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{{Short description|American judge}}
{{Short description|American judge (1877–1945)}}
{{Infobox judge
{{Infobox judge
| honorific-prefix =
| honorific-prefix =
| name = John M. Woolsey
| name = John M. Woolsey
| honorific-suffix =
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| image =
| image = john Munro Woolsey 2010 21.jpeg
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| birth_name = John Munro Woolsey
| birth_name = John Munro Woolsey
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|01|03}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|01|03}}
| birth_place = [[Aiken, South Carolina|Aiken]], [[South Carolina]]
| birth_place = [[Aiken, South Carolina|Aiken]], [[South Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|05|04|1877|01|03}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|05|04|1877|01|03}}
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]]
| death_place = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| death_cause =
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| relatives =
| relatives =
| residence =
| residence =
| education = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|A.B.]])<br>[[Columbia Law School]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LL.B.]])
| education = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Columbia Law School|Columbia University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])
| alma_mater =
| alma_mater =
| occupation =
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'''John Munro Woolsey''' (January 3, 1877 – May 4, 1945) was a [[United States federal judge|United States district judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. He was known "for his brilliant and poignantly phrased decisions",<ref name = NYT1945/> including several important precedents in [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] jurisprudence.
'''John Munro Woolsey''' (January 3, 1877 – May 4, 1945) was a [[United States federal judge|United States district judge]] of the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York]]. He was known "for his brilliant and poignantly phrased decisions",<ref name = NYT1945/> including several important precedents in [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] jurisprudence.


==Family and education==
==Family background==
[[File:Coat of Arms of George Woolsey.svg|175px|left|thumb|Coat of Arms of John M. Woolsey]]
[[File:Coat of Arms of George Woolsey.svg|175px|left|thumb|Woolsey Coat of Arms]]
Woolsey was born on January 3, 1877, in [[Aiken, South Carolina|Aiken]], [[South Carolina]], to William Walton Woolsey and Katherine Buckingham Convers Woolsey. Woolsey was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of [[New Amsterdam]], and [[Thomas Cornell (settler)]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/adamandannemott00corngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/adamandannemott00corngoog/page/n446 359]|quote=Melancthon Taylor Woolsey George Woolsey.|title=Adam and Anne Mott: Their Ancestors and Their Descendants|first=Thomas Clapp|last=Cornell|date=5 February 1890|publisher=A. V. Haight, printer|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> One member of his family graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1709; his granduncle [[Theodore Dwight Woolsey]] was president of that university from 1846 to 1872; and cousin [[Theodore Salisbury Woolsey]] was a professor of international law there.<ref name = NYT1929>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/01/95884402.pdf Coolidge names two to be judges here]". The New York Times, March 1, 1929, pp. 1, 3.</ref> His half-sister, [[Gamel Woolsey]], was a noted poet and novelist.
Woolsey was born on January 3, 1877, in [[Aiken, South Carolina|Aiken]], [[South Carolina]], to William Walton Woolsey and Katherine Buckingham Convers Woolsey. Woolsey was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of [[New Amsterdam]], and [[Thomas Cornell (settler)]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/adamandannemott00corngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/adamandannemott00corngoog/page/n446 359]|quote=Melancthon Taylor Woolsey George Woolsey.|title=Adam and Anne Mott: Their Ancestors and Their Descendants|first=Thomas Clapp|last=Cornell|date=5 February 1890|publisher=A. V. Haight, printer|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> One member of his family graduated from [[Yale University]] in 1709; his granduncle [[Theodore Dwight Woolsey]] was president of that university from 1846 to 1872; and cousin [[Theodore Salisbury Woolsey]] was a professor of international law there.<ref name = NYT1929>"[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/03/01/95884402.pdf Coolidge names two to be judges here]". The New York Times, March 1, 1929, pp. 1, 3.</ref> His half-sister, [[Gamel Woolsey]], was a noted poet and novelist.


