Irving Howard Saypol (September 3, 1905 – June 30, 1977) was a

United States attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Southern District of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

New York Supreme Court Justice 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 ...

. He was involved in several high-profile

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

prosecutions, including the

Alger Hiss Alger Hiss (November 11, 1904 – November 15, 1996) was an American government official accused in 1948 of having spied for the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Statutes of limitations had expired for espionage, but he was convicted of perjury in con ...

William Remington William Walter Remington (1917–1954) was an economist employed in various federal government positions until his career was interrupted by accusations of espionage made by the Soviet spy and defector Elizabeth Bentley. He was convicted of ...

, Abraham Brothman, and

Julius and Ethel Rosenberg Julius Rosenberg (May 12, 1918 – June 19, 1953) and Ethel Rosenberg (; September 28, 1915 – June 19, 1953) were American citizens who were convicted of spying on behalf of the Soviet Union. The couple were convicted of providing top-secret i ...

cases.

Biography

He was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on September 3, 1905, on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan, New York City Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

to Louis and Michakin Saypol. While attending night classes at

Brooklyn Law School Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

, from which he graduated in 1927, he married Adele B. Kaplan in September 1925. Their son, Ronald Saypol, served as CEO of

Lionel Corporation Lionel Corporation was an American toy manufacturer and holding company of retailers that had been in business for over 120 years. It was founded as an electrical novelties company. Lionel specialized in various products throughout its existence. ...

from 1968 to 1982. He was admitted to the bar in 1928. Saypol quickly advanced in the

United States Attorney's Office United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

. He became the

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in eight New York counties: New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess and Sullivan. Establishe ...

. Irving Saypol led the prosecution of several members of the

Communist Party of the United States The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

(CPUSA) including

Eugene Dennis Francis Xavier Waldron (August 10, 1905 – January 31, 1961), best known by the pseudonym Eugene Dennis and Tim Ryan, was an American communist politician and union organizer, best remembered as the long-time leader of the Communist Party USA a ...

, William Z. Foster,

John Gates John "Johnny" Gates, born Solomon Regenstreif (28 September 1913 – 23 May 1992) was an American Communist business man, best remembered as one of the individuals spearheading a failed attempt at liberalization of the Communist Party USA in ...

Robert G. Thompson Robert George Thompson (June 21, 1915 – October 16, 1965) was a distinguished US soldier who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) during World War II but was later jailed for several years for his communist sympathie ...

Gus Hall Gus Hall (born Arvo Kustaa Halberg; October 8, 1910 – October 13, 2000) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and a perennial candidate for president of the United States. He was the Communist Party nominee in the ...

, Abraham Brothman and Miriam Moskowitz. As a result of these prosecutions Saypol was described by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' as "the nation's number one legal hunter of top communists." From 1950 to 1951 he was Chief Prosecutor for the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

in the espionage case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and

Morton Sobell Morton Sobell (April 11, 1917 – December 26, 2018) was an American engineer and Soviet spy during and after World War II; he was charged as part of a conspiracy which included Julius Rosenberg and his wife. Sobell worked on military and govern ...

. He gained a reputation as an efficient prosecutor of Communists. Saypol served on the New York Supreme Court from 1952 until 1968. Saypol was one of 14 judges indicted by a controversial special prosecutor who was appointed to investigate police corruption but instead pursued the judiciary. Anthony Lewis, The Zeal of Maurice Nadjari, New York Times, March 28, 1976. None of the prosecutions were successful. In Saypol's case the court found that the allegation of the $125 bribery alleged in the indictment was unsubstantiated. The opinion states: "Taken as a whole, the evidence not only does not establish a legal basis for a charge of bribery, but clearly confirms that there was no bribe." (Decision of Justice Leonard H. Sandler, People v. Sandler, Indictment No. 1875/76, 87/76, p. 9. In 1975 Saypol ruled against the landmark designation for

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

in New York City removing legal barriers to the construction of a 59-story office tower on top of the terminal. Saypol died from cancer on June 30, 1977 at his home at 152 East 94th Street in

.. At his funeral Charles D. Breitel, Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, said "We on the bench knew that he would handle a case with integrity. This often made him the center of controversy, but then people who live a life without controversy are not of much value to themselves or to society." Breitel concluded "He had an outstanding career and was happily married for 52 years. What more could a person ask for?"

References

Sources

The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Sawyers to SaywellBiographies of Participants in the Rosenbergs Trial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saypol, Irving H. 1905 births 1977 deaths 20th-century American Jews Julius and Ethel Rosenberg New York (state) lawyers People from the Lower East Side Brooklyn Law School alumni United States Attorneys for the Southern District of New York New York Supreme Court Justices 20th-century American lawyers