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objection made by the prosecution was granted or sustained. His anger showed, and
Leibowitz found himself mocked, scolded, and reprimanded by the judge. After guilty verdicts and death sentences were handed to Patterson and Norris, a battle for control of the case ensued between Leibowitz and the ILD. Leibowitz's anger with the ILD exploded after two of its attorneys had been charged with attempting to bribe Victoria Price.
314:, the first defendant to be retried, by challenging Alabama's exclusion of blacks from the jury rolls. Local hatred of Leibowitz grew uglier, as death threats were made against him after his tough cross-examination of the alleged victim Victoria Price. One national reporter overheard several people saying, "It'll be a wonder if he gets out of here alive." Five uniformed members of the
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heavy heart, and I feel very badly about it." In the next set of
Scottsboro trials, Leibowitz allowed a local attorney to assume the more visible role while he did the coaching. Leibowitz and others concerned with the Scottsboro Boys' welfare feared that the trials might become a referendum on Leibowitz himself, who had become more unpopular than ever in northern Alabama.
404:. During a nationwide search for Irwin, New York detectives announced their belief that Irwin was insane, but after Irwin had turned himself in, they indicted him for first degree-murder and claimed that he was now sane. Early in trial, Leibowitz negotiated a plea bargain under which Irwin avoided the death penalty but would remain in custody for the rest of his life.
345:, Leibowitz appeared before the US Supreme Court to participate in the appeal of Patterson's and Norris's convictions on the ground that blacks were systematically excluded from Alabama's juries. When Leibowitz alleged that the names of blacks appearing on jury rolls were fraudulently added after Patterson's trial began,
329:." Back in New York after the trial, Leibowitz vowed to defend the defendants "until hell freezes over." Speaking before enthusiastic audiences sometimes numbering in the thousands, he promised to take guilty verdicts to the US Supreme Court and back until Alabama finally gave up: "It'll be a merry-go-round, and if some
484:
What
Leibowitz had been shown on 31 July 1958 was not a strict regime penal colony but the "minimum security" prison at Kryukovo, where inmates were given an opportunity to learn the trade of their choice, and their wives could come and stay for several days. The prison was "governed less by a warden
376:
In early 1937, after a series of secret meetings with Thomas Knight, Leibowitz reluctantly agreed to a compromise, which would result in the release of four of the
Scottsboro Boys and allow prosecutions to again go forward against the others. Of the compromise, Leibowitz said, "I say yes, but with a
352:
asked
Leibowitz if he could prove that allegation. Leibowitz, having anticipated that question, had caused the jury roll books to be brought to Washington. He asked a page to hand the jury rolls and a magnifying glass up to the chief justice. The documents were passed from Justice to Justice, which
298:
who had never been associated with class-based causes. The choice of
Leibowitz convinced many that the Communists were serious about achieving justice for the Alabama defendant and not interested only in making political hay. Leibowitz was asked to accept as co-counsel, but the ILD's chief attorney,
488:
Leibowitz also reviewed the Soviet criminal court system. He concluded that "the Soviet system of criminal law as a whole left much to be desired" and called it "bleak and disheartening." He also noted a few procedures he called worthy of consideration, including the "requirement that the defendant
449:. He was also criticized, however, for lapses in judicial temperament such as losing his temper with litigants and witnesses in his court. When Leibowitz reached the age of 70, he was subject to mandatory retirement unless a board of his fellow judges certified him as fit for continued service. The
302:
After reading the record of the first trials and becoming convinced of the defendants' innocence, Leibowitz accepted the ILD's offer. He did so against the urgings of his wife and many friends, who told him that he had no chance defending
African-American defendants accused of raping white women in
337:
After an
Alabama judge ordered a new trial for Patterson and the state transferred the cases to the courtroom of Judge William Callahan, Leibowitz's frustration grew. Virtually every motion or objection that Leibowitz made before Callahan was denied or overruled, and virtually every motion or
476:
for comments he made in 1959 about the Soviet penal system. "What an intelligent, far-sighted humane administration from top to bottom," wrote the 65-year-old
Leibowitz after had visited the Soviet Union: "In serving out his term of punishment the prisoner retains a feeling of dignity."
497:
Leibowitz died in
January 1978. A collection of his personal and legal papers spanning the years from 1939 to 1976 is housed at the Cornell University Library. An endowed law professorship of trial advocacy at Cornell, once held by renowned lawyer, judge, and lecturer
221:
immigrants, Isaac and Bina Lebeau, and arrived in New York City on March 14, 1897. A neighbor recommended that Isaac Lebeau should Americanize his last name to prosper even further as a businessman and so it was changed to Leibowitz.
