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9 Cornell Law Forum (Student ed.) 1 (1956-1957)

handle is hein.journals/corlawfose9 and id is 1 raw text is: Tm-i CCLINtLLLA
DLUME 9           THE CORNELL LAW FORUM, ITHACA, NEW YORK, OCTOBER 31, 1956  NUMBER I
vlacDonald Made MOOT COURT PLANS CHANGES: HOLDS BANQUET

2ommissioner
One of the state's best known legal
ouble shooters has been appointed
member of the commission that he
rved for 22 years.
Professor John W. MacDonald has
en appointed by Governor Harri-
an as a member of the Law Revision
inemission. He was named to a term
,piring December 31, 1958 to sue-
t d the late John F.X. Finn, former
wrn of the Fordham Law School.
MacDonald, who has served as ex-
• utive secretary and director of re-
arch for the commission since it
is founded in 1934, said today, that
though he could no longer continue
ring in his old capacity on the
nmission, the commission's head-
tarters would remain in Myron Tay.
r Hall.
MacDonald, who was a member of
e Law School class of '26, joined
e Law School faculty in 1930 after
rving as clerk of the New York
tort of Claims for three years. In
k35 he became Professor of Law.
ofessor MacDonald served as chair-
an of the Law School Administra-
in Committee from 1954 to 1956.
MacDonald is a member of the Cor-
41 Law Association, the American
ir Association, the Bar Association
. the City of New York, the Tomp-
ns County Bar Association, the New
ark Bar Association and the Amer-
an Law Institute. He is also a mem-
.r of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Alpha
,Ita Law Fraternity.
The I.9w Revision Commission has
n duty of examining existing law,
urt decisions and the like to detect
.ws or situations not in harmony
•th modern conditions. It recom-
ends changes to the Legislature. Its
at major project was its study of
e Proposed Uniform Commercial
de on which it reported to the Leg-
;ature last spring.
ossiter Addresses
aw Wives Meeting
On the second Tuesday night of
.ch month at about eight o'clock, if
in should casually wander around
e corridors of Myron Taylor and
tss the men's lounge, you may find
startling change in scenery. Instead
. grey flannel pants and pipe, you
ill find quite a number of skirts and
,eaters. This is the monthly meeting
* the Law Wives' Club, whose mem-
rship numbers somewhere over a
mdred.
On October 9th, the club held its
-st meeting with a guest speaker,
linton Rossiter, Professor of Gov-
i'ment in the College of Arts and
-iences. Professor Rossiter outlined
xe Presidential and Vice-Presidential
ities. He also gave the girls an in-
ght into just what the Democrats
ust do if they want to win the '56
tction as opposed to what the Re-
iblicans must do to hold their Pres-
lential leadership.
Thoron vs. Schlesinger
One of the features of the Moot
Court Banquet, held last Friday
evening was Dean Thoron's chal-
lenge of Professor Schlesinger to
a Moot Court argument on the cur-
rent national Moot Court topic of
criminal insantity. In his accept-
ance speech, Professor Schlesinger
stated he would take the side of the
government and argue that the
current tests for insanity are the
correct ones. The argument will
take place next semester.

