Background
Gurfein, Murray Irwin was born on November 17, 1907 in New York City. Son of Louis and Rose (Feld) Gurfein.
Gurfein, Murray Irwin was born on November 17, 1907 in New York City. Son of Louis and Rose (Feld) Gurfein.
Bachelor of Arts, Columbia University, 1926. Bachelor of Laws magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1930. Doctor of Laws, Bard College, 1972.
After graduating, he served as a law clerk to Judge Julian Mack and then as an Assistant United States Attorney in New New York He also served as an assistant in the District Attorney"s office in Manhattan. During World World War II, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the United States. Army.
After military service, he was an assistant to Robert H. Jackson during the first months of Jackson"s 1945-1946 service as the United States. prosecutor in the Nuremberg Trials.
Gurfein then returned to New York where he practiced as a lawyer from 1946 to 1971. In 1971, President Richard M. Nixon appointed Gurfein as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New New York
During his first week as a judge, Gurfein was assigned the Pentagon Papers case and gained national prominence when he refused the government"s motion to enjoin publication of the documents. Gurfein"s ruling was initially reversed by the Court of Appeals, but ultimately reinstated by the Supreme Court.
Gurfein wrote: "The security of the Nation is not at the ramparts alone.
Security also lies in the value of our free institutions. A cantankerous press, an obstinate press, an ubiquitous press must be suffered by those in authority in order to preserve the even greater values of freedom of expression and the right of the people to know."
After three years on the District Court, Gurfein was promoted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, also headquartered in Manhattan. Gurfein served on the Court of Appeals from 1974 until his death in 1979.
Served as lieutenant colonel, chief intelligence Psychological Warfare Division, Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force Office of Strategic Services and Army of the United States, 1942-1945. Fellow American College Trial Lawyers, American Bar Foundation. Member American, New York State bar associations, Association Bar City New York, Harvard Law School Association New York (president 1977-1978), Council Foreign Relations, Phi Beta Kappa.
Club: Harmonie (New York City).
Married Eva Hadas, August 6, 1931. Children: Abigail (Mistress Robert Hellwarth), Susan Hadas (Mistress Arthur Rosett).
