Oral History of Alan Rosenthal
INDEX
Adams, Arlen, 118
African-Americans
law clerks, 66–67
messengers, 63, 67, 81
in military, 30–31
and segregation, 19–20, 30, 81, 133
at Yale Law School, 41
Aldridge, Bailey, 123
Alexander, Clifford, 147
Almond, Lindsay, 133
American Export Line, 42–43
Arnold & Porter, 263–64
Asselstine, James, 169–71, 202
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 161, 163, 164
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), 154, 155–56, 161. See also Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Babcock, Barbara, 143–45
Baldridge, Holmes, 58, 74–75
Baldwin, Katherine, 138
Bazelon, David L., 60, 61, 76, 105, 106, 115, 118
Bell, Griffin, 144, 145
Benjamin, Edward, 53
Bergh, Alfred C., 148–49
Bluebook, 241–42
Board of Economic Warfare, 5
Bollwerk, Paul, 210, 211
Bromley, Bruce, 59
Brown, John R., 120
Brownell, Herbert, 113, 132, 134
Buck, John, 189–90, 192, 195
Burger, Warren, 110–13, 142
Burton, Harold H., 127
Bush, George W., 153
Cameron, Benjamin F., 119–20
Clark, Bennett Champ, 60, 61
Clark, Charles, 48
Clark, Ramsey, 90–92
B-1
Clark, Tom C., 48
Clinton, William J., 153
Columbia University, 181–82
Congressional Research Service, 147
Cravath, Swaine & Moore, 52–53, 59, 113
Cuomo, Mario, 180
Davidson, Rita, 39
Dean, John, 140–42, 153
District of Columbia
and death penalty, 57–58
public schools, 6, 8, 19, 130–31
segregation, 18–20, 67, 130–31, 254
and World War II, 20
Dobie, Armistead, 101–102, 103–104
Dominion Power Company, 231
Don, Beth, 208
Doub, William, 154–56, 157, 158
Douglas, John, 142
Douglas, Paul, 142
earthquakes, 187–92, 196
Edgerton, Henry, 49–50, 52, 56–62, 63, 64, 66–67, 68, 69, 76, 106, 118
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 14, 111–12, 131–32, 143
Eldridge, John, 259
Elman, Philip, 129, 131, 134
Emerson, Thomas, 41
Energy Department, U.S., 217–18
and Yucca Mountain repository, 219–25
Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), 161
Environmental Protection Agency, 168–69
Ethical Culture Society, 14, 244
Fahy, Charles, 60, 118
Farrar, Michael, 167–69, 189–90, 192–93
FBI, 76, 77, 89–92
Federal Reserve System, 100–101
Federal Tort Claims Act, 94, 116
Ford, Gerald, 117
Forman, Benjamin, 115
Fortas, Abe, 126
Franco, Francisco, 43–44
Frank, Jerome, 48, 94, 96
B-2
Frankfurter, Felix, 125–26
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, 55, 256, 268
Friedman, Daniel, 89, 139, 141–42, 255
General Accounting Office, Personnel Appeals Board, 206–207
GI Bill of Rights, 32–34
Greene, Harold, 259
Griswold, Dean, 141–42
Hand, Augustus, 94, 95
Hand, Learned, 94–96
Harbeson, William Page, 36–37
Harris, Samuel, 46, 55
Hobbs Act, 175
Hoover, J. Edgar, 89–90, 91
Illinois, 226
Indiana, 130
Interstate Commerce Commission, 100
Jackson, Shirley Ann, 210
Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 170
Joseph, Daniel, 168
Justice Department, U.S.
