Irving Ben Cooper (February 7, 1902 – September 17, 1996) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a
United States district judge
The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...
of the
.
Early life and education
Born on February 7, 1902, in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Cooper received a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
in 1925 from the
Washington University School of Law
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law (WashULaw) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private university in St. Louis, Missouri. WashULaw has consistently ranked among the top law schools in the country; it is c ...
.
Career
Cooper worked in private practice in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, New York, from 1927 to 1938. He served as special counsel for the
New York City Department of Investigation
The New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) is a law enforcement agency of the government of New York City that has been referred to by some observers as New York City's "secret police" because its investigations are confidential and its i ...
from 1934 to 1937. He was a magistrate for New York City from 1938 to 1939. He was a justice of the
New York Court of Special Sessions from 1939 to 1960, serving as chief justice from 1951 to 1960, when he resigned, citing the mental strain of the job. He was a lecturer at the
Menninger Foundation
The Menninger Foundation was founded in 1919 by the Menninger family in Topeka, Kansas. The Menninger Foundation, known locally as Menninger's, consists of a clinic, a sanatorium, and a school of psychiatry, all of which bear the Menninger name. ...
from 1960 to 1961.
Cooper 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 a ...
from President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
on October 5, 1961, to the
, to a new seat authorized by 75 Stat. 80. He was nominated to the same position by President Kennedy on January 15, 1962. His confirmation was opposed by both the
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...
and the
New York County Lawyers Association. During the hearings, Cooper was described by witnesses, according to
Time magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...
, as "a temperamental tyrant who threw tantrums on the bench like a baby in a high chair." During his testimony at the hearing, Cooper refused to sit down, remaining standing for nearly three hours.
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 September 20, 1962, and received his commission on September 28, 1962. He assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...
on February 7, 1972. His service terminated on September 17, 1996, due to his death in New York City.
Notable cases and judicial philosophy
In 1970, Cooper presided over a claim that organized
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...
exerted a monopolistic hold on all major and
minor league teams, and in 1982, a complaint filed by
Jacqueline Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A pop ...
that a photographer was harassing her and her daughter,
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, attorney, and diplomat serving in the Biden administration as the United States Ambassador to Australia since 2022. She previously served in the Obama administration as th ...
.
During his service as
chief justice of the New York Court of Special Sessions, Cooper wrote yearly reports on the problems regarding the treatment of young offenders in the
criminal justice
Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...
system, asserting "It is not impossible for a sentence to be a greater injustice than the criminal act: equivalent to putting a child with a common cold into a smallpox ward for treatment."
See also
*
List of Jewish American jurists
This is a list of notable Jewish American jurists. For other famous Jewish Americans, see Lists of American Jews.
Supreme Court of the United States
Federal judges Appellate judges
* Robert E. Bacharach, Judge of the United States Court of ...
References
External links
Elanor Roosevelt's letter about Judge Cooper's 1953 Report on 'Youthful Offenders'*
ttp://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/am483_97/projects/brady/supcourt.html The Courts and Baseball'The Case of the Albuquerque Eights' Is Closed; Or White-Collar Crime Is Easy*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Irving Ben
British emigrants to the United States
Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy
20th-century American judges
Washington University School of Law alumni
1902 births
1996 deaths
20th-century American lawyers