Norman Redlich (November 12, 1925 – June 10, 2011) was an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

and academic. As a lawyer he is best remembered for his pioneering work in establishing a system of pro bono defense for inmates in New York State who did not have the finances for a lawyer. He was also a staff member of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission. He played an instrumental role in developing the

single bullet theory The single-bullet theory, often derided and discredited by referring to it as the magic-bullet theory, was introduced by the Warren Commission in its investigation of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy to explain what happen ...

Background

Norman Redlich was born on November 12, 1925, in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, the second and youngest child of Pauline and Milton Redlich. His parents were

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 ...

, and they owned a small company which manufactured gardening and plumbing equipment. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; after which he earned his B.A. degree from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

in 1947, and his L.L.B. degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

in 1950.

Career

Redlich wrote for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'' magazine in the late 1940s and into the 1950s. Early coverage included people like

Elizabeth Bentley Elizabeth Terrill Bentley (January 1, 1908 – December 3, 1963) was an American spy and member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). She served the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1945 until she defected from the Communist Party and Soviet intelligenc ...

. He then worked for his parents' company for most of the 1950s while simultaneously pursuing further graduate work at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He received his LLM from the NYU law school in 1955. He joined the faculty at NYU in 1960.

Warren Commission Years

In 1963,

J. Lee Rankin James Lee Rankin (July 8, 1907 – June 26, 1996) was the 31st United States Solicitor General. Early life Rankin was born in Hartington, Nebraska, the son of Herman P. and Lois Gable Rankin. He attended public schools and earned his undergradua ...

appointed Redlich as a special assistant on the

Warren Commission The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the assassination of United States Pr ...

. He was credited with disproving the Belin Theory, which related to a

city bus A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

's pocket helping him escape to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. However, controversy arose when

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

provided

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 � ...

with a probe into Redlich's past and found that he was on the

Emergency Civil Liberties Committee The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (NECLC), until 1968 known as the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, was an organization formed in the United States in October 1951 by 150 educators and clergymen to advocate for the civil liberties ...

, which defended very controversial cases, including those of political activists and communists that the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

and other rights group did not. Following a leak to right-wing politicians, on May 5, 1964,

Ralph F. Beermann Ralph Frederick Beermann (August 13, 1912 – February 17, 1977) was an American Republican politician and US Representative for Nebraska. Early life Born near Dakota City, Nebraska, Beermann graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, Io ...

accused Redlich of defending

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

on various issues. This incident and the ECLC ties led many to consider Redlich a communist sympathizer.

Later years

In 1960 he joined the faculty of the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

, where he was later Dean from 1974 to 1988. In 1972, he was named as Corporation Counsel of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

by then-mayor

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

. In 1975, Redlich became dean of

NYU Law School New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

. From 1977 to 1999, Redlich was a member of the

Vermont Law School Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) is a private law and public policy graduate school in South Royalton, Vermont. It offers several degrees, including Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Laws (LLM) in Environmental Law, Master of Environmental Law a ...

board of trustees. In 1993, he received the highest award given to lawyers by the

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...

, the

Whitney North Seymour Award Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

. In 1996, he was awarded the Robert J. Kutak Award, given annually by the American Bar association's educational department to those who it feels have made outstanding contributions in the field of legal education. Redlich was chairman of the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The AJCongress was ...

national governing council. He was also a member of the executive committee of the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

Legal Defense and Education Fund, and a member of the board of directors of The New Press.

Personal life and death

Redlich was married to Evelyn Grobow, a pediatrician; they had three children Carrie Redlich, Bonny Redlich, and

Ed Redlich Ed Redlich is an American television producer and writer. He was the executive producer for ''Without a Trace'', for which he wrote 5 episodes, as well as the executive producer for ''Shark'' starring James Woods. He created the television serie ...

became a is TV producer/writer. Carrie A. Redlich became a professor of medicine at Yale University's School of Medicine and acting director of the Yale Occupational and Environmental Medicine Program. During his NYU years, Redlich helped to preserve

Washington Square Park Washington Square Park is a public park in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. One of the best known of New York City's public parks, it is an icon as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity. ...

. Redlich died on June 10, 2011.Norman Redlich, Ex-Dean of N.Y.U. Law School, Dies at 85.
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Works

Redlich's works include several books on law. * "Spies in Government: The Bentley Story," ''The Nation'' (January 30, 1954) * "Is the Wall Crumbling?" ''The Nation'' (September 25, 2000) * "The 'Checkers' Speech: A Handbook for Demagogues," ''The Nation'' (April 23, 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redlich, Norman 1925 births 2011 deaths Jewish American military personnel Warren Commission counsel and staff Williams College alumni Yale Law School alumni Lawyers from the Bronx Deans of New York University School of Law United States Army personnel of World War II 21st-century American Jews