Osmond Fraenkel

Osmond Fraenkel (Oct. 17, 1888-May 17, 1983) was a United States attorney who served as general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Background

Fraenkel was born in New York City on Oct. 17, 1888. He attended the Horace Mann School and Harvard College, then graduated from Columbia Law School in 1911. He then entered private practice.[1]

Career

Fraenkel first came to notoriety as the attorney for the Scottsboro boys.[1] Fraenkel was the attorney for Harry Bridges and Bertrand Russell in their legal cases.[1] In De Jonge v. Oregon he defended a client accused of criminal syndicalism after this person had spoken at a meeting of the communist party.[1] He defended Consumers Union's pamphlet on contraception from Frank Comerford Walker's opinion that it was obscene.[2] Other cases argued include United States v. Richardson (1974), Kramer v. Union Free School District No. 15 (1969), Turner v. New York (1967), Trop v. Dulles (1958), Bridges v. California (1941), Schneider v. State of New Jersey (1939), and De Jonge v. Oregon (1937).[3]

Fraenkel was one of the organizing co-founders of the National Lawyers Guild and present at pre-formation meeting in New York City on December 1, 1936.[4]

He opposed the McCarthyism of Joseph McCarthy.[1] He did legal work for the cases around the Pentagon Papers, Japanese American internment, and school prayer in the United States.[1]

He authored more than 100 books an articles, including a book on the Sacco and Vanzetti case.[1]

He was co-counsel to the New York Civil Liberties Committee from 1935-1955, at which time he became general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.[1] At the time of his death he worked with the lawfirm of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman.[1]

Legacy

Norman Dorsen and Ira Glasser called Fraenkel "one of the giants in contemporary life."[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Margolick, David (17 May 1983). "Osmond K. Fraenkel Dies at 94 - Former Counsel to the A.C.L.U." The New York Times. New York: NYTC. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Walker, Samuel (1990). In defense of American liberties : a history of the ACLU. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0195045390.
  3. ↑ https://www.oyez.org/advocates/f/o/osmond_k_fraenkel
  4. ↑ Rabinowitz, Victor; Ledwith, Tim Ledwith, eds. (1987). A History of the NLG: 1937-1987. New York: National Lawyers Guild. pp. 7–8 (pre-formation). Retrieved 1 August 2017.
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