333:
doesn't put a bullet through my head, I'll go right along until they let the passengers off." Leibowitz's determined efforts won the affection of his clients. Haywood Patterson said of Leibowitz, "I love him more than life itself."
468:
and asked his audience, "Is the man riding the camel or holding the halter and leading him?" Answers were divided, but not one person in two separate audiences answered that there was no man in the picture on the package.
480:
Solzhenitsyn commented, "Oh, fortunate New York State, to have such a perspicacious jackass for a judge!" Solzhenitsyn used Leibowitz's remark to criticise Western naivety about the Soviet regime and its penal system.
412:
In 1940, Leibowitz was elected to serve a 14-year term as a judge of the Kings County Court, which was the principal trial court for criminal matters in Brooklyn. After briefly considering a third-party nomination for
322:. The famous photo above was widely distributed to show the extent to which Leibowitz and these defendants had to be protected by the National Guard to keep the mob away from them during the Decatur trials.
353:
was highly unusual during oral argument in the Supreme Court, and the facial reactions of the eight Justices sitting indicated their disgust. The Supreme Court again reversed the defendants' convictions in
421:
in 1962 as part of a court reorganization that year, Leibowitz's title changed to New York State Supreme Court Justice. Over the years, Leibowitz heard a number of cases concerning gang activity and
485:
than by a committee of some 10 to 12 prisoners." Leibowitz's comments were directed at what he saw during his visit. Whether he was shown a representative prison is a different question.
453:
controversially opposed his redesignation to the bench. Leibowitz was eventually reappointed, however, and served until 1969, when he reached the final mandatory retirement age of 76.
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442:
Leibowitz developed a reputation as both a tough judge and a "hanging judge." A staunch advocate of the death penalty, he publicly advocated its retention as a deterrent.
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must be shown all the evidence against him before the start of his trial, a practice which would further bolster the rights a U.S. defendant now has."
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362:
After a third set of trials, Leibowitz began to involve himself again in projects unrelated to Scottsboro. He met on death row several times with
866:
901:
801:
325:
Leibowitz was stunned by the jury's guilty verdict in Patterson's 1933 trial. He compared the verdict to "the act of spitting on the tomb of
445:
During Leibowitz's judicial career, his national fame increased in 1950, when he was the subject of an admiring biography by the journalist
303:
the Alabama of the 1930s. Leibowitz would work for the next four years on the cases without pay or reimbursement for most of his expenses.
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242:
652:
871:
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417:, Leibowitz was re-elected to his judgeship in 1954. When the County Courts in New York City were merged into the trial-level
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290:. Many people expressed surprise that the Communists would ask Leibowitz to lead the Scottsboro defense, as he was not
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Although he worked as counsel in dozens of notorious trials, Leibowitz is best remembered as counsel for the
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473:
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Jeffrey S. Hardy, "Gulag Tourism: Khrushchev's 'show' prisons in the Cold War context, 1954-1959" (2010)
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were assigned to protect him during the trial, with another 150 available to defend against a possible
380:
After his work on the Scottsboro Boys case was finished, Leibowitz returned to his New York practice.
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856:
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268:, nine Southern African-American youths who were falsely accused of rape and sentenced to death in
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193:-born American criminal defense attorney. He was best known for representing the
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Cornell University Library, Division of Rare Books and Manuscript Collections,
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He married Belle Munves on December 25, 1919 and fathered three children.
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373:'s baby, in the hopes of convincing him to reveal details of the crime.
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359:, a decision that Leibowitz called a "triumph for American justice."
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In a lecture on the laws of evidence, Leibowitz held up a pack of
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645:
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628:. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 2, 4.
515:, a 2006 film based on the Scottsboro Boys incident of 1931.
576:
People's Lawyers: Crusaders for Justice in American History
727:
Yarin Kimor, "Thinking out of the box – Samuel Leibowitz"
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Shortly before his death, Leibowitz was taken to task by
547:, where he was the defense attorney for Mischa Rosenbaum
461:
Two anecdotes illustrate Leibowitz's creative thinking.
749:, Volume Two, Harper & Row: New York, 1976, p. 147.
