Cardozo Benjamin

Two page ALS on “2101 Connecticut Avenue / Washington” letterhead, 5.25" x 6.5". Signed by Supreme Court justice Benjamin Cardozo (1870-1938) as "Benjamin N. Cardozo" in center of second page. Dated "Oct 6, 1933" and addressed to Harold Shapiro. Paper lightly toned, with faded handling marks. Expected folds and trivial handling marks. Else near fine.

In 1932, when ninety-year-old Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court, politicians, lawyers, and legal scholars publicly campaigned for Cardozo to succeed him. President Herbert Hoover, though impressed with Cardozo's credentials and intellect, was initially lukewarm about nominating him to the Court. Two other New Yorkers, Chief Justice Charles E. Hughes and Justice Harlan F. Stone, were already on the Court and others in Hoover's administration were concerned about appointing a second Jewish Justice to serve in addition to Justice Louis D. Brandeis. After Stone offered his resignation (which was not accepted) to make room for Cardozo, Hoover was eventually persuaded to ignore the politics of geography and anti-Semitism and named Cardozo to the Court. On February 24, 1932, Cardozo was confirmed unanimously by a voice vote of the Senate. Though he served on the Court for only six years, Cardozo authored a number of significant decisions around the period during the writing of this letter to Shapiro. He authored the majority opinion in the civil rights case Nixon v. Condon, 286 U.S. 73, 52 S. Ct. 484, 76 L. Ed. 984 (1932). Condon held that a resolution by a state party executive committee, under purported authority of a Texas statute (Vernon's Ann. Civ. St. Tex. Art 3107), which excluded blacks from primary elections, violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment.

Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his philosophy and vivid prose style. He served on the bench for six years, supporting much of 32nd U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal initiatives and helping shape the direction of criminal law.  Cardozo was considered a member of the Three Musketeers, a liberal faction comprised of fellow justices Harlan Fiske Stone and Louis Brandeis.

The lovely letter is shown in full below:

"Dear Mr. Shapiro,
I am very happy to hear of your happiness.
I share your hope and wish that I may meet your wife and renew my pleasant association with you.

With congratulations and warm regards.

I am faithfully yours,

Benjamin Cardozo"

A fantastic early example from Cardozo's relatively short period on the Supreme Court bench.

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