Court Revised
For New Class
Beginning with the entering class
this fall, a completely revised first
year Moot Court program has been
instituted.  The  most  significant
change from the program with which
the upperclassmen were acquainted,
was introduction of a new one-hour
a week course, called Law Research,
which will be given to first year stu-
dents from September through De.
cember by Professor Cardozo.
The new course, which is designed
to give entering students better train-
ing in the use of library materials,
assigns library projects which are re-
quired to be handed in and are cor-
rected. After the course, which car-
ries with it one hour of credit, con-
cludes in December, the first year stu-
dents will submit the customary Moot
Court brief, and oral arguments on
these briefs will begin during the first
week of the Spring semester in Feb-
ruary.
Unlike previous years, the second
semester's Moot Court participation
for freshmen will be voluntary, but it
is upon this competition that the an-
nual award by the Phi Alpha Delta
fraternity for outstanding achieve-
ment in Moot Court for first year stu-
dents will be based.
The judging will again be done for
first year students' arguments by sec-
ond year students who have elected to
take Moot Court, and will be under
the direction of the Senior Moot
Board, headed by Chancellor George
K. Bernstein. Also elected to the Moot
Court Board in elections held last
Spring are Robert Gluckman, who
will serve as Vice-Chancellor, and
Robert Simon, Secretary-Treasurer.
The second year Moot Court pro-
gram will follow much the same for-
mat as in previous years. Participa-
tion will again be completely volun-
tary and members of the faculty will
serve as judges. One innovation in the
second year program is that this year,
for the first time, actual cases will be
used. Arguments among second year
contestants will begin immediately
following the conclusion of the Senior
competitions, which will be around
the end of October.
Three Recognized For
Exceptional Scholarship
This year as in former years, three
awards were bestowed on three wor-
thy third-year men.
The Boardman Prize of $100 given
to the student who has done the best
work at the termination of his second
year was awarded by the faculty to
Melvin Howard Osterman, Jr. The
prize comes from a gift of Judge
Douglas Boardnan the first Dean of
the Cornell Law School.
The Frazer Prizes, valued at $100
and $50 were received by Joseph Ed-
ward Lynch and Thomas George
Rickert respectively. These awards
were voted upon by the members of
third-year class from a list of ten sub-
mitted by the faculty; the list being
compiled on the basis of outstanding
scholarship. The prizes are given an-
nually in memory of Alexander Hugh
Ross Fraser, former librarian of the
Law School.
Mr. Osterman and Mr. Lynch did
their undergraduate work at Cornell;
Mr. Rickert is a graduate of the Uni-
versity of Rochester.

Chancellor George Bernstein, (centerl assisted by Vice-Chancellor Robert Gluckman, (right)
and Secretary-Treasurer Robert Simon look over the Moot Court Room before last week's
senior Moot Court Finals.
Fourteen Men Compete For
Law Quarterly Honors
By Alan B. Kayton
Competition for the Cornell Law Quarterly officially commenced this year
with the selection of fourteen competitors. Ten of the competitors are members
of the second year class and four are of the third year class. The four third
year students competing for the Quarterly are William G. Becker, Jr., Ray H.
Brown, Ross B. Burke and Franklin Tretter.

Bill Becker is a resident of West-
field, N. J. He went to high school at
Poly Prep in  oo, N. Y. Hc bc-
gan undergraduate studies at Cornell
University where h- was awarded an
A.B. degree in 1952. Prior to entering
the law school, Bill was a lieutenant
in the U.S. Air Force during the years
1952-1954 inclusive.
Ray Brown conies from Hornell,
N. Y. He is a graluate of Princeton
University. Shortly after his gradua-
tion in 1951, Ray entered the U.S.
Navy in which he served until 1954.
He is married and has one child, a
son, Robert.
Ross Burke presently resides in
Syracuse, N. Y. He was born in Hous-
ton, Texas. Ross ment to high school
in Cranford, N. J. Upon graduation
he commenced    his undergraduate
studies at Ohio Wesleyan University
where he was awarded an A.B. degree
in 1954. Ross is also married.
Franklin Tretter hails from Brook-
lyn, N. Y. He is a graduate of Cor-
nell University where he received his
B.A. degree in 1954.
The ten second year students who
will compete this year are Bruce 0.
Becker, Stanley Komaroff, Ronald S.
Lockhart, Philip I. Loree, Walter
Meyer, Robert Orseck, Michael J. Os-
trow, Douglas Parker, Harold E.
Rosen and David G. Stearns.
Bruce Becker resides in Endicott,
N. Y. Hle attended Union Endicott
High School. Bruce is a graduate of
Lafayette College  in  Easton, Pa.
While there he majored in economics
and was a member of Pi Lambda Phi
fraternity. In 1953 he received his
A.B. degree in economics. During the
years 1953-1955 Bruce served as an
infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army.
During that period Bruce married.
Stan  Komarofi graduated   from
Cornell -University in 1956, at which
time he was double registered in the
Arts-Law program of the University.
He attended Madison High School in
Brooklyn, N. Y. where he was presi-
dent of the student government. At
present, Stan is a member of the
Army ROTC and expects to receive
his commission in June 1958.

