Cardozo

Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, unarguably one of the most outstanding judges of the twentieth century, is a man whose name remains prominent and whose contributions to the law remain relevant. This first complete biography of the longtime member and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States during the turbulent years of the New Deal is a monumental achievement by a distinguished interpreter of constitutional law.

Cardozo was a progressive judge who understood and defended the proposition that judge-made law must be adapted to modern conditions. He also preached and practiced the doctrine that respect for precedent, history, and all branches of government limited what a judge could and should do. Thus, he did not modernize law at every opportunity.

In this book, Kaufman interweaves the personal and professional lives of this remarkable man to yield a multidimensional whole. Cardozo's family ties to the Jewish community were a particularly significant factor in shaping his life, as was his father's scandalous career--and ultimate disgrace--as a lawyer and judge. Kaufman concentrates, however, on Cardozo's own distinguished career, including twenty-three years in private practice as a tough-minded and skillful lawyer and his classic lectures and writings on the judicial process. From this biography emerges an estimable figure holding to concepts of duty and responsibility, but a person not without frailties and prejudice.

This first complete biography of the longtime member and chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals and Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States during the turbulent years of the New Deal is a monumental achievement by a distinguished interpreter of constitutional law.

Andrew L. Kaufman is Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law, Harvard Law School.

Acknowledgments

Beginnings: 1870-1891

1. Cardozo's Heritage: The Sephardim and Tammany Hall

2. Young Cardozo

3. Columbia Law School

Lawyer: 1891-1914

4. Apprenticeship

5. Developing a Practice

6. Lawyer's Lawyer

Judge: 1914-1932

7. New York Supreme Court

8. The Job of a Judge

9. Private Life and Private Views

10. A Judge's Service

11. Chief Judge

Doing the Law's Work: 1914-1932

12. The Nature of the Judicial Process

13. Equity, Individual Justice, and the Punctilio of Honor

14. The Law of Negligence: Duty to Strangers

15. Liability and Duty: MacPherson v. Buick

16. Fireworks and Foreseeability: Palsgraf

17. Contracts and Promises

18. Moral Obligation and Damages

19. Constitutional and International Law

20. Criminal Law

21. Property, Corporations, the Legal Profession, and Legislative Policy

22. A Puzzle, Candor, and Style

The Supreme Court: 1932-1938

23. Appointment

24. Life in Washington

25. State Regulatory Power and the Constitution

26. National Regulatory Power and the Constitution

27. Civil Liberties, Race, and Other Supreme Court Issues

28. Legacy

Notes

Index of Cases

General Index