David L. Bazelon
Encyclopedia
David Lionel Bazelon was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
.
, Bazelon grew up in Chicago
and earned a B.S.L from Northwestern University
in 1931. He worked in private practice for a few years and then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1935 to 1946. He then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney general for the U.S. Lands Division form 1946 to 1949.
from President Harry S. Truman
to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit created by 63 Stat. 493. Bazelon was the youngest judge ever appointed to that court. Formally nominated on January 5, 1950, he was confirmed by the United States Senate
on February 8, 1950, and received his commission on February 10, 1950. From 1962 to 1978 he served as chief judge and semi-retired on June 30, 1979 into senior status
. He served in that capacity until his death, in 1993, of Alzheimer's disease
. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1970.
's; the pair had met in 1956. Justice William O. Douglas
and President Johnson would be their sometime companions on trips to baseball games.
Bazelon served with Warren Burger on the same DC Court of Appeals for over a decade, and the two grew to be not just professional rivals, but personal enemies as well.
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."
Bazelon became a primary source of Justice Brennan's law clerks.
Bazelon was the first appellate judge to suggest that civilly-committed mental patients had a right to treatment, in the 1966 case Rouse v. Cameron.
.
s include prominent figures such as Loftus Becker
, Alan Dershowitz
, Martha Minow
, Thomas Merrill
, John Sexton
, Robert C. Post
, and Eleanor Swift
. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
, an organization devoted to legal advocacy on behalf of persons with mental disabilities, is named after him.
Emily Bazelon
, a journalist and Slate
editor, is the granddaughter of Judge Bazelon.
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal appellate court for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a...
.
Early life, education, and career
Born in WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, Bazelon grew up in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and earned a B.S.L from Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1931. He worked in private practice for a few years and then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1935 to 1946. He then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney general for the U.S. Lands Division form 1946 to 1949.
Federal judicial service
On October 21, 1949, when he was 40 years old, Bazelon received a recess appointmentRecess appointment
A recess appointment is the appointment, by the President of the United States, of a senior federal official while the U.S. Senate is in recess. The U.S. Constitution requires that the most senior federal officers must be confirmed by the Senate before assuming office, but while the Senate is in...
from President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit created by 63 Stat. 493. Bazelon was the youngest judge ever appointed to that court. Formally nominated on January 5, 1950, he was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on February 8, 1950, and received his commission on February 10, 1950. From 1962 to 1978 he served as chief judge and semi-retired on June 30, 1979 into senior status
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
. He served in that capacity until his death, in 1993, of Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1970.
Influencing the United States Supreme Court
Bazelon was for decades the senior judge on the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, and a close associate of Justice William BrennanWilliam J. Brennan, Jr.
William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
's; the pair had met in 1956. Justice William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
and President Johnson would be their sometime companions on trips to baseball games.
Bazelon served with Warren Burger on the same DC Court of Appeals for over a decade, and the two grew to be not just professional rivals, but personal enemies as well.
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."
Bazelon became a primary source of Justice Brennan's law clerks.
Judicial career
Bazelon had a broad view of the reach of the Constitution. Conservatives viewed the judge as dangerous for his tendency to rule in favor of the lower class, the mentally ill, and defendants. 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.Bazelon was the first appellate judge to suggest that civilly-committed mental patients had a right to treatment, in the 1966 case Rouse v. Cameron.
Feud with Burger
Bazelon was the nemesis of Chief Justice Warren Burger beginning from the time both served on the Court of Appeals. 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 BrennanWilliam J. Brennan, Jr.
William Joseph Brennan, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1956 to 1990...
.
Legacy
Bazelon's former law clerkLaw clerk
A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person who provides assistance to a judge in researching issues before the court and in writing opinions. Law clerks are not court clerks or courtroom deputies, who are administrative staff for the court. Most law clerks are recent law school graduates who...
s include prominent figures such as Loftus Becker
Loftus Becker
Loftus E. Becker Jr. is a law professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he teaches criminal law, constitutional law, and a seminar on the Supreme Court. In 1965, he graduated from Harvard College, and in 1969 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as...
, Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
, Martha Minow
Martha Minow
Martha Louise Minow is the Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Professor of Law and the Dean of Harvard Law School. She teaches civil procedure, constitutional law, family law, international criminal justice, jurisprudence, law and education, nonprofit organizations, and the public law workshop...
, Thomas Merrill
Thomas Merrill
Thomas Merrill was a legal scholar at Yale Law School. In 2009, he returned to Columbia Law School as a professor of law. He is a leader in three fields: property, administrative, and environmental law. He received a B.A. from Grinnell College in 1971 and a B.A. with first-class honors in...
, John Sexton
John Sexton
John Edward Sexton is the fifteenth President of New York University, having held this position since May 17, 2002, and the Benjamin Butler Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. From 1988 to 2002, he served as Dean of the NYU School of Law, which during his deanship became one...
, Robert C. Post
Robert Post (law professor)
Robert C. Post is the current dean and a professor of law at Yale Law School.Post earned his law degree from Yale in 1977 and then clerked for D.C. Circuit Judge David Bazelon and Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Post subsequently earned a Ph.D...
, and Eleanor Swift
Eleanor Swift
Eleanor Swift is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. She is best known for her work on the theory of evidence, and additionally teaches civil procedure, the legal profession, and periodic seminars.-Early career:...
. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
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 USA. Originally known as The Mental Health Law Project, the Center was founded as a national public-interest organization in 1972 by a group of specialized...
, an organization devoted to legal advocacy on behalf of persons with mental disabilities, is named after him.
Emily Bazelon
Emily Bazelon
Emily Bazelon is an American journalist, senior editor for online magazine Slate, and a senior research fellow at Yale Law School. Her work as a writer focuses on law, abortion, and family issues.-Journalism career:...
, a journalist and Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
editor, is the granddaughter of Judge Bazelon.