Louis Earl Goodman

Background

Goodman was born on January 2, 1892, in Lemoore, California, the son of Joseph Goodman, a clerk, and Emma Neustadt. While he was a child, the family moved to San Francisco.

Education

After graduating from Wilson High School there, Goodman attended the University of California at Berkeley, from which he received the B. A. in 1913. Two years later he was awarded a law degree by Hastings College of Law.

Career

In 1930, Goodman formed a partnership with Louis Brownstone, a younger man who had just passed the bar examination. Gradually Goodman became known as a power in local Democratic politics. In 1942, Franklin D. Roosevelt named Goodman a judge of the District Court for the Northern District of California. Reflecting the character of the region, Goodman's written opinions often concerned citizenship and admiralty matters. His admiralty rulings are not exceptionally distinguished, although he showed a distinct preference for helping aggrieved sailors. His opinion in Tadayasu Abo v. Clark held that the renunciation of American citizenship by certain native-born Americans of Japanese ancestry while in detention camps during World War II was invalid. He ruled that pressures from other inmates and from the government led to conditions in the camps that were so oppressive as to destroy the voluntary nature of the surrender of citizenship. Although the scope of the decision was lessened on appeal, Goodman's opinion brought into question a sordid policy in which two future Supreme Court justices had played a part. In 1951, Goodman ruled that Henry Miller's sexually explicit but serious works Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn could not be legally imported. Two years later Goodman ordered a grand jury to ignore certain evidence in an investigation of Internal Revenue Service corruption, introduced by an assistant U. S. attorney, unless the evidence had been cleared with the chief attorney. Subsequent investigation by a congressional committee resulted in the issuing of a subpoena to Goodman. He refused to testify on the basis of the doctrine of separation of powers. The committee, suspecting his reasoning might be legally correct, did not pursue the matter. In 1955, the federal government asked Goodman to revoke the naturalization of Harry Bridges, the leader of the International Longshoremen's Union. But Goodman found the government's evidence too unreliable for so drastic an action. On March 1, 1958, Goodman became chief judge. As chief judge he built a new courthouse dubbed "Goodman's Towers" and persuaded the White House to add associate judges to the court. The Caryl Chessman case brought Goodman to national prominence. Chessman had been convicted in 1948 in state court of a series of robberies and kidnappings, and sentenced to death. While an appeal was pending, the court reporter, who used a peculiar transcription system, died. Chessman contended that the state then willfully selected an incompetent transcriber. In 1955 Chessman sought a new hearing from Goodman, claiming that he had been deprived of due process by the state, and thus was entitled to habeas corpus. Goodman had publicly criticized some of the habeas corpus petitions filed before his court by prison inmates as dilatory, explaining his decision to uphold the state court despite two Supreme Court rulings ordering him to grant Chessman a wide review of the questioned proceedings. After hearing Chessman for the third time, Goodman again upheld the essential accuracy of the transcript and fairness of the proceedings, but suggested "extrajudicially" that Chessman might be granted clemency because the prisoner had been on Death Row for thirteen years. Goodman thus echoed the contentions of many throughout the world who believed Chessman was being cruelly treated because of his long incarceration. But the Court of Appeals criticized Goodman for abandoning his judicial role and upheld the conviction. After eight reprieves, on May 3, 1960, as Chessman was being led to the gas chamber, his attorneys were making one more argument before Goodman, whose own life had been threatened because of the case. Goodman granted a stay of execution for one hour, but Chessman was in the gas chamber by the time officials at San Quentin received notice. Goodman died in Palo Alto, California, on September 15, 1961.

Achievements

• Goodman was a voice for fairness and mercy for the immigrant and the seaman. He believed in letting the law work without undue emphasis on procedure.

Membership

Member of Selective Service Local Board (1940-1942)

Connections

On June 27, 1917, Goodman married Carolyn Verona Nathan; they had one daughter.

Father:

Joseph Goodman

Mother:

Emma Neustadt

Spouse:

Carolyn Verona Nathan

References

• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt?: The Original Trial of Caryl Chessman (Classic Reprint)
• Tropic of Cancer on trial;: A case history of censorship,
• Harry Bridges: The Rise and Fall of Radical Labor in the United States