Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the U ...
who served on 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 ...
from 1914 to 1932 and as an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of ...
from 1932 until his death in 1938. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
in the 20th century, in addition to his philosophy and vivid prose style.
Born in
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 ...
, Cardozo passed the bar in 1891 after attending
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
. He won an election 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 1913 but joined 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 ...
the following year. He won election as Chief Judge of that court in 1926. As Chief Judge, he wrote majority opinions on cases such as ''
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
''Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.'', 248 N.Y. 339, 162 N.E. 99 (1928), is a leading case in American tort law on the question of liability to an unforeseeable plaintiff. The case was heard by the New York Court of Appeals, the highest ...
''
In 1932, President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...
appointed Cardozo to the
U.S. Supreme Court to succeed
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Cardozo served on the Court until his death in 1938, and formed part of the liberal bloc of justices known as the
Three Musketeers
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...
. He wrote the Court's majority opinion in notable cases such as ''
Nixon v. Condon'' and ''
Steward Machine Co. v. Davis''.
Early life and family
Cardozo, the son of Rebecca Washington (née Nathan) and
Albert Jacob Cardozo,
was born in 1870 in
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 ...
. Both Cardozo’s maternal grandparents, Sara Seixas and Isaac Mendes Seixas Nathan, and his paternal grandparents, Ellen Hart and Michael H. Cardozo, were
Western Sephardim
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the ...
of the
Portuguese-Jewish community, and affiliated with
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
’s
Congregation Shearith Israel
The Congregation Shearith Israel (Hebrew: קהילת שארית ישראל ''Kehilat She'arit Yisra'el'' "Congregation Remnant of Israel") – often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue – is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Unit ...
. Their ancestors had immigrated to the British colonies from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
before the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
The family were descended from Jewish-origin
New Christian
New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...
conversos. They left the
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
for
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former Provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
during the
Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
.
There they returned to the practice of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
. Cardozo family tradition held that their
marrano
Marranos were Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in the Iberian Peninsula who converted or were forced to convert to Christianity during the Middle Ages, but continued to practice Judaism in secrecy.
The term specifically refers to the char ...
(New Christians who maintained crypto-Jewish practices in secrecy) ancestors were from
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
,
although Cardozo’s ancestry has not been firmly traced to that country.
But ”
Cardozo” (archaic spelling of ''Cardoso''), ”
Seixas Seixas ( or ) is a common Galician and Portuguese surname. It may refer to:
* Carlos Seixas – Portuguese composer of the 18th century
* Gershom Mendes Seixas – minister of Congregation Shearith Israel
* Francisco Seixas da Costa – Portuguese ...
” and ”
Mendes
Mendes ( grc-gre, Μένδης, '' gen''.: ), the Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in ancient Egypt as Per-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord of Djedet") and Anpet, is known today as Tell El-Ruba ( ar, تل ا ...
” are the Portuguese, rather than Spanish, spelling of those common Iberian surnames.
Benjamin Cardozo had a fraternal twin, his sister Emily. There were four other siblings, including an older sister Nell and older brother.
Benjamin was named for his uncle,
Benjamin Nathan, a vice president of the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its liste ...
. He was murdered in 1870 and the case was never solved. Among their many cousins, given their deep history in the US, was the poet
Emma Lazarus
Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was an American author of poetry, prose, and translations, as well as an activist for Jewish and Georgist causes. She is remembered for writing the sonnet " The New Colossus", which was inspire ...
. Other earlier relations include
Francis Lewis Cardozo (1836–1903),
Thomas Cardozo, and
Henry Cardozo,
free men of color of
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. Francis became a Presbyterian minister in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134 ...
after education in Scotland, and was elected as Secretary of State of South Carolina during the Reconstruction era. Later he worked as an educator in Washington, DC under a Republican administration.
Albert Cardozo, Benjamin Cardozo’s father, was a judge on the
Supreme Court of New York
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 ...
