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a greater competence. There is
a great improvement in the
liber of judges appointed to the
,.deral bench. It is good to be a
.rt of all this.’
It is common knowledge in
.mhington that Simon Sobeloff
s brought new ideas and a fresh-
S s in the understanding of the
llosophy and application of jus-
, e. He is being looked up to and
illowed. Some of his ideas are
a progressive, though not revo
lt tonary nature. He is obviously
anbued with the deep-rooted Jew-
n feeling for justice, charity and
:ni>rcy. One of Judgee Sobeloff’s
advocated reforms has already been
nut on the program for realization
by Attorney General Brownell. It
avals with the law which leaves
entirely to the unreviewable dis
cretion of the trial judge the mat
ter of the sentencing of a defend
ant. Sobeloff put it this way:
"It has been very impressive to
me that the law is so solicitous of
the defendant in safeguarding his
i lghts at every stage of the trial
before verdict and yet leaves him
almost completely without protec
tion when he stands before the
Judge to be sentenced.
"The number of years a defend
ant is sentenced to spend in prison
in most cases is not, as it should
not be, specifically prescribed by
law. It is up to the judge to fix
within prescribed limits the length
of punishment. There is in the
Federal System no appeal to a
higher court on grounds that the
sentence was too severe.”
Judge Sobeloff mentioned a case
where a youth of seventeen was
sentenced to serve one hundred
and forty years for an evening of
holdup due to accumulation of
counts in the indictment. Sobeloff
((insiders this basically wrong. He
believes it is too much to give to
one man, the power over the life
or freedom of another human being
without recourse to an appeal to a
higher court where more than one
judge or at least another judge may
review the case to decide whether
sentence was justified. At pres
ent. appeals can be made only on
grounds of technicalities, to safe
guard the rights of defendants to a
fair trial, but the fact is, as he
pointed out, that the trial may be
fair enough yet the sentence may
be unjust.
The Solicitor General proposed
that the law be amended to permit
an appeal to a higher court also on
the giounds that a sentence is too
severe. Attorney General Brown
ell agrees with him and plans to in
itiate proper legislation.
The Jewish public is appreciat
ively aware of Judge Sobeloff’s
long standing and earnest associa
tion with Jewish communal life.
Unlike many other prominent Jew
ish personalities, he did not limit
his activities to philanthropic in
stitutions. Sobeloff concentrated
his interest more on cultural educa
tional and political aspects of Jew
ish life. He was President of the
Board of Jewish Education in Bal
timore and a Director of the Na
tional Association of Jewish Coun
cils and National Vice President of
the American Jewish Congress. He
is a lifelong Zionist and a board
member of the ionist Organization
of America.
Sobeloff’s Jewish background,
spiritual and cultural, has definite
ly shaped his thinking and ethical
approach to public life. Charac
teristic of this is his wont to quote
the Bible. Recently, to illustrate
the importance of repetition in
teaching the tenets of good citizen
ship, he concluded a speech in
Washington with these remarks:
“Those of us who are in govern
ment, those who make a career of
education, and those who are active
in civic endeavors, appreciate the
deep psychological wisdom embo
died in the biblical injunction for
the teaching of the Law. It may
without irreverence be applied to
the teaching of our Constitution:
‘And these words, which I com
mand thee this day, shall be in
thine heart: And thou shalt teach
them diligently unto thy children,
and thou shalt talk of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and
when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou best down, and when
thou risest up. And thou shalt
bind them for a sign upon thine
hand, and they shall be as front-
lets between thine eyes. And thou
shalt write them upon the posts of
thy house, and on thy gates.’ ”
JEWISH PARENTS OF THE YEAR
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Salk, parents of Dr. Jonas Salk,
received a citation recently honoring them as “Jewish Par-
i ents of the Year,” from the Federation of Jewish Philan
thropies as part of the National Family Week Observance.
The award was presented by Salim L. Lewis, presi
dent of Federation. The scroll of honor was presented to
the Salks as “shining examples of the advantages given to
children today by a secure American family life and the
love, understanding and companionship of the home.
(flattery
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Entrance to
The Great Smokies
H. OLIVER RILEY
General Manager
ASHEVILLE'S FINEST HOTEL
BALTIMORE, MI). Established N. Y - TERMINAL
Phone: OR. 5-8874 505 Greenwich St.
Phone: Walker 5-6180
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Company
W. R. CANDLER, Owner
Long Distance Hauling — Furniture Moving
Direct Service Between Asheville, Baltimore,
Philadelphia and New’ York
400 Swannanoa Road P. O. Box 4248
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Phone 2-1581
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INCORPORATED
SAN - TONE
207 Coxe Avenue
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA
Hursey & Company
67 Haywood Street
ASHEVILLE, N. C.
Asheville’s Oldest Jewelry Establishment
he Southern Israelite
(31)