biography
| name: |
Hand, (Billings) Learned
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1872–1961)
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| biography:
| Jurist, born in Albany, New York, USA. The son and grandson of judges, and cousin of Augustus Hand, he graduated from Harvard in 1893 and from Harvard Law School three years later. A bookish boy, he grew into a sceptical, open-minded adult. He practised in Albany and in New York City until 1909, when he received an appointment as US district judge for the Southern District of New York. In a 52-year career as district judge (1909–24), appeals court judge (1924–39), and chief judge (1939–51) of the 2nd US Court of Appeals, he issued some 3000 opinions touching virtually every area of law. His opinions were so highly regarded that he became known as the 10th judge of the US Supreme Court. In 1944, in a neat summary of his own intellectual approach, he declared: ‘The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right’. In a series of lectures at Harvard near the end of his life, he warned the judiciary not to exceed its constitutional authority by attempting to legislate from the bench. |
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