(the state’s general trial court) until 1868. He was implicated in a judicial corruption scandal, sparked by the
Erie Railway
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Eri ...
takeover wars, and forced to resign. The scandal also led to the creation of the
Association of the Bar of the City of New York. After leaving the court, the senior Cardozo practiced law for nearly two decades more until his death in 1885.
When Benjamin and Emily were young, their mother Rebecca died. The twins were raised during much of their childhood largely by their sister Nell, who was 11 years older. Benjamin remained devoted to her throughout his life.
Education
One of Benjamin’s tutors was
Horatio Alger
Horatio Alger Jr. (; January 13, 1832 – July 18, 1899) was an American author who wrote young adult novels about impoverished boys and their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of middle-class security and comfort through good works. His wr ...
.
At age 15, Cardozo entered
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
where he was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
. He was admitted to
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
in 1889. Cardozo wanted to enter a profession that could enable him to support himself and his siblings, but he also hoped to restore the family name, sullied by his father’s actions as a judge. Cardozo left law school after two years without a law degree.
Legal career
Law practice
Cardozo passed the bar in 1891 and began practicing appellate law alongside his older brother.
Benjamin Cardozo practiced law in New York City until year-end 1913 with Simpson, Warren and Cardozo.
Interested in advancement and restoring the family name, Cardozo ran for a judgeship on 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 November 1913, Cardozo was elected by a large margin to a 14-year term on that court, taking office on January 1, 1914.
New York Court of Appeals
In February 1914, Cardozo was designated 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 ...
under the Amendment of 1899. He was reportedly the first Jewish person to serve on the Court of Appeals.
In January 1917, he was appointed by the governor to a regular seat on the Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
Samuel Seabury
Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalist ...
. In
November 1917, he was elected on the
Democratic and
Republican tickets to a 14-year term on the Court of Appeals.
In
1926, he was elected, on both tickets again, to a 14-year term as
Chief Judge
A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...
. He took office on January 1, 1927, and resigned on March 7, 1932 to accept an appointment to 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 ...
.
His tenure was marked by a number of original rulings, in
tort
A tort is a civil wrong that causes a claimant to suffer loss or harm, resulting in legal liability for the person who commits the tortious act. Tort law can be contrasted with criminal law, which deals with criminal wrongs that are punishable ...
and
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
law in particular. This is partly due to timing; rapid industrialization was forcing courts to look anew at old common law components to adapt to new settings.
In 1921, Cardozo gave the Storrs Lectures at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
, which were later published as ''
The Nature of the Judicial Process
''The Nature of the Judicial Process'' is a legal classic written by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and New York Court of Appeals Chief Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo in 1921. It was compiled from The Storrs Lectures delivere ...
''
On line version, a book that remains valuable to judges today.
Shortly thereafter, Cardozo became a member of the group that founded the
American Law Institute
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs ...
, which crafted a
Restatement of the Law of Torts, Contracts, and a host of other private law subjects. He wrote three other books that also became standards in the legal world.
While on the Court of Appeals, he criticized the
exclusionary rule
In the United States, the exclusionary rule is a legal rule, based on constitutional law, that prevents evidence collected or analyzed in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights from being used in a court of law. This may be consider ...
as developed by the federal courts, saying: ”The criminal is to go free because the constable has blundered”. He noted that many states had rejected the rule, but suggested that the adoption by the federal courts would affect the practice in the sovereign states.
[ ]
United States Supreme Court
On February 15, 1932, President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...
nominated
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* ...
Cardozo as an
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court
An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...
,
to succeed
Oliver Wendell Holmes. ''
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 ...
'' said of Cardozo’s appointment that "seldom, if ever, in the history of the Court has an appointment been so universally commended."
The Democrat Cardozo's appointment by a Republican president has been referred to as one of the few Supreme Court appointments in history that was not motivated by partisanship or politics, but strictly based on the nominee's contribution to law.