John Woolsey attended private school in [[Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood]], [[New Jersey]] and [[Phillips Academy]]. He went on to Yale and received an [[Bachelor of Arts|Artium Baccalaureus]] degree there in 1898. He got his [[Bachelor of Laws]] in 1901 from [[Columbia Law School]], where he was a founder of the [[Columbia Law Review]].<ref name=NYT1945>{{cite news|title=John M. Woosley, Retired Jurist, 68|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 5, 1945|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/05/archives/john-m-woolsey-retired-jurist-68-former-federal-judge-here.html}}</ref> He was in private practice in [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]] from 1901 to 1929.<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|2654|nid=1390126|name=John Munro Woolsey<!--(1877–1945)-->}}</ref>
John Woolsey attended private school in [[Englewood, New Jersey|Englewood]], [[New Jersey]] and [[Phillips Academy]]. He went on to Yale and received an [[Bachelor of Arts|Artium Baccalaureus]] degree there in 1898. He got his [[Bachelor of Laws]] in 1901 from [[Columbia Law School]], where he was a founder of the ''[[Columbia Law Review]]''.<ref name=NYT1945>{{cite news|title=John M. Woosley, Retired Jurist, 68|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 5, 1945|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/05/05/archives/john-m-woolsey-retired-jurist-68-former-federal-judge-here.html}}</ref> He was in private practice in [[New York City]] from 1901 to 1929.<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|2654|nid=1390126|name=John Munro Woolsey<!--(1877–1945)-->}}</ref>


==Private practice==
==Legal practice==


Woolsey continued his affiliation with Columbia after receiving his degree, teaching [[Equity (law)|equity]] and serving as a member and chairman of the law school's Board of Visitors. He also served [[Harvard Law School]] on its Advisory Commission on Research in International Law. Woolsey was admiralty counsel to the French High Commission in New York City, and a member of a New York admiralty firm from 1920 until his appointment to the bench.<ref>Burak, Paul H., [https://web.archive.org/web/20190524103110/http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/operations/history.pdf History of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York], Federal Bar Association of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut (New York, 1962), p. 14</ref>
After completing law school he entered private practice in New York City from 1901 to 1929.<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|2654|nid=1390126|name=John Munro Woolsey<!--(1877–1945)-->}}</ref> In addition, he continued his affiliation with Columbia after receiving his degree, teaching [[Equity (law)|equity]] and serving as a member and chairman of the law school's Board of Visitors. He also served [[Harvard Law School]] on its Advisory Commission on Research in International Law. Woolsey was admiralty counsel to the French High Commission in New York City, and a member of a New York admiralty law firm from 1920 until his appointment to the bench.<ref>Burak, Paul H., [https://web.archive.org/web/20190524103110/http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/operations/history.pdf History of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York], Federal Bar Association of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut (New York, 1962), p. 14</ref>


==Federal judicial service==
==Federal judicial service==
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Woolsey was nominated by President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, February 28, 1929, but the [[United States Senate]] did not vote on the nomination and it expired on March 3, 1929, with the end of Coolidge's presidency.<ref name=NYT1929/> Woolsey was renominated by President [[Herbert Hoover]] on April 18, 1929, to a new seat in the Southern District which had been authorized by 45 Stat. 1317.<ref name="auto"/> He was confirmed by the Senate on April 29, 1929, and received his commission the same day.<ref name=NYT1945/>
Woolsey was nominated by President [[Calvin Coolidge]] to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, February 28, 1929, but the [[United States Senate]] did not vote on the nomination and it expired on March 3, 1929, with the end of Coolidge's presidency.<ref name=NYT1929/> Woolsey was renominated by President [[Herbert Hoover]] on April 18, 1929, to a new seat in the Southern District which had been authorized by 45 Stat. 1317.<ref name="auto"/> He was confirmed by the Senate on April 29, 1929, and received his commission the same day.<ref name=NYT1945/>


He authored several important decisions on [[freedom of expression]]. In ''United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love"'' he found that a work by a physician on enhancing marital sexual relations was not obscene.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15108969300410575876&hl=en&as_sdt=100000002&as_vis=1 ''United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love"''], 48 F. 2d 821 (S.D.N.Y.1931)</ref> In a similar case, ''United States v. One Book Entitled "Contraception"'', he held that a book containing information on birth control was not obscene or immoral, and therefore not subject to confiscation.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16650232276490892720&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr ''United States v. One Book Entitled "Contraception"''], 51 F. 2d 525 (S.D.N.Y. 1931)</ref>
He authored several important decisions on [[freedom of expression]]. In [[Married Love|''United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love"'']] he found that a work by a physician on enhancing marital sexual relations was not obscene.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15108969300410575876&hl=en&as_sdt=100000002&as_vis=1 ''United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love"''], 48 F. 2d 821 (S.D.N.Y. 1931)</ref> In a similar case, ''United States v. One Book, Entitled "Contraception"'', he held that a book containing information on birth control was not obscene or immoral, and therefore not subject to confiscation.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16650232276490892720&hl=en&as_sdt=2&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr ''United States v. One Book Entitled "Contraception"''], 51 F. 2d 525 (S.D.N.Y. 1931)</ref>


