| Irving Howard Saypol | |
| Birth Date: | 3 September 1905 |
| Education: | St. Lawrence University Brooklyn Law School |
| Term Start: | 1952 |
| Term End: | 1968 |
| Term Start2: | 1949 |
| Term End2: | 1951 |
| Predecessor2: | John F. X. McGohey |
| Successor2: | Myles J. Lane |
| Spouse: | Adele D. Kaplan |
Irving Howard Saypol (September 3, 1905 – June 30, 1977) was a United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a New York Supreme Court Justice. He directed several high-profile prosecutions of Communists, including the cases of Alger Hiss, William Remington, Abraham Brothman, and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.[1]
He was born on September 3, 1905, one of four sons of Louis and Michakin Saypol, an American Jewish family, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.[1] [2]
He attended night classes at Brooklyn Law School, where he met fellow student Adele B. Kaplan; they married in September 1925. She was a year ahead of him, and he graduated in 1927.[1] They both became attorneys; he was admitted to the bar in 1928.[3] [4] They had three children together, a daughter and twin sons.[1]
After working for a period for the City Corporation Counsel after law school, Irving Saypol established his own practice. In 1945 he was appointed as Chief Assistant United States Attorney, and four years later to the top position in the region as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.[1] [5] Irving Saypol led the prosecution of several members of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA), including Eugene Dennis, William Z. Foster, John Gates, Robert G. Thompson, Gus Hall, William Remington, Abraham Brothman, and Miriam Moskowitz. As a result of these prosecutions, Time described Saypol as "the nation's number one legal hunter of top communists."[6]
From 1950 to 1951 Saypol served as Chief Prosecutor for the federal government in the espionage case against Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell.[7] He gained a reputation as an efficient prosecutor of Communists.
Saypol was elected in 1951 to a 14-year term on the New York Supreme Court, serving from 1952 until 1968. Saypol was one of 14 judges indicted by a controversial special prosecutor. Appointed to investigate police corruption, this prosecutor pursued the judiciary.[8] None of the prosecutions was successful. In Saypol's case the court found that the allegation of the $125 bribery, as stated in the indictment, was unsubstantiated. The opinion states: "Taken as a whole, the evidence not only does not establish a legal basis for a charge of bribery, but clearly confirms that there was no bribe." (Decision of Justice Leonard H. Sandler, People v. Sandler, Indictment No. 1875/76, 87/76, p. 9.
In 1975 Saypol ruled against the landmark designation for Grand Central Terminal in New York City. This removed legal barriers to the construction of a 59-story office tower on top of the terminal.[9] Following the demolition of historic Penn Station, this project helped catalyze the historic preservation movement in New York, and more historic buildings were protected from such intrusions.
Saypol died from cancer on June 30, 1977, at his home at 152 East 94th Street in Manhattan.[5] At his funeral Charles D. Breitel, Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, said
"We on the bench knew that he would handle a case with integrity. This often made him the center of controversy, but then people who live a life without controversy are not of much value to themselves or to society." Breitel concluded "He had an outstanding career and was happily married for 52 years. What more could a person ask for?"[5]
One of his sons, Ronald Dietz Saypol, became an attorney and businessman. He married Cynthia Otis, a granddaughter of Joshua Lionel Cowen, co-founder of Lionel Corporation. The younger Saypol started working for Lionel as a young man, leaving in 1962 for a period. He returned to serve as CEO of Lionel Corporation from 1968 to 1982, as it adapted to major changes in the toy industry and became a large retailer.[10]