David L. Bazelon

David L. Bazelon was a United States circuit judge who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1950 to 1993. Appointed by President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, Bazelon became one of the most influential federal appellate judges of the twentieth century, serving as Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit from 1962 to 1978. His judicial career spanned more than four decades and encompassed groundbreaking work in criminal law, mental health law, and civil rights. At the time of his appointment at age 40, he was the youngest person ever named to the D.C. Circuit. He remained the last active appeals court judge appointed by President Truman until he took senior status in 1979.

Early life and legal career

David Lionel Bazelon was born on September 3, 1909, in Superior, Wisconsin, to Lena Krasnovsky and Israel Bazelon. His parents were Ukrainian Jewish immigrants, and his father operated a general store. The family experienced early tragedy when Israel Bazelon died in 1912, after which Lena remarried to Nathan Harris. The family subsequently relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where Bazelon spent his formative years.

Bazelon pursued his legal education at Northwestern University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Law in 1931. He then read law to gain admission to the bar, achieving this milestone in 1932. Following his admission, he entered private legal practice in Chicago, where he worked from 1932 to 1935, gaining experience in the practical aspects of law during the challenging years of the Great Depression.

In 1935, Bazelon transitioned to public service, accepting a position as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He served in this prosecutorial role for more than a decade, from 1935 to 1946, developing expertise in federal criminal law and courtroom advocacy. This extended tenure in the U.S. Attorney's office provided him with substantial trial experience and familiarity with federal legal procedures.

In 1946, Bazelon moved to Washington, D.C., to join the United States Department of Justice. He was appointed as the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Public Lands Division, a position he held until June 1, 1947. He then transferred to the Office of Alien Property, where he served as head of the Office of Alien Property Custodian. His work in this office, which dealt with property seized from foreign nationals during wartime, would later become a subject of controversy during his judicial nomination process.

Federal appellate service

Bazelon's path to the federal bench involved considerable political maneuvering and controversy. In 1948, Attorney General Tom C. Clark advocated for Bazelon's appointment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago. However, this nomination faced opposition from Illinois's two Democratic U.S. Senators, Paul Douglas and Scott Lucas, who shared a widespread perception in Illinois that Bazelon was not qualified for the position. Despite this setback, Bazelon had influential supporters, including J. Edgar Hoover, who had been a friend and patron during the 1940s despite significant political disagreements between the two men.

After Clark was confirmed as a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, he continued to lobby for Bazelon's judicial appointment, though in breach of judicial norms. Clark shifted his efforts toward securing Bazelon a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Senators Lucas and Douglas ultimately supported this appointment, despite the fact that Bazelon had contributed funds to the unsuccessful 1948 campaign of Republican Senator Charles W. Brooks, whom Douglas had defeated. Harold L. Ickes, a prominent figure from the Roosevelt administration, suggested that Bazelon's activities as head of the Office of Alien Property Custodian warranted a Senate investigation, though he predicted none would occur.

President Truman granted Bazelon a recess appointment on October 21, 1949, to a newly created seat on the D.C. Circuit authorized by statute. At 40 years of age, he became the youngest person ever appointed to that court. President Truman formally nominated him on January 5, 1950, and the Senate confirmed him on February 8, 1950. He received his commission two days later, on February 10, 1950.

Bazelon's service on the D.C. Circuit extended across several distinct phases. He served as Chief Judge from October 9, 1962, to March 27, 1978, a period of sixteen years during which he led one of the nation's most important federal appellate courts. From 1963 to 1977, he was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the principal policymaking body for the federal court system. He assumed senior status on June 30, 1979, at which point he was the last appeals court judge remaining in active service who had been appointed by President Truman. He continued in senior status until 1985, when he assumed inactive senior status due to the onset of Alzheimer's disease. His judicial service terminated on February 19, 1993, when he died from that condition at the age of 83.

During his tenure, Bazelon developed significant relationships with other prominent judicial figures. He became a close associate of Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., whom he had met in 1956. Justice William O. Douglas and President Lyndon B. Johnson occasionally joined them on trips to baseball games. In 1970, Bazelon was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recognizing his contributions to law and public policy. Bazelon also became a primary source of law clerks for Justice Brennan, extending his intellectual influence to the Supreme Court.

Jurisprudence and legacy

Bazelon developed a reputation for maintaining a broad view of constitutional protections and expanding the rights of criminal defendants and mentally ill individuals. His judicial philosophy led to numerous far-reaching decisions across diverse areas of law, including environmental protection, voting rights, discrimination, and criminal justice. The Washington Post observed in 1981 that during the Warren Court era, attorneys seeking to have a Bazelon opinion upheld would benefit from mentioning the judge's name repeatedly in their briefs, noting that one mention of his name was worth extensive legal research, reflecting his influence with the Supreme Court.

One of Bazelon's most significant and controversial contributions to American law came in the case of Durham v. United States, decided in 1954. In this landmark decision, he expanded the scope of the insanity defense in criminal law. Under the Durham rule that Bazelon articulated, a defendant would be excused from criminal responsibility if a jury determined that the unlawful act was the product of mental disease or mental defect, replacing the previous standard that required proof of an irresistible impulse. This reformulation of the insanity defense represented a major shift in criminal law and reflected Bazelon's commitment to incorporating psychiatric and psychological understanding into legal doctrine.

Bazelon's work in mental health law extended beyond the criminal context. In Rouse v. Cameron, decided in 1966, he wrote for the court in becoming the first appellate judge to recognize that civilly committed mental patients had a right to treatment. This decision established an important precedent in mental health law and demonstrated Bazelon's pioneering approach to protecting the rights of vulnerable populations.

Bazelon's tenure on the D.C. Circuit was marked by a notable professional rivalry with Warren E. Burger, who served with him on that court for over a decade before becoming Chief Justice of the United States. The two judges became not merely professional rivals but personal adversaries. Their conflict centered significantly on the Durham rule, which Burger found deeply objectionable and strongly opposed. This disagreement over the insanity defense was one of many serious disputes between the two jurists throughout their careers. Bazelon's influence extended into Burger's tenure as Chief Justice, facilitated by Bazelon's close friendship with Justice Brennan.

Bazelon's position on the D.C. Circuit also placed him at the center of significant national events. On September 4, 1973, as Chief Judge of the D.C. Circuit, he ordered an expedited schedule for appeals related to Judge John Sirica's order concerning White House materials during the Watergate scandal, demonstrating the court's role in major constitutional controversies.

Throughout his judicial career, many of Bazelon's opinions, though sometimes characterized as radical at the time of their issuance, were subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, validating his expansive interpretation of constitutional protections and statutory rights. His legacy includes substantial contributions to the development of mental health law, criminal procedure, and civil rights jurisprudence during a transformative period in American legal history.