David Lionel Bazelon (September 3, 1909 – February 19, 1993) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. federal appellate cou ...

Education and career

Bazelon was born in Superior,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, the son of Lena (Krasnovsky) and Israel Bazelon, a general store proprietor. His parents were Russian Jewish immigrants. Bazelon grew up in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and earned a

Bachelor of Science in Law The Bachelor of Science in Law (BSL) is a somewhat special-purpose undergraduate degree that is typically intended for students who have completed some undergraduate education, but not received a baccalaureate degree, and are intending to resume th ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1931. He

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

to enter the bar in 1932. He entered private practice in Chicago from 1932 to 1935. He was an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the Northern District of Illinois from 1935 to 1946. He then worked as the

United States Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...

for the Public Lands Division of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

from 1946 until June 1, 1947, when he moved to Alien Property, where he remained until he became a judge.

Federal judicial service

In 1948, then-Attorney General

Tom C. Clark Thomas Campbell Clark (September 23, 1899June 13, 1977) was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. Clark ...

lobbied for Bazelon's—Clark's deputy—appointment to the

7th Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the courts in the following districts: * Central District of Illinois * Northern District of Ill ...

in Chicago but his nomination was not supported by Illinois' two US Senators, Democrats

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...

. In Illinois, there was a widespread perception, including by Lucas and Douglas, that Bazelon was not qualified for the post.

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

, Bazelon's long-time "friend and patron", had earlier urged Bazelon to take his post in the Justice Department and supported his bid for a judicial post. After Clark was confirmed as a US Supreme Court Justice, in breach of judicial norms, he continued to lobby for Bazelon's appointment although switching his efforts to getting Bazelon a seat on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Senators Lucas and Douglas supported Bazelon's appointment to that court despite the fact that Bazelon had contributed funds to the unsuccessful 1948 campaign of incumbent Republican US Senator

Charles W. Brooks Charles Wayland Brooks (March 8, 1897 – January 14, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from Illinois from 1940 to 1949. Early life Born in West Bureau, Illinois, Brooks served in the Marines during World War I as a first lieutenant fro ...

, whom Douglas defeated.

Harold L. Ickes Harold LeClair Ickes ( ; March 15, 1874 – February 3, 1952) was an American administrator, politician and lawyer. He served as United States Secretary of the Interior for nearly 13 years from 1933 to 1946, the longest tenure of anyone to hold th ...

, a key figure in the Roosevelt administration, indicated that Bazelon's activities as head of the

Office of Alien Property Custodian The Office of Alien Property Custodian was an office within the government of the United States during World War I and again during World War II, serving as a custodian to property that belonged to US enemies. The office was created in 1917 by E ...

warranted a Senate investigation but predicted none would be forthcoming. Bazelon received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the president of a federal official when the U.S. Senate is in recess. Under the U.S. Constitution's Appointments Clause, the President is empowered to nominate, and with the advi ...

from President

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

on October 21, 1949, to the

, to a new seat authorized by 63 Stat. 493. At 40 years of age, he was the youngest person ever appointed to that court. He was nominated to the same position by President Truman on January 5, 1950. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on February 8, 1950, and received his commission on February 10, 1950. Bazelon served as Chief Judge from 1962 to 1978. He was a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

from 1963 to 1977. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on June 30, 1979. He was the last appeals court judge appointed by President Truman who continued to serve in active service. He assumed inactive senior status in 1985 due to the onset of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. His service terminated on February 19, 1993, due to his death from that condition. Bazelon was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1970.

Influencing the United States Supreme Court

Bazelon was for decades the senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and a close associate of Justice

William J. Brennan Jr. William Joseph "Bill" Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice ...

, whom he had met in 1956. Justice

William O. Douglas William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, who was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views, and is often ci ...

and President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

would be their sometime companions on trips to baseball games. Bazelon served with

Warren E. Burger Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was an American attorney and jurist who served as the 15th chief justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Burger graduated from the William Mitchell ...

on the D.C. Circuit for over a decade, and the two grew to be not just professional rivals, but personal enemies as well.Eisler, 202. The Washington Post would note in 1981 that during the Warren Court era, lawyers who wanted a Bazelon opinion upheld would do well to mention the judge's name as many times as possible in their briefs... "One mention of this name was worth 100 pages of legal research."Eisler, 203. Bazelon became a primary source of Justice Brennan's law clerks.

Judicial career

Bazelon had a broad view of the reach of the Constitution. He expanded the scope of the "insanity" defense in the landmark case of '' Durham v. United States'' (1954) and led the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals toward an expansive view of criminals' rights. Bazelon authored many far-reaching decisions on topics as diverse as the environment, the eighteen-year-old vote, discrimination, and the insanity defense. Many of his "radical" rulings were upheld by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. In '' Rouse v. Cameron'', 373 F.2d 451 (D.C. Cir. 1966), Bazelon, writing for the court, became the first appellate judge to say that civilly committed mental patients had a "right to treatment."

Feud with Burger

Bazelon was the nemesis of Chief Justice

beginning from the time both served on the Court of Appeals.Greenhouse, Linda. Becoming Justice Blackmun. Times Books. 2005. Page 24. Bazelon was a nationally recognized advocate for the rights of the mentally ill, and his opinion in 1954's ''Durham v. United States'' (which adopted a new criminal insanity test) set off a long clash between the two judges. Under Bazelon's ''Durham'' rule, a defendant would be excused from criminal responsibility if a jury found that the unlawful act was "the product of mental disease or mental defect," rather than the product of an "irresistible impulse" (which was the old test). Burger found the ''Durham'' rule deeply objectionable, and this was one of many serious disagreements the two would have over the course of their careers. Bazelon's reach extended to Burger's tenure on the Supreme Court, thanks to Bazelon's close friendship with Justice William J. Brennan Jr.

Legacy

Bazelon's former

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

s include prominent figures such as

Loftus Becker Loftus E. Becker Jr. is a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he teaches criminal law, constitutional law, and a seminar on the Supreme Court. His self-defined greatest accomplishment was teaching Rob o ...

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...

Martha Minow Martha Louise Minow (born December 6, 1954) is an American legal scholar and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University. She served as the Dean of Harvard Law School between 2009 and 2017 and has taught at the Law School sin ...

Thomas Merrill Thomas W. Merrill, a legal scholar, is the Charles Evans Hughes professor at Columbia Law School. He has also taught at Yale Law School and Northwestern University School of Law. He is a leader in three fields: property, administrative, and envir ...

John Sexton John Edward Sexton (born September 29, 1942) is an American lawyer, academic, and author. He is the Benjamin F. Butler Professor of Law at New York University where he teaches at the law school and NYU's undergraduate colleges. Sexton served as t ...

, Robert Post, David O. Stewart, Eleanor Swift,

Barbara Underwood Barbara Dale Underwood (born August 16, 1944) is an American lawyer currently serving as the Solicitor General of New York. She was first appointed to the position in January 2007 by Andrew Cuomo, who was then serving as the state's Attorney Gen ...

, and

John Koskinen John Andrew Koskinen (born June 30, 1939) is an American businessman and public official. He served as the non-executive chairman of Freddie Mac from September 2008 to December 2011, retiring from the board in February 2012. On December 20, 2013, K ...

. The

Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law is a national legal-advocacy organization representing people with mental disabilities in the United States. Originally known as The Mental Health Law Project, the Center was founded as a national public-in ...

, an organization devoted to legal advocacy on behalf of persons with mental disabilities, is named after him. Bazelon also became a very high-profile critic of the

American Correctional Association The American Correctional Association (ACA; called the National Prison Association before 1954) is a private, non-profit, non-governmental trade association and accrediting body for the corrections industry, the oldest and largest such associati ...

, resigning from its accreditation committee. He was very disturbed by what he discovered to be an unaccountable organization that failed in its task of ensuring the professional and humane operations of prisons it evaluated.

Personal life

Bazelon was married to child welfare advocate Miriam (Kellner) Bazelon for 57 years, until his death; they had two sons, James Bazelon and Richard Bazelon. Bazelon's granddaughters are journalist

Emily Bazelon Emily Bazelon (born March 4, 1971) is an American journalist. She is a staff writer for ''The New York Times Magazine,'' a senior research fellow at Yale Law School, and co-host of the ''Slate'' podcast ''Political Gabfest''. She is a former sen ...

, University of San Francisco law professor Lara Bazelon, co-founder of Bridges to Wealth Jill Bazelon, and Assistant District Attorney in Philadelphia Dana Bazelon.

References

External links

*
Biography at Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law

David L. Bazelon Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazelon, David Lionel 1909 births 1993 deaths People from Superior, Wisconsin Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit United States court of appeals judges appointed by Harry S. Truman 20th-century American judges Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Washington, D.C. Northwestern University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Assistant United States Attorneys United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Jewish American attorneys American people of Russian-Jewish descent Members of the National Academy of Medicine