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 24, 1932,
[ and was sworn into office on March 14.][ During a radio broadcast soon after Cardozo's confirmation, Clarence C. Dill, a Democratic senator from Washington, called Hoover's appointment of Cardozo "the finest act of his career as President." The entire faculty of the ]University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dis ...
had urged Hoover to nominate Cardozo, as did the deans of the law schools at Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. Justice Harlan Fiske Stone strongly urged Hoover to name Cardozo, even offering to resign to make room for him if Hoover had his heart set on someone else (Stone had suggested to Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...
that he should nominate Cardozo in 1925 before Stone). Hoover originally demurred; he was concerned that there were already two justices from New York, and a Jew on the court. Justice James McReynolds was a notorious anti-Semite. When the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...
, William E. Borah
William Edgar Borah (June 29, 1865 – January 19, 1940) was an outspoken Republican United States Senator, one of the best-known figures in Idaho's history. A progressive who served from 1907 until his death in 1940, Borah is often con ...
of Idaho, added his strong support for Cardozo, however, Hoover finally bowed to the pressure.
Cardozo was a member of the Three Musketeers
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...
, along with Brandeis and Stone, who were considered to be the liberal faction of the Supreme Court. In his years as an associate justice, Cardozo wrote opinions that stressed the necessity for the tightest adherence to the Tenth Amendment.
In his own words
Cardozo’s opinion of himself shows some of the same flair as his legal opinions:
In truth, I am nothing but a plodding mediocrity—please observe, a plodding mediocrity—for a mere mediocrity does not go very far, but a plodding one gets quite a distance. There is joy in that success, and a distinction can come from courage, fidelity and industry.
Honors
Cardozo received the honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...
of LL.D. from several colleges and universities, including: Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
(1915); Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
(1921); 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
* '' ...
(1922); Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
(1923); Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
(1927); St. John’s (1928); St. Lawrence (1932); Williams (1932); Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
(1932); Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
(1932); Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...
(1933); and Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
(1933).
Personal life
As an adult, Cardozo no longer practiced Judaism (he identified as an agnostic), but he was proud of his Jewish heritage.
Of the six children born to Albert and Rebecca Cardozo, only his twin sister Emily married. She and her husband did not have any children.
Constitutional law scholar Jeffrey Rosen noted in a ''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 ...
'' Book Review of Richard Polenberg
Richard Polenberg (1937-2020) was an American historian.
Background
Richard Polenberg was born on July 21, 1937. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Columbia University, the la ...
’s book on Cardozo:
In late 1937, Cardozo had 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 ma ...
, and in early 1938, he suffered a stroke
A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...
. He died on July 9, 1938, at the age of 68. He was buried in Beth Olam Cemetery
The Beth Olam Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, New York City. It is located in the city's Cemetery Belt, bisected by the border between Brooklyn and Queens.
It is a rural cemetery in style, and was started in 1851 by th ...
in Queens.
Ethnicity
Cardozo was the second Jewish justice to be appointed to the Supreme Court. The first was Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.
Starting in 1890, he helped develop the " right to privacy" concep ...
, whose family was Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
.
Cardozo was born into the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community, which had traditions distinct from the Ashkenazi. Since the appointment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
in the 21st century, some commentators have suggested that Cardozo should be considered the ”first Hispanic justice”.
In response to this controversy, Cardozo biographer Kaufman questioned the usage of the term ”Hispanic” in Justice Cardozo’s lifetime, stating: ”Well, I think he regarded himself as a Sephardic Jew
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
whose ancestors came from the Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
”. After centuries in British North America, Cardozo "confessed in 1937 that his family preserved neither the Spanish language nor Iberian cultural traditions”. Ancestors had lived in England, the British colonies, and the United States since the 17th century.
Some Latino advocacy groups, such as the National Association of Latino Elected Officials
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) is the 501(c)(4) nonpartisan leadership organization of the nation's more than 6,700 Latino elected and appointed Latino public officials in the United States. NALEO Educ ...
and the Hispanic National Bar Association
The Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) is a 501(c)(6) organization representing Hispanics in the legal profession, including attorneys, judges, law professors, legal assistant and paralegals, and law students in the United States and its ...