392:, a former mental patient who was accused of murdering
341:
After the defendants' convictions were affirmed by the
838:"Longines Chronoscope with Samuel S. Leibowiata (SIC)"
789:"Guide to the Samuel Simon Leibowitz Papers, 1939–1976
306:
Leibowitz quickly became an object of loathing around
601:"The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search"
400:, her mother, and a roomer in New York City during
282:(1932), Leibowitz was brought into the case by the
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149:
138:
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109:
101:
79:
50:
28:
425:. He also presided over the criminal trial of the
388:In June 1937 he undertook the representation of
19:For the leaker of information to a blogger, see
451:Association of the Bar of the City of New York
8:
818:(New York: Farrar, Straus & Co., 1950).
816:Courtroom: The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz
703:Courtroom: The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz
573:Klebanow, Diana; Franklin L. Jonas (2003).
245:and received his undergraduate degree from
189:(August 14, 1893 – January 11, 1978) was a
897:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent
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566:
36:
25:
706:. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. p. 30.
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527:Leibowitz appears as a character in the
518:Leibowitz's name is dropped in the play
887:Romanian emigrants to the United States
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770:"The Two Faces of Justice in Russia,"
217:, in 1893. He was the first child of
7:
692:
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366:, the German immigrant convicted of
288:Communist Party of the United States
197:, and later became a justice of the
209:Samuel Simon Leibowitz was born in
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882:American criminal defense lawyers
260:Representation of Scottsboro Boys
237:. His father had a small shop in
840:is available for viewing at the
653:"Trial lawyer dies at age of 84"
42:Leibowitz photographed with the
877:New York Supreme Court Justices
162:
774:magazine, 8 June 1959, p. 154.
384:Representation of Robert Irwin
310:when he opened his defense of
276:overturned the convictions in
1:
867:20th-century American lawyers
533:The Scottsboro Boys (musical)
180:Marjorie, Robert and Lawrence
902:20th-century American judges
796:Scottsboro Trials Collection
579:. M.E. Sharpe. p. 164.
502:, is named after Leibowitz.
419:New York State Supreme Court
294:or radical but a mainstream
199:New York State Supreme Court
551:Southern Poverty Law Center
284:International Labor Defense
918:
822:Kill the Jew From New York
678:Kill the Jew From New York
659:. Jan 12, 1978. p. 18
624:Leibowitz, Robert (1981).
521:The Man Who Came to Dinner
18:
872:Cornell Law School alumni
249:. He then graduated from
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745:Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
505:Leibowitz was played by
435:for assaulting a fan at
802:"Jurist Before the Bar
474:Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
415:Mayor of New York City
286:, an affiliate of the
225:The family lived in a
187:Samuel Simon Leibowitz
55:Samuel Simon Leibowitz
794:Cornell Law Library,
747:The Gulag Archipelago
343:Alabama Supreme Court
808:, November 15, 1963.
657:The Spokesman-Review
350:Charles Evans Hughes
241:. He graduated from
390:Robert George Irwin
272:in 1931. After the
243:Jamaica High School
732:2011-07-18 at the
251:Cornell Law School
247:Cornell University
215:Kingdom of Romania
114:Cornell University
371:Charles Lindbergh
356:Norris v. Alabama
312:Haywood Patterson
299:Joseph Brodsky.
279:Powell v. Alabama
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842:Internet Archive
826:Decatur, Alabama
812:Quentin Reynolds
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447:Quentin Reynolds
427:Brooklyn Dodgers
274:US Supreme Court
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30:Samuel Leibowitz
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155:Belle Munves
85:(1978-01-11)
862:1978 deaths
857:1893 births
205:Early years
102:Nationality
851:Categories
663:15 October
610:2022-09-20
557:References
368:kidnapping
129:Occupation
61:1893-08-14
700:(1999) .
531:musical "
457:Anecdotes
439:in 1945.
331:Ku Kluxer
320:lynch mob
292:communist
253:in 1915.
730:Archived
539:See also
296:Democrat
227:tenement
191:Romanian
177:Children
105:American
828:, 1933.
782:Sources
684:, 1933.
682:Decatur
430:manager
308:Decatur
270:Alabama
233:on the
171:
159:
73:Romania
710:
632:
583:
396:model
165:
150:Spouse
133:Lawyer
169:)
161:(
157:
806:Time
772:Life
708:ISBN
665:2013
630:ISBN
581:ISBN
211:Iași
167:1919
95:U.S.
80:Died
69:Iași
51:Born
535:."
509:in
229:on
122:LLB
853::
824:.
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