David L. Bazelon | |
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Judge Bazelon
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Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |
In office 1962–1978 |
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Preceded by | Wilbur Kingsbury Miller |
Succeeded by | J. Skelly Wright |
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | |
In office February 10, 1950 – June 30, 1979 |
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Nominated by | Harry Truman |
Preceded by | none |
Succeeded by | Harry T. Edwards |
Personal details | |
Born |
David Lionel Bazelon September 3, 1909 Superior, Wisconsin |
Died | February 19, 1993 Washington, DC |
(aged 83)
Nationality | American |
Spouse(s) | Miriam Kellner Bazelon |
Children | Jim Bazelon, Richard Bazelon |
Alma mater | Northwestern University |
Religion | Jewish |
David Lionel Bazelon (September 3, 1909 – February 19, 1993) was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Born in Superior, Wisconsin, Bazelon grew up in Chicago and earned a B.S.L from Northwestern University in 1931. He worked in private practice for a few years and then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois from 1935 to 1946. He then worked as the assistant U.S. attorney general for the U.S. Lands Division from 1946 to 1949.
On October 21, 1949, when he was 40 years old, Bazelon received a recess appointment from President Harry S. Truman to a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit created by 63 Stat. 493. Bazelon was the youngest judge ever appointed to that court. Formally nominated on January 5, 1950, he was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 8, 1950, and received his commission on February 10, 1950. From 1962 to 1978 he served as chief judge and semi-retired on June 30, 1979 into senior status. He served in that capacity until his death, in 1993, of Alzheimer's disease. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970.
Bazelon was for decades the senior judge on the US Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia, and a close associate of Justice William Brennan, whom he had met in 1956. Justice William O. Douglas and President Johnson would be their sometime companions on trips to baseball games.
Bazelon served with Warren Burger on the same DC Court of Appeals for over a decade, and the two grew to be not just professional rivals, but personal enemies as well.