, consider Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Maria Sotomayor (, ; born June 25, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on May 26, 2009, and has served since ...
to be the first Hispanic justice, as in their view she was raised in Hispanic culture.[
]
Cases
;New York Courts
*''Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital
''Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospital'', 105 N.E. 92 (N.Y. 1914), was a decision issued by the New York Court of Appeals in 1914 which established principles of respondeat superior in United States law.
Facts
In January 1908, Mary Schloen ...
'', 105 N.E. 92 (1914) it is necessary to get informed consent from a patient before operation, but a non-profit hospital was not vicariously liable (the latter aspect was reversed in 1957)
*''MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.
''MacPherson v. Buick Motor Co.''is a famous New York Court of Appeals opinion by Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo that removed the requirement of privity of contract for duty in negligence actions.
Facts
The plaintiff, Donald C. MacPherson, a stonecutt ...
'', 111 N.E. 1050 (1916) ending privity
Privity is the legal term for a close, mutual, or successive relationship to the same right of property or the power to enforce a promise or warranty. It is an important concept in contract law.
Contract law
{{main article, Privity of contract
The ...
as a prerequisite to duty in product liability
Product liability is the area of law in which manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, retailers, and others who make products available to the public are held responsible for the injuries those products cause. Although the word "product" has b ...
by ruling that manufacturers of products could be held liable for injuries to consumers regardless of lack of privity.
*'' De Cicco v. Schweizer'', 117 N.E. 807 (1917) where Cardozo approached the issue of third party beneficiary
A third-party beneficiary, in the law of contracts, is a person who may have the right to sue on a contract, despite not having originally been an active party to the contract. This right, known as a ''ius quaesitum tertio'', arises when the thir ...
law in a contract for marriage case.
*''Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
''Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon'', 222 N.Y. 88, 118 N.E. 214 (1917), is a New York state contract case in which the New York Court of Appeals held Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, to a contract that assigned the sole right to market her name to her adv ...
'', 118 N.E. 214 (1917) on an implied promise to do something constituting consideration
Consideration is a concept of English common law and is a necessity for simple contracts but not for special contracts (contracts by deed). The concept has been adopted by other common law jurisdictions.
The court in '' Currie v Misa'' declar ...
in a contract.
*''Martin v. Herzog
''Martin v. Herzog'', Ct. of App. of N.Y., 228 N Y. 164, 126 N.E. 814 (1920), was a New York Court of Appeals case.
Facts
Martin (P) appealed the order of the Appellate Division that reversed a judgment entered after jury trial that found Herzog ...
'', 126 N.E. 814 (1920) breach of statutory duty establishes negligence, and the elements of the claim includes proof of causation
*'' Jacob & Youngs v. Kent'', 230 N.Y. 239 (1921), substantial performance of a contract does not lead to a right to terminate, only damages.
*'' Hynes v. New York Central Railroad Company'', 131 N.E. 898 (1921), a railway owed a duty of care
In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation that is imposed on an individual, requiring adherence to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be establi ...
despite the victims being trespassers.
*'' Glanzer v Shepard'', 233 N.Y. 236, 135 N.E. 275, 23 A.L.R. 1425 (1922), a Caballero bean weighing dispute, with duties imposed by law but growing out of contract
*''Berkey v. Third Avenue Railway
''Berkey v. Third Avenue Railway Co'' 244 N.Y. 602 (1927) is a classic veil piercing case by Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo in United States corporate law.
Facts
Minnie Berkey had an accident on a tram line operated by the Forty-second Street, etc., ...
'', 244 N.Y. 84 (1926), the corporate veil cannot be pierced, even in favor of a tort victim unless domination of a subsidiary by the parent is complete.
*'' Wagner v. International Railway'', 232 N.Y. 176 (1926) the rescue doctrine
In the USA, the rescue doctrine of the law of torts holds that if a tortfeasor creates a circumstance that places the tort victim in danger, the tortfeasor is liable not only for the harm caused to the victim, but also the harm caused to any per ...
