John Francis Scileppi (July 17, 1902 in Corona, Queens,

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– November 26, 1987 in

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Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

He was the son of Ignatius Scileppi and Nunzia Scileppi. He graduated from Newtown High School,Hurley, Ed (December 3, 1978).
Historic Newtown High: An Honor Roll of Notables
. ''Daily News'' (New York, New York). p. QX4. and he earned an LL.B. from

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. In 2013, 91% of the law school's first-time test take ...

in 1925. He was admitted to the bar in 1926. On January 30, 1929, he married Katherine I. Shea, and they had three children. He was Chief Deputy Clerk of Queens County from 1938 to 1939. In 1939, he was elected to the Municipal Court of Queens County, and re-elected in 1949. In 1951, he was elected to the County Court of Queens County, and was designated to 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

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, he was elected 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 to 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 ...

. In 1963, he was the author of a controversial opinion that banned the sale in New York State of ''

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward ...

,'' a novel by

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

, on the ground that it was pornographic. Calling it "dirt for dirt's sake," he wrote that the book was "devoid of theme or idea" and that it contained "a constant repetition of patently offensive words used solely to convey debasing portrayals of natural and unnatural sexual experience." The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

later ruled that the book could not be banned. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1967. He retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1972 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years, and returned to the Supreme Court, at Riverhead, Long Island, as a certificated trial justice until 1976. Here he ruled in 1976 that a woman named Ellen Cooperman did not have the right to change her name to "Cooperperson." Saying that granting the request "would have serious repercussions perhaps throughout the entire country," the judge cited what he called "virtually endless and increasingly inane" possibilities, such as someone named "Jackson" seeking to become "Jackchild" or a woman named "Carmen" wanting to be "Carperson." He died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at the University Hospital in Stony Brook,

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, and was buried at the churchyard of St. James Roman Catholic Church in

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Sources

''The History of the New York Court of Appeals, 1932–2003''
by

Bernard S. Meyer Bernard Stern Meyer (June 7, 1916 Baltimore, Maryland – September 3, 2005 Valley Stream, Nassau County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1936, and from University of Maryland S ...

, Burton C. Agata & Seth H. Agata (page 25)

Court of Appeals judges
''Ex-Judge John F. Scileppi, Author Of Opinion Banning Miller Novel''
Obit in NYT on November 28, 1987 {{DEFAULTSORT:Scileppi, John Francis Judges of the New York Court of Appeals 1902 births 1987 deaths Fordham University School of Law alumni Newtown High School alumni People from Corona, Queens New York Supreme Court Justices American people of Italian descent 20th-century American judges