Saul S. Streit (May 5, 1897 – September 3, 1983) was a Polish-born Jewish-American lawyer, politician, and judge from New York City.

Life

Streit was born on May 5, 1897, in Poland, the son of Jacob Streit and Bebe Baron. He immigrated to America in 1901. Streit attended public school in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

, and

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

. He graduated from

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private, American law school in the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The third oldest law school in New York City, its history predates its official founding in 1891 by Theodore William Dwight, T ...

in 1922, and by 1927 he was working as a lawyer with an office in the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a 22-story, steel-framed triangular building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinke ...

. He was an assistant

New York County District Attorney The New York County District Attorney, also known as the Manhattan District Attorney, is the elected district attorney for New York County, New York. The office is responsible for the prosecution of violations of New York state laws (federal l ...

under Joab H. Banton. In 1926, he was elected to the New York State Assembly as a Democrat, representing the New York County 7th District. He served in the Assembly in

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, and

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

. One of the more progressive members of the

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

delegation in the Assembly, Streit served as chairman of the joint legislative committee to investigate bondholders, stockholders, and creditors committees. In his first Assembly session, he introduced a bill passed and signed by Governor

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

to amend the Fraudulent Check Law in an attempt to reduce the number of frauds from passing worthless checks and voted with Republicans on a bill that made a seller of poison liquor guilty of first-degree manslaughter. In later sessions, he sponsored bills to oppose ticket speculation, memorialize Congress for repealing the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress designed to execute the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919) which established the prohibition of alcoholic drinks. The Anti- ...

, curb misleading medical reports in radio advertisements, create "people's counsels" in public utility proceedings, study methods of providing security against unemployment, curb alimony jailing, and defining the new crime of "fixing." He also sponsored a bill to create a charter commission for New York City and introduced a bill for Congressional reapportionment, although he previously attacked a Republican reapportionment bill as a gerrymander. In November 1936, Streit was elected Judge of the Court of General Sessions. He succeeded Jonah J. Goldstein to the Court, who in turn was appointed earlier in the year to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Otto A. Rosalsky. He was inducted to the Court in January 1937. In late 1951 and early 1952, Streit served as the primary judge for the majority of the suspects involved in what's commonly known as the

CCNY point-shaving scandal The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1951 was a college basketball point-shaving gambling scandal which revealed widespread bribery and match fixing involving major colleges and universities both in and around New York City, particularly at the Ma ...

, despite it involving more universities than just the previous "Grand Slam" basketball champion

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. In 1954, he was elected unopposed Justice of the

New York Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the superior court in the Judiciary of New York. It is vested with unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction, although in many counties outside New York City it acts primarily as a court of civil ju ...

, First District, with nominations from three parties. In 1962, he was appointed Administrative Judge of the First District. As Administrative Judge, he helped complete the merger of the General Sessions Court in Manhattan and the Bronx County Court into the newly-consolidated Supreme Court. He served as a delegate of the 1967 New York State Constitutional Convention. At one point, he handled a case involving Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis's fight with writer

William Manchester William Raymond Manchester (April 1, 1922 – June 1, 2004) was an American author, biographer, and historian. He was the author of 18 books which have been translated into over 20 languages. He was awarded the National Humanities Medal and the ...

over his book ''

The Death of a President ''The Death of a President: November 20–November 25, 1963'' is historian William Manchester's 1967 account of the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy. The book gained public attention before it was published when Kennedy ...

''. He retired as Justice in 1972 and joined the law offices of Shea, Gould, Climenko and Kramer as counsel to the firm. Streit was a member of the

New York City Bar Association The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization has been headquartere ...

, the

New York County Lawyers' Association The New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) is a bar association located in New York City. The New York County Lawyers Association was founded in 1908 because the existing bar association excluded some lawyers from membership due to their ra ...

, the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

, the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

, the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, the Level Club, and the Young Mens Philanthropic League. In 1958, he married Jean F. McBride, a television actress who appeared in the daytime television serial ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation '' Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ...

''. They had a son, Saul S. Streit Jr. Streit died at home on September 3, 1983.

References

External links

*
The Political Graveyard
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Streit, Saul S. 1897 births 1983 deaths Polish emigrants to the United States American people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American lawyers Jewish state legislators in New York (state) Stuyvesant High School alumni New York Law School alumni 20th-century New York state court judges Lawyers from New York City Politicians from Manhattan Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York Supreme Court justices American Freemasons 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature