers United States Navy personnel of World War II