. ”Danger invites rescue. The cry of distress is the summons to relief ..The emergency begets the man. The wrongdoer may not have foreseen the coming of a deliverer. He is accountable as if he had”.
*''Meinhard v. Salmon
''Meinhard v. Salmon'', 164 N.E. 545 (N.Y. 1928), is a widely cited case in which the New York Court of Appeals held that partners in a business owe fiduciary duties to one another where a business opportunity arises during the course of the par ...
'', 164 N.E. 545 (1928) the fiduciary duty of business partners is, ”Not honesty alone, but the punctilio of an honor the most sensitive”.
*''Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
''Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.'', 248 N.Y. 339, 162 N.E. 99 (1928), is a leading case in American tort law on the question of liability to an unforeseeable plaintiff. The case was heard by the New York Court of Appeals, the highest ...
'', 162 N.E. 99 (1928) the development of the concept of the proximate cause
In law and insurance, a proximate cause is an event sufficiently related to an injury that the courts deem the event to be the cause of that injury. There are two types of causation in the law: cause-in-fact, and proximate (or legal) cause. Ca ...
in tort law.
*'' Jessie Schubert v. August Schubert Wagon Company'', 164 N.E. 42 (1929) Respondeat superior
''Respondeat superior'' ( Latin: "let the master answer"; plural: ''respondeant superiores'') is a doctrine that a party is responsible for (has vicarious liability for) acts of their agents.''Criminal Law - Cases and Materials'', 7th ed. 2012, ...
and spousal immunity relationship are not related.
*'' Murphy v. Steeplechase Amusement Park'', 166 N.E. 173 (1929) denied a right to recover for knee injury from riding ”The Flopper” funride since the victim ”assumed the risk”.
*'' Ultramares v. Touche'', 174 N.E. 441 (1931) on the limitation of liability of auditors
;US Supreme Court
*'' Nixon v. Condon'', 286 U.S. 73 (1932) all white Texas Democratic Party primary unconstitutional
*''Welch v. Helvering
''Welch v. Helvering'', 290 U.S. 111 (1933), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court on the difference between business and personal expenses and the difference between ordinary business deductions and capital expenses. It is one of th ...
'', 290 U.S. 111 (1933) which concerns Internal Revenue Code Section 162 and the meaning of ”ordinary” business deductions.
*''Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan
''Panama Refining Co. v. Ryan'', 293 U.S. 388 (1935), also known as the ''Hot Oil case'', was a case, in which the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Franklin Roosevelt administration's prohibition of interstate and foreign trade in petrole ...
'', 293 U.S. 388 (1935) dissenting from a narrow interpretation of the Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
.
*''A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
''A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States'', 295 U.S. 495 (1935), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated regulations of the poultry industry according to the nondelegation doctrine and as an invalid u ...
'', 295 U.S. 495 (1935), concurring in the invalidation of poultry regulations as outside the commerce clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
power.
*''Carter v. Carter Coal Company
''Carter v. Carter Coal Company'', 298 U.S. 238 (1936), is a United States Supreme Court decision interpreting the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which permits the United States Congress to "regulate Commerce... among the seve ...
'', 298 U.S. 238 (1936) dissenting over the scope of the Commerce Clause.
*'' Steward Machine Company v. Davis'', 301 U.S. 548 (1937) unemployment compensation and social security were constitutional
*'' Helvering v. Davis'', 301 U.S. 619 (1937) social security not a contributory programme
*'' Palko v. Connecticut'', 302 U.S. 319 (1937) the due process clause incorporated those rights which were ”implicit in the concept of ordered liberty”.
Schools, organizations, and buildings named after Cardozo
* Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.["About YU]
on the Yeshiva Universi ...
in 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 ...
* Cardozo College, a dormitory building at Stony Brook University
Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...
in Stony Brook, New York
Stony Brook is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the North Shore of Long Island. Begun in the colonial era as an agricultural enclave, the hamlet experienced gr ...