and African-Americans, 81
Appellate Court Section/Staff, Civil Division, 82, 84–85, 87–88, 112–14, 171
assistant attorneys general, 111, 142–43
attempted elimination of, 143–45
employee raiding, 168–69
litigation proliferation, 152
and McCarthy era cases, 114–15
political deputies, 153
staff, 151–54
women in, 79, 138
See also Justice Dept. – Supreme Court Section, Claims Division
library, 83–84
Solicitor General’s Office, 84, 85, 87–89
women in, 138–39
Supreme Court Section, Claims Division, 70, 73–74, 82 151. See also Justice Dept. –
Appellate Court Section/Staff, Civil Division
Kagan, Elena, 45
Kennedy, John F., 142, 143
B-3
Klutz, Jerry, 149
Kneeland, Marjorie, 11–12
Kohl, Christine, 170, 171, 175, 199, 201
Kopp, Robert, 171
Laughlin, John, 78–79
law firms
pay scales, 52, 265
religious discrimination, 52–53
and women, 53
Law School Admission Test (LSAT), 38, 240–41
Long Island Lighting Company, 180–81
Lumbard, J. Edward, 87
Marshall, Burke, 45
McCarthy, Joseph, 74, 77, 78, 114
McGrath, J. Howard, 112
Meyers, Ann, 7–8
Mikva, Abner, 136–37
Miller, Wilbur K., 60, 65–66
Minton, Sherman, 126
Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMIS), 188
Montgomery County (Md.), public schools, 6–8, 249
Morton, Hollander, 152
Murrah, Alfred P., 119
National Environmental Policy Act, 195, 216
Native Americans, 234–35
Nevada, 217, 218, 219, 221, 223, 227
New Jersey, 130
New York University Law School, 72–73
Nixon, Richard M., 141, 143
nuclear engineering students, 181–82
nuclear power plants
economy and, 231
and environmental alternatives, 195–96
applications and licenses for, 161–62, 177–78, 215, 230–32
cooling of, 178–79, 197–98
Indian Point, 197–98
nuclear waste, 217–18, 226, 228. See also Yucca Mountain repository
public opposition to, 182–85
quality assurance, 196–97
Safe Shutdown Earthquake, 187–91
B-4
Seabrook Reactor, 195
earthquake potential, 187–92
financial qualifications, 192–93
transmission line route, 185–87
Shoreham Reactor, 179–81
Three Mile Island, 200–201, 204, 230–31
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 161, 194–95
adjudicatory process, 215–17, 232–35
antitrust cases, 162–64
appeal panel, 166–67, 172–73, 174–75, 193–94, 198
abolition of 171, 176, 193, 199, 201–202, 206, 208
site visits, 184–87
sua sponte reviews, 173–74
commissioners, 223–24
and environmental groups, 184–86
and Environmental Impact Statements, 216–17
license extension cases, 233–35
licensing boards, 164–66, 172, 173–74, 175–76, 184, 194, 212
license violations, 162
and Yucca Mountain, 222–24, 225, 227–28
nuclear power plant permits and licenses cases, 161–62
Office of Enforcement, 203, 210
partisanship of, 225, 226–27
public opposition, 182–85
site decommissioning cases, 162, 180–81, 212–15
and Yucca Mountain repository
commissioners’ decision, 223–24
construction permit application, 218–20, 221
dismantling of, 224–25
history of, 217–19
and Licensing Board, 222–24, 225, 227–28
opposition to, 219–21
See also Atomic Energy Commission (AEC); nuclear power plants
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, 217–18, 222, 223, 225
Obama, Barack H., 153, 178, 225, 226, 260
O’Connor, Sandra Day, 53
O’Mahoney, Joseph, 111–12
Parker, John, 101–103, 109–10
Paulson, Nate, 106
Pearl Harbor, 5, 6, 8–9
Perlman, Philip, 58, 59
B-5
Peters, John P., 114
Phillip Morris, 263–64
Prettyman, E. Barrett, 58, 61, 105
Proctor, James M., 60
Ralph, Richard, 2–3
Ramey, James, 156
Rankin, J. Lee, 134
Rehnquist, William H., 259, 260–61
Reid, Harry, 225, 226
Richter, Charles F., 191
Richter, Mel, 109–10
Richter Scale, 188, 191–92
Rodell, Fred, 41
Roisman, Anthony, 155
Roisman, Florence, 155
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 5–6, 103
Rosenthal, Alan – Personal
advice to young lawyers, 265–68
and African Americans, 19–20, 30–31
birth, 9
Bronx High School of Science, 12–13, 17, 19
Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church, 243–47, 253
board of trustees, 243
committees, 243–44
Sunday school teacher, 245–46
Chatsworth Avenue Elementary School, 9
Cherry Lawn School, 10, 11
childhood, 9–13
City and Country School, 11
Cub Scout chairman, 249–50
