Irving Lehman (January 28, 1876 – September 22, 1945) was an American lawyer and politician from

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 * '' ...

. He was Chief Judge of 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 ...

from 1940 until his death in 1945.

Biography

He was born on January 28, 1876, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

to Mayer Lehman (d. 1897) and Babette Newgass and raised

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 ...

. Future New York State governor and United States Senator

Herbert H. Lehman Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 – December 5, 1963) was an American Democratic Party politician from New York. He served from 1933 until 1942 as the 45th governor of New York and represented New York State in the U.S. Senate from 194 ...

was his brother. He graduated with an A.B. from

Columbia College Columbia College may refer to one of several institutions of higher education in North America: Canada * Columbia College (Alberta), in Calgary * Columbia College (British Columbia), a two-year liberal arts institution in Vancouver * Columbia In ...

in 1896 and an LL.B. from

Columbia University 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 1898. He was a justice of 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 ...

from 1909 to 1923, elected in 1908 on the Democratic ticket, and re-elected in 1922 on the Democratic and Republican tickets. In

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

, he was elected on the Democratic and Republican tickets to a 14-year term on the

, and re-elected in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...

. In

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidde ...

, he was elected Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals on the

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, Republican and American Labor tickets, and remained on the bench until his death in office. In 1942 the New York Court of Appeals affirmed the convictions of the notorious Louis Buchalter and his two associates Emanuel Weiss and Louis Capone under a sharply divided decision of the judges, who filed four opinions. The death sentences were upheld by a vote of 4–3. (People v. Buchalter, 289 N.Y. 181) However, Judge Lehman, who was also affirming the conviction of the three, expressed some doubts in the verdict and stated that the errors and defects in the case were in fact numerous. In 1943 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 ...

granted Buchalter's petition to review the case and in a full opinion affirmed the conviction, 7–0, with two justices abstaining. (319 U.S. 427 (1943)) Finally, Judge Lehman signed a show cause order in 1944 because the counsel for the trio had appeared before Governor

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

in a clemency plea, and Lehman eventually delayed the execution of the condemned men. Even so, the clemency plea was denied by Governor Dewey. On March 4, 1944, Emanuel Weiss thanked Chief Judge Lehman in his final words before being electrocuted in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north ...

Personal life

On June 26, 1901, he married Sissie Straus, the daughter of Nathan Straus, American merchant and philanthropist who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department stores, R.H. Macy & Company and

Abraham & Straus Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...

. The couple was childless.HISTORICAL SOCIETY of the NEW YORK COURTS: "IRVING LEHMAN (1876-1945) - Court of Appeals: 1924-1945" by Henry M. Greenberg
retrieved October 28, 2015 Lehman died of a heart ailment on September 22, 1945, at his home on Ridge Street in Port Chester, New York. Services were held at Temple Emanu El in Manhattan. He was buried at the Cypress Hills Cemetery.

References

External links

Nominated to Supreme Court, with short bio, in NYT on October 19, 1908

Listing of Court of Appeals judges, with portrait (gives erroneously death date as September 21, all other sources give September 22) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehman, Irving 1876 births 1945 deaths American people of German-Jewish descent American Reform Jews Burials at Cypress Hills Cemetery Chief Judges of the New York Court of Appeals Columbia Law School alumni Jewish American people in New York (state) politics Lehman Brothers people New York Supreme Court Justices People from Port Chester, New York Lehman family Columbia College (New York) alumni Straus family

Biography

Personal life

References

Further reading

External links