Toward the Seats

Toward seats on one of the nation's most distinguished courts moved two of the nation's most widely known men of law. The court: the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New York, Connecticut and Vermont and which was long graced by the presence of the late Learned Hand and his cousin Augustus. The men: Thurgood Marshall, longtime special counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (TIME cover, Sept. 19, 1955), and U.S. District Court Judge Irving R. Kaufman.

Marshall, 53, the great-grandson of a Congolese native who was snatched from his homeland and transported to slavery in the U.S., for years has fought in the frontlines legal battle against U.S. segregation. Born in Baltimore, he earned degrees from Lincoln and Howard universities, holds seven honorary doctorates. During his service with the N.A.A.C.P., he has had as many as 500 civil rights cases running at the same time, argued more than 30 of them before the Supreme Court. The high point of his career: his successful Supreme Court arguments that led to the historic 1954 school desegregation decision. Southern Senators, who disagree with Marshall but respect his abilities, are expected to make only a token fight against his confirmation.

Kaufman, 51, was born in New York City, educated at Fordham, and was only 39 when appointed by President Harry Truman to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Since then, he has presided over many a landmark case, but his most agonizing decision came in a capital-punishment trial in 1951. Before he delivered sentence, Kaufman meditated in a synagogue for an entire day, later fainted while considering last-minute appeals. But Irving Kaufman never wavered in his legal determination that Communist Atom Spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg should die for having committed a crime "worse than murder."

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