Conservative Lawyer to Join Appeals Court
President Reagan on Wednesday named conservative lawyer Stuart Summit to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Irving Kaufman on the U.S. Appeals Court that has jurisdiction over New York, Connecticut and Vermont.
Kaufman retired earlier this year and was named a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to be awarded at the White House next month.
The Washington Post reported last week that Kaufman, a liberal on civil liberties cases and the judge who ordered the execution of spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in 1951, stepped down after he was promised the medal.
The Justice Department denied that a deal was made.
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