daughter (Susan), 108–109, 255, 257–58
father (Morris), 4–6, 10–11, 16–17, 42, 72
and education, 2, 33, 34
and politics, 13–14, 75–76, 77–78
and religion, 14
file clerk job, 20
games, 16–17
on GI Bill of Rights, 32–34
grandchildren, 256–57, 259–260, 264
grandfather (maternal), 2–3
grandfather (paternal), 1–2, 9
great-grandfather, 1
B-6
half-brother, 11
half-uncle (maternal), 3–4
law career decision, 34–35, 268–69
on law schools, 265–68
Little Red School House, 11–12, 20
marriage, 53–54, 69, 72
military service, 22, 23–24
Army Air Force, 24–25, 30–31
aviation cadet program, 26–27
cryptographic technician program, 27, 76
personnel school, 27–28, 29
University of Buffalo, 24–26, 31–32
Montgomery County American Civil Liberties Union board of directors, 250–51, 253
Montgomery County Board of Education’s Ethics Panel, 251–253
mother, biological (Elizabeth), 2–3, 4, 9–10, 14, 244
movies, 14–15
newspapers, 16
North Chevy Chase Swimming Pool Association involvement, 247–48, 253
Pearl Harbor memory, 8–9
PTA involvement, 249
radio, 15–16
religion, 14, 243–47
residential camp, 10
sister, 7, 10, 11, 15, 94, 95
sons
Edward (“Ted”), 55, 244, 249
children, 256–57
education, 255
with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, 55, 256, 268
wife Nadine, 256
James, 7, 247, 262–63
with Arnold & Porter, 263–64
child, 264
wife, 264
Richard, 247, 258–59, 262
children, 259–60
wife Audrey, 259, 260–61
stepbrother, 10–11
stepmother, 4, 10–11, 14, 21, 22
summer abroad, 42–45
summer job, 53
swimming, 248–49
transportation, 18–19
B-7
uncles (paternal), 2
University of Buffalo, 24–26, 31–32
University of Pennsylvania, 22–23, 25, 31–32, 34, 35–38
vacation, 157
wife (Helen), 69, 72, 157, 246–47
child rearing, 254–55, 264
Columbia Law School, 54, 56, 253
George Washington Law School, 54, 254
on Law Review, 54, 254
Wellesley College, 55–56, 253
Yale Law School, 54, 253
Woodrow Wilson High School, 8–10, 17–18, 19
Yale Law School, 33, 39–40, 46–47
application to, 38–39
courses, 40, 45
faculty, 40–41, 94
housing, 42
legal research instructor, 33, 54, 253
and Yale Law Journal, 47–48
Rosenthal, Alan – Professional
adjunct faculty member
of legal method, Washington College of Law of American University, 238–39, 241
of nuclear law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 236–38, 239
on Assistant Attorneys General, 142–43
bar exam, 69, 70–73
Chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel of Atomic Energy Commission/
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 12, 142, 147, 175–76, 177–78, 199–200, 229
appeal board selection, 166–72
appeal board site visits, 184–87
appointment, 157–58
and Congress, 203
and courts of appeal, 193–94
and environmental alternatives, 195–96
and environmental groups, 184–86
issues, 196–98
on nuclear industry, 204–205
part-time appeal panel member, 177, 198–99, 202–203
Seabrook facility controversy, 185–93, 195
selection for, 154–57
Shoreham Reactor case, 179–81
sua sponte review case, 173–74
swearing-in, 158–59
Three Mile Island case, 200–201, 204
B-8
clerkship with Judge Edgerton, 48–50, 52, 56–62, 63, 64–68, 69, 74, 96, 105, 106–107
Department of Justice
Assistant Chief, Appellate Section of the Civil Division, 135–37
indefensible arguments, 122–24
partisan political cases, 139–42, 152–53
attorney, Appellate Staff of the Civil Division, 12, 78–79, 82–83, 93
assignments, 82–83
Bergh case, 148–49
Brown case involvement, 128–34
changes to Section, 151–53
Circuit Court differences, 97–104
and court clerks, 107–109
on courts of appeals judges, 117–20
D.C. Circuit Court cases, 105–107
FBI case, 90–92
Federal Tort Claims Act cases, 94–97, 116–17
and McCarthy era cases, 114–15
moot courts, 97, 125
morning coat tradition, 126–28
reasons for leaving, 146–47, 152–53, 160
Supreme Court arguments, 88–89, 97, 124–28, 148–50
test case, 102–103
and U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, 85–87
U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 93, 107
interview, 75–78
professional goal, 69–70, 73–74
Dwight, Royal job offer, 50–51, 54–55
and law clerks, 12, 120, 169
on Law School Admission Test (LSAT), 38, 240–41
