BRUCE WRIGHT (1917–2005)

Abstract

BOOK BRIEF Black Robes, White Justice. By Bruce Wright. Seacaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart Inc. 1987. Pp. vii, 214. $15.95. Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here at the dawning of the Twentieth Cen- tury. This meaning is not without interest...; for the problem of the Twen- tieth Century is the problem of the color-line. This is an unusual book review about an unusual book. In Black Robes, White Justice, Justice Bruce Wright of the New York Supreme Court, has written a damning indictment of the American legal system that should cause us to reexamine our notions of the Constitution, justice, and race relations in this country. For many Americans, the law has everything to do with notions of fairness and justice. Courts and judges are thought to be fountains of equa- nimity. This view is particularly prevalent among students in most law schools, and especially so for students of color. For instance, the events sur- rounding the nomination and defeat of Judges Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg to the United States Supreme Court 2 focused the nation on the role of the judiciary and the judicial selection process. Even with the Court's most recently seated Justice, Anthony Kennedy, it is apparent that many people view the nomination and confirmation process as a question of ideology rather than objective capability. 3 Some feel judges should be results-oriented people primarily concerned with addressing issues concerning the majority. A good nominee is one who thinks as you do. For others, judges should not come to the bench with a pre-packaged ideology. The potential of a philo- sophical predisposition doomed Judge Bork's nomination, and also concerned many about both Judge Ginsburg and Judge Kennedy's nominations. Unfortunately, much of the debate and analysis on judicial philosophy centers on the nation's highest court. In addition to those nine justices, there are more than 18,000 judges in courts around the country. These judges and justices of lower federal and state courts decide most litigation. Yet, many lower court judicial selections escape the attention of most observers.' A dec- ade ago as a law student in New York City, I quickly became aware of Bruce Wright and his tribulations with various citizens of the city, including the mayor, his colleagues in the bar and on the bench, and with the metropolitan police department. Known as Cut 'Em Loose Bruce, Judge Wright often 1. W.E.B. DuBois, THE SOULS Or BLACK FOLK vii (1903). 2. See On Trial. Character, U.S. NEws & WORLD REPORT, Sept. 28, 1987, at 26-27, 29; Bor- ger, Going... Going..., U.S. NEws & WORLD REPORT, Oct. 12, 1987, at 20-22; Meese's Man For the Court, Wash. Post Nat'l Weekly, Nov. 16, 1987, at 25. See also The Bork Nomination, 9 CAR- Dozo L. REV. 1 (1987). 3. See, e.g., Church Far More Judicious, TIME, Nov. 23, 1987, at 16-18; For Round 3: A Con- servative Without Bork's Bite, Wash. Post Nat'l Weekly, Nov. 23, 1987, at 13. 4. THE AMERICAN BENCH v (4th ed. 1987). 5. Although the American Bar Association's judicial selection committee provides professional ratings of most federal court nominees, those rankings do not have the force and effect that one might necessarily expect. For a recent example see The New York Times, July 20-25, 1986 for articles on the nomination of Daniel A. Manion to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.