The mother court : tales of cases that mattered in America's greatest trial court

This is the first book to chronicle the history of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the most influential District court in the United States, from the perspective of a practicing attorney who has argued many cases before some of its most esteemed judges. It gives first-hand insight into the evolution of our justice system--where it has been, where it is now and where it is going. It provides an anatomy of what a trial is all about in an American courtroom, featuring the most famous trials of the period in the greatest court in the nation. It gives the reader a taste of what the storied judges of the period-- Weinfeld, Murphy, Mansfield, Tyler, Motley and Palmieri, to name a few--were all about, how they thought, how they judged, and why they were the worthy keepers of our sacred right to justice, as well as the historical traditions of the Court.

• Foreword p. ix
• Introduction p. xi
• 1 Of the Mother Court p. 1
• 2 Bob Morgenthau-The Boss p. 13
• 3 I, The Jury p. 25
• 4 The Lost Art of Cross-Examination p. 41
• 5 U.S. v. Us: The Red Scare p. 53
• The Smith Act Cases p. 57
• The Trial of the Communist Leaders p. 59
• The Strange Case of Alger Hiss p. 63
• Irving R. Kaufman and the Rosenbergs p. 74
• Of The Rosenberg Case p. 75
• The Rosenbergs: What Happened Later p. 83
• Of Judge Kaufman p. 89
• 6 U.S. V Sex p. 93
• Ulysses p. 98
• The Curious Case of I Am Curious-Yellow p. 101
• Deep Throat or How Far Does a Girl Have to go to Untangle Her Tingle? p. 104
• The Ofili Case-Sex in the Museum p. 107
• 7 U.S. Y the Press and the Remarkable Career of Judge Murray I. Gurfein p. 111
• 8 U.S. v. The Mob p. 129
• 9 U.S. v. Official Corruption p. 141
• The Manton Case p. 142
• The Keogh Case p. 145
• 10 U.S. v. The Accountants p. 153
• 11 Of the Libel Cases p. 171
• Pegler v. Reynolds p. 174
• Goldwater v. Ginzburg p. 176
• Sharon v. Time, Inc. p. 179
• Westmoreland v. CBS p. 187
• 12 U.S. v. Roy M. Cohn p. 199
• 13 U.S. v. Them p. 213
• 14 Some of My Favorite Judges p. 229
• Some of the Best p. 230
• Edward Weinfeld p. 230
• Thomas Murphy p. 238
• Walter Mansfield p. 246
• Harold R. Tyler, Jr. p. 249
• Edmund Palmieri p. 252
• Some of the Rest p. 259
• Irving Ben Cooper p. 260
• Lloyd MacMahon p. 269
• David Edelstein p. 275
• Constance Baker Motley p. 278
• 15 The Court Today p. 283
• The Launch of the Digital Courtroom p. 284
• Tweeting, Friending, and the Jury p. 289
• Sentencing by Guidelines p. 292
• Conclusion p. 303
• Acknowledgments p. 309
• Index p. 311