Harold Medina

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Harold R Medina
Judge Harold Medina on the October 24, 1949 cover of Time Magazine
Judge of United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
In office 1953 – 1980
Nominated by	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Learned Hand
Succeeded by	Henry Friendly
Judge of United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office 1947 – 1953
Nominated by	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Samuel Mandelbaum

Born	February 16, 1888 Brooklyn, New York
Died	March 14, 1990 Westwood, New Jersey

Harold Raymond Medina, Sr. (February 16, 1888-March 14, 1990) was a lawyer, teacher and judge who is most noted for hearing landmark cases of conspiracy and treason. In 1947 President Harry S. Truman nominated Medina to serve as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York. In 1949, he presided over the trial of 11 leaders of the U.S. Communist Party charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the government. The jury found all the defendants guilty and Medina sentenced them to prison. [1] Medina was featured on the cover of the October 24, 1949, edition of Time Magazine. [2]

Medina was born in Brooklyn, New York [3]. Medina graduated from Princeton University in 1909 with an A.B. degree. He received a L.L.B. degree from Columbia Law School at the head of his class in 1912. He married his wife Ethel in 1911 [4].

He became a prominent Manhattan attorney between the two World Wars by virtue of his teaching, scholarship and private practice. He was also the founder of a popular bar examination course.

In 1957, Medina received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Elizabethtown College located in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. (Source: 1957 Conestogan Yearbook, Elizabethtown College)

Medina succeeded Learned Hand [5] on the United States Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit from 1953 until 1980, when (at age 92) he was the oldest judge still serving on the federal bench. He achieved senior status in 1958.

Medina died in 1990 at the age of 102.

J. Woodford Howard, Jr., professor of political science emeritus at The Johns Hopkins University, is currently completing an authorized biography of Medina.