Harold Raymond Medina (February 16, 1888 – March 14, 1990) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Medina is perhaps most well-remembered for presiding over the Smith Act trials of Communist Party leaders in 1949.
Early life and career
Medina was born in
Brooklyn, New York,
[ Memorials: Harold R. Medina '09 , Princeton Alumni Weekly (Sept. 12, 1990).] to Joaquin Adolfo Medina and Elizabeth Fash Medina.
His father was a naturalized United States citizen from Mérida, Yucatán,
Mexico, and his mother from New York City of
Dutch people.
[ Medina graduated from Holbrook Military Academy in Ossining, New York in 1905.][ Medina received an Artium Baccalaureus degree Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University in 1909.][ He received a Bachelor of Laws from Columbia Law School in 1912, graduating co-head of his class.][ He was in private practice of law in New York City from 1912 to 1947. He was a founder and lecturer for the Medina Bar Review Course in New York City from 1912 to 1942. He was an associate professor at Columbia Law School from 1915 to 1940.]
Federal judicial service
Medina was nominated by President Harry S. Truman on May 15, 1947, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Judge Samuel Mandelbaum. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 18, 1947, and received his commission on June 20, 1947. His service was terminated on June 23, 1951, due to his elevation to the Second Circuit.
Medina was nominated by President Truman on June 11, 1951, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Learned Hand. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 21, 1951, and received his commission on June 23, 1951. He assumed senior status on March 1, 1958. His service was terminated on February 22, 1980, due to his retirement.
Notable cases
In 1949, Medina presided over the trial of 11 leaders of the United States Communist Party charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the government. This was known as Foley Square trial. In this case, the jury found all the defendants guilty, and Medina sentenced most of them to five years in prison.
Medina was the trial judge for the Dennis v. United States case that reached the federal supreme court.
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.[ A financial history of the United States Vol. 3. M.E. Sharpe, 2002][ "Nothing Short of Criminal". Time, March 17, 1952.][ "Trustbusters' Retreat". Time, December 3, 1951.] He ruled in favor of the investment banks.
Death
Medina died on March 14, 1990, at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, New Jersey, at 102 years of age, after residing at a nursing home in that city his last several years.[Staff. "Harold Medina, U.S. Judge, Dies at 102", The New York Times, March 16, 1990. Accessed October 28, 2015. "Harold R. Medina, a Federal judge for more than three decades, who achieved lasting fame for his handling of the trial of 11 Communist leaders in the 1940s, died in his sleep on Wednesday at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J., where he was admitted on Monday with a slight fever, his grandson Standish Forde Medina Jr. said. Judge Medina was 102 years old. Judge Medina, who retired from the bench at the age of 92, lived at the Valley Nursing Home in Westwood."]
Honors
Medina was featured on the cover of Time in its October 24, 1949 edition.
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 Johns Hopkins University, along with Professor Patrick Schmidt of Macalester College and Professor David Yalof of the University of Connecticut, are currently completing an authorized biography of Medina.
The Harold R. Medina Professorship of Procedural Jurisprudence at Columbia University School of Law is named in Judge Medina's honor.
See also
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List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists
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Harold Medina Jr.
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Foley Square trial
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Investment Bankers Case
External sources