Woolsey's best-known decision may have been his 1933 ruling in ''[[United States v. One Book Called Ulysses]]'' that [[James Joyce]]'s novel [[Ulysses (novel)|''Ulysses'']] was not obscene and could lawfully be imported into the United States.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5544515174778878625 ''United States v. One Book Called "Ulysses"]'', 5 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933)</ref> This decision, which came about in a test case engineered by [[Bennett Cerf]] of [[Random House]], was affirmed by a 2-1 vote of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] in an opinion by Judge [[Augustus Noble Hand]].<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18349167283709104733 ''United States v. One Book Entitled "Ulysses" by James Joyce''], 72 F.2d 705 (2nd Cir. 1934)</ref> Because Cerf reprinted Woolsey's opinion in all copies of ''Ulysses'' published by his firm, the opinion has been said to be the most widely distributed judicial opinion in history.<ref>[[Irving Younger|Younger, Irving]], ''Ulysses in Court: The Litigation Surrounding the First Publication of James Joyce's Novel in the United States'' (Professional Education Group transcript of Younger speech).</ref>
Woolsey's best-known decision may have been his 1933 ruling in ''[[United States v. One Book Called Ulysses]]'' that [[James Joyce]]'s novel [[Ulysses (novel)|''Ulysses'']] was not obscene and could lawfully be imported into the United States.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5544515174778878625 ''United States v. One Book Called "Ulysses"''], 5 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933)</ref> This decision, which came about in a [[test case]] engineered by [[Bennett Cerf]] of [[Random House]], was affirmed by a 2–1 vote of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit]] in an opinion by Judge [[Augustus Noble Hand]].<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=18349167283709104733 ''United States v. One Book Entitled "Ulysses" by James Joyce''], 72 F.2d 705 (2nd Cir. 1934)</ref> Because Cerf reprinted Woolsey's opinion in all copies of ''Ulysses'' published by his firm, the opinion has been said to be the most widely distributed judicial opinion in history.<ref>[[Irving Younger|Younger, Irving]], ''Ulysses in Court: The Litigation Surrounding the First Publication of James Joyce's Novel in the United States'' (Professional Education Group transcript of Younger speech).</ref>


Woolsey also invalidated [[Executive Order 6102]], an [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] signed by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates". His holding was on the technical grounds that the order was signed by the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury as required,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091115093303/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746366,00.html Sequels, Nov. 27, 1933], Time Magazine.</ref> and forced the Roosevelt administration to issue a new order under the signature of the Secretary of the Treasury, [[Henry Morgenthau Jr.]]
Woolsey also invalidated [[Executive Order 6102]], an [[Executive order (United States)|Executive Order]] signed by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates". His holding was on the technical grounds that the order was signed by the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury as required,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091115093303/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,746366,00.html "Sequels", Nov. 27, 1933], ''Time Magazine''.</ref> and forced the Roosevelt administration to issue a new order signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, [[Henry Morgenthau Jr.]]


Judge Woolsey assumed [[senior status]] on December 31, 1943, due to disability.<ref name="auto"/> He did not hear cases or participate in the business of the court after that date.<ref name=NYT1945/>
Judge Woolsey assumed [[senior status]] on December 31, 1943, due to disability.<ref name="auto"/> He did not hear cases or participate in the business of the court after that date.<ref name=NYT1945/>
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==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
==External links==

*[https://accessaddison.andover.edu/Media/images/Object_Images/PermanentCollection_Images/B_Sculpture/1940s/1941.75.jpg Bust of Judge Woolsey in the Andover Gallery]
*[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55752852/john-munro-woolsey Find-a-grave memorial for Judge Woolsey]
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-legal}}

Latest revision as of 19:19, 27 November 2024

John M. Woolsey
Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office
December 31, 1943 – May 4, 1945
Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
In office
April 29, 1929 – December 31, 1943
Appointed byHerbert Hoover
Personal details
Born
John Munro Woolsey

(1877-01-03)January 3, 1877
Aiken, South Carolina, U.S.
DiedMay 4, 1945(1945-05-04) (aged 68)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationYale University (BA)
Columbia University (LLB)

John Munro Woolsey (January 3, 1877 – May 4, 1945) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was known "for his brilliant and poignantly phrased decisions",[1] including several important precedents in First Amendment jurisprudence.