Ron Lockhart dwells in Scarsdale,
N. Y. He is married and has a nine-
montho old daughter. He gruiuated
from East Chester High School in
1949 and the Cornell Hotel School in
1953. He also served two years as an
officer in the Army Quartermaster
Corps before he commenced the study
of law.
Phil Loree is a resident of Hornell,
N. Y. He is married and has an eight-
weeks-old daughter. He attended Hor-
nell high school and did his under-
graduate studies at Fordham Univer-
sity where he graduated in 1955. Phil
is the winner of the first year Moot
Court prize.
Walt Meyer comes from New York
City where he graduated from Stuy-
vesant high school. He also graduated
from Cornell University School of
IContinued on page 3)

Robinson and
Randle Tie In
Moot Court
Final arguments for Seniors com
peting for Moot Court honors were
held Friday afternoon, October 26, in
the Moot Court room before a large
crowd. The winners, who will repre-
sent the Cornell Law School in the
inter-school regional competition in
Buffalo later this month were Bob
Randle, Mary Robinson, and George
Weinstein.
The decision was announced by the
three presiding judges, Judge Marvin
R. Dye, of the New York Court of
Appeals, Dean Gray Thoron, and Pro-
fessor  Michael  Cardozo, faculty
supervisor of the Moot Court pro-
gram, at a banquet held for the fac-
ulty and the second and third year
students who have elected to take
Moot Court. The banquet was held at
the Cornell Heights Residential Club
in the evening.
The National Moot Court case this
year involves a plea of insanity as a
defense to a criminal prosecution by
an accused, a subject in which inter-
est has been stimulated by the com-
paratively recent case of United States
v. Durham 214 F.2d 862 (1954).
Judge Dye becomes the second New
York Court of Appeals judge in as
many years to preside over Moot
Court flrsis   elt th  Cnrnll I.w
School. At last year's finals, Judge
Dye's colleague, Judge Fuld, presided.
In coming to Cornell, Judge Dye
returns to the school from which he
received his LLB. degree in 1917. Be-
fore his election to the Court of Ap-
peals in November of 1944, Judge
Dye had served as a judge on the
Court of Claims.
The twelve candidates who entered
the competition were as follows: Mar-
shall Bellkin, George Bernstein, Mat-
thew Lifflander, Robert Randle, Mar-
vin  Robinson, Robert Gluckman,
Jerry Luks, George Weinstein, Robert
Simon, Edwin Eisen, William Mc-
Donald, and George Cohen. The
former eight men continued ,into the
finals.

Judge Gutman, Counsel to Governor
Gives Insight to Inner Executive Office
For most lawyers and laymen alike, the title, Counsel to the Governor,
imports only a vague idea of the actual significance of this office in the func-
tioning of the executive department of the state government. But for those
guests and students who were present in the Men's Lounge on the evening of
October 1, an informative and interesting discusion by Judge Daniel Gutman,
Counsel to the Governor, unfolded the breadth and scope of the office as well
as many of the high points of the past few years.

Professor John MacDonald, who
introduced the speaker, alluded to the
tremendous growth of this branch of
the executive during the past twenty-
four years since the administration of
Governor Lehman. The areas in
which the office functions, the impor-
tance of the position in respect to the
efficiency of the executive department
in its everyday matters, and the work
which it entails were touched upon by
the Professor in presenting Judge
Gutman.
Judge Gutman, in his talk entitled,
Inside  the  Executive  Chamber,
pointed out that the main areas of his
office's work can be categorically di-
vided into legislation, clemency ap-
plications, and extradition processes.
His office reviews every piece of
legislation which is to be presented to
the legislature. A thorough investiga-

tion is conducted as to policy sound-
ness and the recommendation of the
office is affixed to the bill. If the
bill is passed, the office again reviews
it, sorts it according to veto time and
presents it to the Governor for sign-
ing or vetoing with a second recom-
mendation. It is obvious that this
function alone is voluminous with as
many as 3500 items of legislation
passing through the office annually.
The substance of the Judge's talk
dealt with extradition and clemency
proceedings. The Judge refered to the
many types of clemency and commu-
tation which exist. For example, he
pointed out that application of clem-
ency on capital punishment is usually
decided at a hearing before the Gov-
ernor assisted by his counsel. Appli-
cations for commutations of sgntence
(Continued on page 4)'

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