HAYS, ARTHUR GARFIELD

HAYS, ARTHUR GARFIELD
HAYS, ARTHUR GARFIELD (1881–1954), U.S. lawyer and civil liberties advocate. Hays, who was born in Rochester, New York, practiced law in New York for 20 years. In 1925 he abandoned his private practice to become general counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union. He represented clients without remuneration in numerous cases involving the violation of freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Hays served as co-counsel with Clarence Darrow in 1925 in the celebrated Scopes anti-evolution case which became known as the "monkey trial." Although Scopes was convicted for violating a state law which prohibited the teaching of any theory that denied divine creation, the trial compelled the State of Tennessee to abandon the enforcement of this law. Hays was involved in the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the Scottsboro Boys whose death sentence for alleged rape was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court. He also defended Dmitrov and other Communists tried in Germany for the Reichstag fire, pleading through a German as the Nazis would not permit Hays, a Jew, to plead himself. After World War II, he helped the occupation forces to re-create democratic institutions in Germany. Hays was never prepared to confine his defense of liberty only to the causes for which he had sympathy. Thus, although he detested Nazism, he joined the attorney of Friends of New Germany in seeking an injunction against a police commissioner in New Jersey who had closed all halls to Nazi meetings (1937). He wrote several books, among them Trial by Prejudice (1933), Democracy Works (1939), and his autobiography, City Lawyer (1942). (Alan Reitman)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Hays, Arthur Garfield — (1881 1954)    Born in Rochester, New York, Arthur Hays graduated in law from Columbia University and became a successful corporate lawyer. He became counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union and was involved in the Scopes Trial (1925) and… …   Historical Dictionary of the Roosevelt–Truman Era

  • Hays, Arthur Garfield — (1881–1954)    US lawyer. As general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, Hays became one of the most celebrated champions of constitutional rights in American history. Among the famous cases in which he appeared for the defence were… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Hays, Arthur Garfield — ▪ American lawyer born Dec. 12, 1881, Rochester, N.Y., U.S. died Dec. 14, 1954, New York City       American lawyer who defended, usually without charge, persons accused in many prominent civil liberties cases in the 1920s.       Educated at… …   Universalium

  • Arthur Garfield Hays — (1881 1954) was born in Rochester, New York, on December 12, 1881. His father and mother, both of German descent, belonged to prospering families in the clothing manufacturing industry. After graduating from Columbia College in 1902 and Columbia… …   Wikipedia

  • Arthur Garfield Hays — noun United States lawyer involved in several famous court trials (1881 1954) • Syn: ↑Hays • Instance Hypernyms: ↑lawyer, ↑attorney …   Useful english dictionary

  • Hays — may mean:* Hays plc, British listed company. * Hay s Galleria, shopping mall and tourist attraction in London * Hays Code, set of motion picture industry guidelines;Places: * Hays, Kansas ** Hays Regional Airport * Hays, Montana * Hays, North… …   Wikipedia

  • Hays (surname) — Hays is the surname of:* Alexander Hays, a general in the Federal army during the American Civil War * Anna Mae Hays, first woman in the U.S. Army to be promoted to general * Arthur Garfield Hays, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union * …   Wikipedia

  • Hays — [hāz] Arthur Garfield 1881 1954; U.S. lawyer & civil libertarian …   English World dictionary

  • Hays — noun 1. United States lawyer and politician who formulated a production code that prescribed the moral content of United States films from 1930 to 1966 (1879 1954) • Syn: ↑Will Hays, ↑William Harrison Hays • Instance Hypernyms: ↑lawyer, ↑attorney …   Useful english dictionary

  • Chester A. Arthur — 21st President of the United States In office September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885 Preceded by …   Wikipedia

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