Evening star., 1955-05-29
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tious, hard-working judge. He
spent every Saturday in his
chambers in addition to fulfilling
his judicial duties through the
first five days of the week.
On hearing of his death, a
Federal judge said of him in
retrospect:
Il don't think any man has
ever come to court with a
higher sense of dedication to
duty than he"
A chief judge must spend much
time on the administration of
his court, work that does not
come to the attention of the bar
or the public. Judge Stephens
was indefatigable in this.
When it came to writing opin-
ions he would take his time. He
took more than a year to pre-
pare an opinion denying the
Government an injunction
against the United States Gyp-
sum Co. and other firms in the
same field. The charge was vio-
lation of the antitrust laws. His
opinion was ia pages long.
He recently found himself
alone against the eight associate
judges of his court in holding
that Judge Luther Youngdahl
should not have dismissed a per-
jury count in the indictment
against Prof. Owen baltimore.
Late in 1888 he was given
assurances from the Federal
hierarchy that he would be ap-
pointed to the Supreme Court
to replace Justice Cardozo who
died in that year. Felix Frank
furter was given the appoint
ment. 1t was a bitter disap-
pointment for Judge Stephens.
Ready Sense of Humor
He was a man of medium
height with receding brown hair.
a ready sense of humor and
fond of telling stories. He was
the butt of some of them. One
OF his favorites was an embar-
rassment during his younger
days in Utah. He was travelling
on the pass of friend, a ply
sician. The conductor came to
him and asked him to take care
OF a woman passenger who had
suddenly become i'll.
Although his ascendancy was
In the early days of the New
Deal. he was essentially a con-
servative.
He was born in Crete, Nebr.,
on March 6, 1886. the son of an
attorney descended from May
flower stock. His father moved
to Salt Lake City, Utah, when
he was a boy. He went to COL
lege at the University of Utah |
for two years, then transferred |
to Cornell where he graduated |
in 1909. He went to Harvard |
Law School where he took his
law degree in 1913. He returned |
to Salt Lake where he was as
siStant prosecutor and a trial
Judge during the World War I
period.
He practiced in Los Angeles
for a time in the 192Os. A Con-
gregationalist. he became a con-
vert to Roman Catholicism at |
this time and returned to Har-
ward to take an advanced law
degree. He became a doctor Of |
juridical science in 1882 and his |
thesis, Administrative Tribu-
nails and the Rules of Evidence"
was published by the Harvard |
University Press in 1888.
Advanced Rapidly
That was the year of Franklin |
D. Roosevelt's first inaugural. !
Senator Tom Walsh of Montana
was to have been Attorney Gen.
eral but he died on the eve of !
the inauguration and Roosevelt |
appointed Homer Cummings, a
liberal of the Wilson era, to the
post. The new administration |
relied heavily on the law schools |
for talent and Harold Stephens |
was highly recommended by
Dean Roscoe Pound of Harvard.
Mr.. Cummings liked him and ad-
vanced him rapidly.
Mr.. Stephens became Assistant
Attorney General in charge of
the antitrust division. He urged |