Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-02-04
Record for the Courts

The most recent judicial appointments
which have been made by President Tru-
man are indicative, in The Stars opinion,
of proper respect for and appreciation
of the role which the courts should play
in our system Of government.
One of these appointments advances
Harold M. Stephens, senior associate justice
of the United States Court of Appeals, to
the post of chief justice. made vacant by
the retirement of d. Lawrence Groner
who had served in that high judicial post
with great distinction. The second moves
Justice James M. Proctor from the bench
of the District Court to the vacancy on the
Court of Appeals created by the advance
ment of Justice Stephens. The third pro-
vides for the replacement of Justice Proc
tor on the District Court by Edward A.
Tamm, assistant to the director of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
All of these appointments have one thing
in common. They are not politically
inspired; no one of them is a reward to
some party faithful for services rendered
in the partisan cause. And when this can
be said of three judicial appointments, it
is very definitely tribute to the President
and to his adviser in these matters, At
torney General Clark.
1t is hard to believe that there will be
any criticism of the appointments of
Justice Stephens and Justice Proctor.
Although a native of Nebraska, Justice
Stephens has served on the Court OF
Appeals since 1895. And his record there
leaves no doubt as to his qualifications for
the chief justiceship. The same thing can
be said of Justice Proctor. A native of
Washington he has been member of
the District Court bench since 1881, and
his work there fully merits the recogni-
ton which is implicit in his promotion to
the appellate court.
Some criticism of the appointment OF
Mr. Tamm can be expected. native OF
Minnesota, he entered the FBI in 1880 as
a special agent at the age OF %. And
since FBI agents do not operate in the
spotlight, he Is relatively little known in
Washington He has not had the kind
of legal experience that one ordinarily
expects to find in the record of an ap-
pointee to the Federal. bench, and his
appointment was announced without wait
ing for any recommendations from the
local bar.
Generally speaking, this would provide
ground for opposition to the appointment.
The Star does not believe, however, that
this holds good in the case of Mr.. Tamm.
For his record at the ~FBI and his attitude
toward law enforcement are such as to
lead to the conclusion that he will make
an excellent judge.
There will be. naturally, considerable
speculation as to- the reasons for the
selection of Mr. Tamm. The best guess
seems to be that it was a personal choice
on the part of the Attorney General, and
it may also be that the President desired
to indicate his confidence in the FBI in
the face OF some criticism which has been
leveled at this agency. But the particular
reasons for the selection of MrATamm are
not of first Importance. What is i'm
portant is that these three appointments
tend to strengthen our courts, where
political appointments would have weak
ened them. 1t would have been easy,
especially in an election year, for the
President to have treated these vacancies
as political plums. That he did not do so
indicates that he has proper regard for
that political independence which ought
to be the first attribute of the Federal
judiciary.