Family background

[edit]
Woolsey Coat of Arms

Woolsey was born on January 3, 1877, in Aiken, South Carolina, to William Walton Woolsey and Katherine Buckingham Convers Woolsey. Woolsey was a descendant of George (Joris) Woolsey, one of the earliest settlers of New Amsterdam, and Thomas Cornell (settler).[2] One member of his family graduated from Yale University in 1709; his granduncle Theodore Dwight Woolsey was president of that university from 1846 to 1872; and cousin Theodore Salisbury Woolsey was a professor of international law there.[3] His half-sister, Gamel Woolsey, was a noted poet and novelist.

John Woolsey attended private school in Englewood, New Jersey and Phillips Academy. He went on to Yale and received an Artium Baccalaureus degree there in 1898. He got his Bachelor of Laws in 1901 from Columbia Law School, where he was a founder of the Columbia Law Review.[1] He was in private practice in New York City from 1901 to 1929.[4]

[edit]

After completing law school he entered private practice in New York City from 1901 to 1929.[4] In addition, he continued his affiliation with Columbia after receiving his degree, teaching equity and serving as a member and chairman of the law school's Board of Visitors. He also served Harvard Law School on its Advisory Commission on Research in International Law. Woolsey was admiralty counsel to the French High Commission in New York City, and a member of a New York admiralty law firm from 1920 until his appointment to the bench.[5]

Federal judicial service

[edit]

Woolsey was nominated by President Calvin Coolidge to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, February 28, 1929, but the United States Senate did not vote on the nomination and it expired on March 3, 1929, with the end of Coolidge's presidency.[3] Woolsey was renominated by President Herbert Hoover on April 18, 1929, to a new seat in the Southern District which had been authorized by 45 Stat. 1317.[4] He was confirmed by the Senate on April 29, 1929, and received his commission the same day.[1]

He authored several important decisions on freedom of expression. In United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love" he found that a work by a physician on enhancing marital sexual relations was not obscene.[6] In a similar case, United States v. One Book, Entitled "Contraception", he held that a book containing information on birth control was not obscene or immoral, and therefore not subject to confiscation.[7]

Woolsey's best-known decision may have been his 1933 ruling in United States v. One Book Called Ulysses that James Joyce's novel Ulysses was not obscene and could lawfully be imported into the United States.[8] This decision, which came about in a test case engineered by Bennett Cerf of Random House, was affirmed by a 2–1 vote of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in an opinion by Judge Augustus Noble Hand.[9] Because Cerf reprinted Woolsey's opinion in all copies of Ulysses published by his firm, the opinion has been said to be the most widely distributed judicial opinion in history.[10]

Woolsey also invalidated Executive Order 6102, an Executive Order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates". His holding was on the technical grounds that the order was signed by the President, not the Secretary of the Treasury as required,[11] and forced the Roosevelt administration to issue a new order signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau Jr.

Judge Woolsey assumed senior status on December 31, 1943, due to disability.[4] He did not hear cases or participate in the business of the court after that date.[1]

Personal life

[edit]

Woolsey died in New York on May 4, 1945. He was survived by his wife, the former Alice Bradford Bacon, whom he married in 1911, and by a son, John M. Woolsey Jr.[1][4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "John M. Woosley, Retired Jurist, 68". The New York Times. May 5, 1945.
  2. ^ Cornell, Thomas Clapp (5 February 1890). Adam and Anne Mott: Their Ancestors and Their Descendants. A. V. Haight, printer. p. 359 – via Internet Archive. Melancthon Taylor Woolsey George Woolsey.
  3. ^ a b "Coolidge names two to be judges here". The New York Times, March 1, 1929, pp. 1, 3.
  4. ^ a b c d e John Munro Woolsey at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  5. ^ Burak, Paul H., History of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Federal Bar Association of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut (New York, 1962), p. 14
  6. ^ United States v. One Obscene Book Entitled "Married Love", 48 F. 2d 821 (S.D.N.Y. 1931)
  7. ^ United States v. One Book Entitled "Contraception", 51 F. 2d 525 (S.D.N.Y. 1931)
  8. ^ United States v. One Book Called "Ulysses", 5 F. Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933)
  9. ^ United States v. One Book Entitled "Ulysses" by James Joyce, 72 F.2d 705 (2nd Cir. 1934)
  10. ^ Younger, Irving, Ulysses in Court: The Litigation Surrounding the First Publication of James Joyce's Novel in the United States (Professional Education Group transcript of Younger speech).
  11. ^ "Sequels", Nov. 27, 1933, Time Magazine.
[edit]
Legal offices
Preceded by
Seat established by 45 Stat. 1317
 Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
1929–1943 		Succeeded by
Seat abolished
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