| Harold R Medina | |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 16, 1888 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | March 14, 1990 (aged 102) Westwood, New Jersey |
Harold Raymond Medina, Sr. (February 16, 1888 – March 14, 1990) was an American lawyer, teacher and judge who is most noted for hearing landmark cases of conspiracy and treason.
Medina died in 1990 at the age of 102.
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Medina was born in Brooklyn, New York[1] to Joaquin Adolfo Medina and Elizabeth Fash Medina.[2] His father was a naturalized United States citizen from Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, and his mother from New York of Dutch ancestry.[2] Medina graduated from Holbrook Military Academy in Ossining, New York in 1905.[2] After high school, he attended Princeton University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with an A.B. degree in 1909.[1][2] He received a L.L.B. degree from Columbia Law School, where he graduated as co-head of his class in 1912.[2] He married Ethel Forde Hillyer in 1911.[1][2]
Medina 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 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 trials of 11 leaders of the U.S. Communist Party charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the government. These were known as Smith Act Trials because they were the latest in a series of trials, the first in 1941, alleging defendants had violated the Smith Act. In this case, the jury found all the defendants guilty, and Medina sentenced most of them to five years in prison.[3] He also gave prison sentences to five of the defense attorneys on charges of contempt of court; among them was George William Crockett Jr., who later became a Member of Congress.
Medina presided over the year-long Investment Bankers Case in 1951-1952, an antitrust case against 17 of the most prominent Wall Street investment banking firms, known as the Wall Street Seventeen.[4][5][6] He ruled in favor of the investment banks.
Medina succeeded Learned Hand[1] on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1953 and served on it until 1980, when (at age 92) he was the oldest judge still serving on the federal bench. He achieved senior status in 1958.
Medina was featured on the cover of the October 24, 1949, edition of Time Magazine. [1]
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)
J. Woodford Howard, Jr., professor of political science emeritus at The Johns Hopkins University, is currently completing an authorized biography of Medina.