* Benjamin N. Cardozo Lodge #163, Knights of Pythias
The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on . The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress. It was found ...
* * * Benjamin N. Cardozo Lodge
at www.cardozospeaks.org
* Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in the borough of Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
in 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 ...
* The Cardozo Hotel, 1300 Ocean Drive, Miami, Florida
Bibliography
* Cardozo, Benjamin N. (1921), ''The Nature of the Judicial Process
''The Nature of the Judicial Process'' is a legal classic written by Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and New York Court of Appeals Chief Justice Benjamin N. Cardozo in 1921. It was compiled from The Storrs Lectures delivere ...
'', The Storrs Lectures Delivered at Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
.
*Cardozo, Benjamin N. (1924), ''The Growth of the Law'', 5 Additional Lectures Delivered at Yale University.
*
*Cardozo, Benjamin N. (1931), ''Law and Literature and Other Essays and Addresses.''
* Cardozo, Benjamin N. (1889), ''The Altruist in Politics'', commencement oration at Columbia College
Gutenberg Project version
See also
* Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States
The demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnicity, and religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 116 people who have been appointed and confirmed as justices to the Supreme Court. Some of t ...
* List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
*
* List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office
A total of 116 people have served on the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest judicial body in the United States, since it was established in 1789. Supreme Court justices have life tenure, and so they serve until they die, resign, re ...
* United States Supreme Court cases during the Hughes Court
* List of first minority male lawyers and judges in New York
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in New York. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state t ...
Notes
Further reading
*
* Cardozo, Benjamin N. (1957). ''An Introduction to Law''. Cambridge: Harvard Law Review Association. (Chapters by eight distinguished American judges).
*
* Cardozo, Benjamin N. 870–1938 ''Essays Dedicated to Mr. Justice Cardozo''. .p. Published by Columbia Law Review
The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes.
It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...
, Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
, Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
, 1939. 43pp. Contributors: Harlan Fiske Stone, the Rt. Hon. Lord Maugham, Herbert Vere Evatt, Learned Hand
Billings Learned Hand ( ; January 27, 1872 – August 18, 1961) was an American jurist, lawyer, and judicial philosopher. He served as a federal trial judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York from 1909 to 1924 an ...
, Irving Lehman
Irving Lehman (January 28, 1876 – September 22, 1945) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1940 until his death in 1945.
Biography
He was born on January 28, 1876, in New ...
, Warren Seavey
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...
, Arthur L. Corbin, Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...
. Also includes a reprint of Cardozo’s essay ”Law And Literature” with a foreword by James M. Landis.
*
*
* Frankfurter, Felix, ''Mr. Justice Cardozo and Public Law'', Columbia Law Review
The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes.
It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...
39 (1939): 88–118, Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
52 (1939): 440–470, Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
48 (1939): 458–488.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Seavey, Warren A., ''Mr. Justice Cardozo and the Law of Torts'', Columbia Law Review
The ''Columbia Law Review'' is a law review edited and published by students at Columbia Law School. The journal publishes scholarly articles, essays, and student notes.
It was established in 1901 by Joseph E. Corrigan and John M. Woolsey, who se ...
39 (1939): 20–55, Harvard Law Review
The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of 143 ...
52 (1939): 372–407, Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
48 (1939): 390–425
*
External links
*
*
*
*
Benjamin Cardozo at Michael Ariens.com.
Supreme Court Historical Society
The Supreme Court Historical Society (SCHS) is a Washington, D.C.-based private, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and communicating the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Society was founded in 1974 by U.S. Chief Justice Warren E ...
.
Listing and portrait of Benjamin N. Cardozo
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 ...
judge at Historical Society of the Courts of the State of New York.
* Oyez Project
The Oyez Project at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law is an unofficial online multimedia archive of the Supreme Court of the United States, especially audio of oral arguments. The website "aims to be a complete ...
U.S. Supreme Court media, Benjamin N. Cardozo.
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