Succeeded by James Oakes | Name Wilfred Feinberg | |
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Similar People John Paul Stevens, George H W Bush, Frank Blake |
Wilfred Feinberg (June 22, 1920 – July 31, 2014) was a United States federal judge, who served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
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Education and early career
Born in New York, New York and of Jewish descent, Feinberg received a B.A. from Columbia University in 1940 and served in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1945. He then received a LL.B. from Columbia Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Columbia Law Review, in 1946. After graduating, Feinberg served as law clerk to Judge James P. McGranery of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1949. He was in private practice of law in New York from 1949 to 1961, except for service as the Deputy Superintendent of the New York State Banking Department in 1958.
Federal Judicial Service
On October 5, 1961 Feinberg received a recess appointment from President John F. Kennedy to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York created by 75 Stat. 80. Formally nominated on January 15, 1962, Feinberg was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 16, 1962, and received his commission the following day. On January 19, 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Feinberg for elevation to the seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by the appointment of Thurgood Marshall to the United States Supreme Court. Feinberg was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 4, 1966, and received his commission on March 7, 1966. He was Chief Judge of the Circuit from 1980 to 1988, assumed senior status on January 31, 1991, and retired from the Circuit in 2011. He served on the Judicial Conference from 1980 to 1988, chairing the Executive Committee from 1987 to 1988, and also serving as a member of the Long Range Planning Committee from 1991 to 1996. Feinberg authored many seminal opinions, including United States v. Miller, which upheld the constitutionality of a federal law prohibiting the burning of draft cards, NLRB v. J.P. Stevens & Co, the labor union case that inspired the movie, Norma Rae, and Kelly v. Wyman.
In 2004 Feinberg received the 22nd Annual Edward J. Devitt Distinguished Service to Justice Award, which honors an Article III judge whose career has been exemplary, as measured by the significant contributions to the administration of justice, the advancement of the rule of law, and the improvement of society as a whole. He has also been awarded the Learned Hand Medal for Excellence in Federal Jurisprudence and the Edward Weinfeld Award. In the pages of the Columbia Law Review, Professor Maurice Rosenberg summarized Feinberg's career, writing "Wilfred Feinberg is the kind of jurist the Founding Fathers must have had in mind when they bestowed life tenure on federal judges. His first twenty-five years on the bench have revealed qualities of mind and conscience that are of the kind most sought after in a judge. Feinberg regards judicial office as a way to serve justice, not as a chance to wield power. And he renders his service superbly -- with intelligence, understanding, kindness, and craftsmanship. He is animated by a disciplined compassion that flows from a humane mind committed to the law".
His former clerks include many law professors, including Lee Bollinger (President of Columbia University), Thomas Joo (UC Davis School of Law), Rachel Moran (Dean of UCLA School of Law), Richard Revesz (Dean of New York University Law School and Director of the American Law Institute), David Wippman (Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School), and David Wilkins (Professor at Harvard Law School); judges, including Judge Gerard Lynch, U.S. Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit (and Professor of Law at Columbia), and Judge Michael Dolinger, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of New York, public servants such as Francis Blake, former general counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency, and prominent public interest lawyers, including Ralph Cavanagh of the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco and Penda Hair of Advancement Project in Washington, D.C.. Feinberg's papers are housed at the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
He died on July 31, 2014, aged 94.