Learned Hand

In 1902, Learned Hand married Frances Fincke, whom he first met while holidaying at La Malbaie, a Quebec resort. The couple had three daughters: Mary Deshon, Frances, and Constance.

He blamed himself for being insensitive to his wife’s need when she became close to Louis Dow, a professor and resident of New Hampshire. After Dow’s death in 1944, the Hands revived their love.

Billings Learned Hand was born on January 27, 1872 as the second of two children to Samuel Hand, a successful lawyer and Lydia Hand. At 14, he lost his father and was brought up by his mother.

His self-confidence was undermined by his over-protective female relatives including his mother, aunt and older sister. He began to study in The Albany Academy from age seven, and found the teachers and curriculum dull.

He joined Harvard College in 1889, and studied philosophy and economics from his sophomore year. He was taught by distinguished philosophers such as William James, Josiah Royce, and George Santayana.

A serious boy, he found campus life difficult. However, things improved, and he became a member of the Hasty Pudding Club and was elected president of The Harvard Advocate, a student literary magazine.

A diligent student, he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa which was a prestigious society of scholarly students, and received both his master’s and bachelor’ s from Harvard Law College by 1896.

Hand joined his uncle’s law firm in Albany and then became a partner in a law firm, but was unable to attract clients and found work boring. He was, however, determined to succeed.

He indulged in writing articles, teaching part-time at Albany Law School, and showed interest in politics. Although hailing from a family of Democrats, he voted for Republican Theodore Roosevelt as Governor of New York.

In 1902, he moved to New York City. While the legal work continued to be drab, he began to associate with intellectuals and reform activists. He managed to catch the attention of the influential attorney, Charles Culp Bulingham.

Endorsed by Bulingham, he was appointed a district judge in New York City, and served in this position from 1909 to 1924. The field of Patent law interested him more than the bankruptcy cases.

In the 1913 United States v. Kennerley case, disputing the soundness of the outdated Hicklin Rule, he declared that the book, ‘Hagar Revelly’ intended to educate women in social hygiene and was not obscene.

In the 1917 Masses Publishing Co. v. Patten case, Hand ruled that the journal, The Masses, should not be stopped from distribution. Though his ruling was upturned, it is remarkable for upholding free expression.

In the 1950 United States v. Coplon case before the Second Circuit bench, he said that Coplon’s warrantless arrest, and the failure to disclose all the wiretap records necessitated the reversal of her conviction.