and law students, 238–40
on legal research, 241–43
Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
Licensing Board part-time member, 211–12, 229
cases, 212–15
on NRC’s procedures, 215–17, 232–35
Yucca Mountain adjudication, 220–21, 226–28, 229–30
Task Force outside member, 210–11
on Personnel Appeals Board of General Accounting Office, 206
appointment to, 207–208
chair of, 208
colleagues, 208–209
retirement from government employment, 177, 198–99, 202
unemployment, 209–10
B-9
Rosenthal, Alan, 2
Rosenthal, Edward (“Ted”), 55, 244, 249
children, 256–57
education, 255
with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, 55, 256, 268
wife (Nadine), 256
Rosenthal, Elizabeth, 2–3, 4, 9–10, 14, 244
Rosenthal, Harold, 2
Rosenthal, Helen, 69, 72, 157, 246–47
child rearing, 254–55, 264
Columbia Law School, 54, 56, 253
George Washington Law School, 54, 254
on Law Review, 54, 254
Wellesley College, 55–56, 253
Yale Law School, 54, 253
Rosenthal, Herman, 1
Rosenthal, James, 7, 247, 262–63
with Arnold & Porter, 263–64
child, 264
wife (Amy), 264
Rosenthal, Max, 1–2, 9
Rosenthal, Morris, 4–6, 10–11, 16–17, 42, 72
and education, 2, 33, 34
and politics, 13–14, 75–76, 77–78
and religion, 14
Rosenthal, Richard, 247, 258–59, 262
children, 259–60
wife (Audrey), 259, 260–61
Rosenthal, Susan, 108–109, 255, 257–58
Ruckelshaus, William, 168
Salzman, Richard, 169
Schlesinger, James, 156–57
Seabrook Nuclear Reactor, 195
earthquake potential, 187–92
financial qualifications, 192–93
transmission line route, 185–87
Shapiro, Harriet, 139
Shils, Edward, 237
Shoreham Nuclear Reactor, 179–81
Slade, Sam, 78–79, 110, 138
Slade, Sandy, 138
school segregation, 129–32, 134
B-10
Shepard’s Citations, 242–43
Sobeloff, Simon, 114–15, 129, 131, 132, 134
Soper, Morris, 101–102
South Carolina, 221–23
Spain, 43–44
Stanberry, Larry, 257–58
Stein, Hall & Company, 4–5
Stephens, Harold M., 60, 106
Stevens, John Paul, 117–18
Stevenson, Adlai, 14
Sturges, Wesley, 39
Supreme Court, U.S., 59, 87–88, 102, 114, 132, 149
Justices, 125–26
morning coat tradition, 126–28
Swan, Thomas, 48
Sweeney, Paul, 74, 76, 77, 78–79, 138
Three Mile Island nuclear plant, 200–201, 204, 230–31
Triga Mark II reactor, 181–82
Truman, Harry, 5, 58, 59, 60, 78
Twentieth Century Fox, 50–51
U.S. Army, 213–15
Army Air Force, 24–25, 26–28, 30–31
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, 85–87
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 49, 58, 59, 68, 93, 115
judges, 60–61, 63, 65, 105–106, 111, 118–19
law clerks, 63, 65–67, 106
and Yucca Mountain case, 222–23, 225
U.S. Court of Claims, 148–49
U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 93, 107
U.S. Courts of Appeals
Eighth Circuit, 98–101
Eleventh Circuit, 93–94
Fifth Circuit, 93–94, 97–98, 119, 120, 144, 145
First Circuit, 123, 186
Fourth Circuit, 101–104, 109–10, 115, 116
judges, 117–20
Ninth Circuit, 107, 108
Second Circuit, 94
Sixth Circuit, 108–109
Tenth Circuit, 98, 119, 124
See also U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
B-11
University of Buffalo, 24–26, 31–32
University of Pennsylvania, 23, 24–25, 31, 32
College for Women, 36, 37
dress code, 35–36
Law School, 236–38, 239
women at, 36–38
Vermont Yankee Reactor, 183
Wald, Patricia, 39, 145
Walker, Ed, 15
Wallace, Henry, 5–6
Washington, 221–23
Washington, George T., 60, 118
Washington, Helen, 158
Welles, Melvin, 107–108
windmills, 195
women
and Cub Scouts, 249–50
judges, 39
law clerks, 63, 66–67
lawyers, 53, 79, 138–39, 170, 254
secretaries, 80–81
teachers, 13
at University of Pennsylvania, 36–38
in the workplace, 20–22
at Yale Law School, 39, 41
World War II, 5–6, 8–9, 20–21, 23–24, 26–28
Yale Law School, 38–42, 73
tuition, 33
Yale Law Journal, 47–48
Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository
commissioners’ decision, 223–24
construction permit application, 218–20, 221
dismantling of, 224–25
history of, 217–19
and Illinois, 226
and Licensing Board, 222–24, 225, 227–28
and Nevada, 217, 218, 219, 221, 223, 227
opposition to, 219–21
politicizing of, 225–26
and South Carolina, 221–23
B-12
and Washington, 221–23
Zener, Robert, 168
B-13