Medina was nominated by President Truman on June 11, 1951, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated by Judge Learned Hand. He was confirmed by the Senate on June 21, 1951, and received his commission on June 23, 1951. He assumed senior status on March 1, 1958. His service was terminated on February 22, 1980, due to his retirement.[3]
Notable cases
In 1949, Medina presided over the trial of 11 leaders of the United States Communist Party charged with advocating the violent overthrow of the government. This was known as Foley Square trial. In this case, the jury found all the defendants guilty, and Medina sentenced most of them to five years in prison.[4] He also gave prison sentences to five of the defense attorneys on charges of contempt of court; among them was George William Crockett Jr., who later became a Member of Congress.
Medina was the trial judge for the Dennis v. United States case that reached the federal supreme court.
Medina died on March 14, 1990, at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, New Jersey, at 102 years of age, after residing at a nursing home in that city his last several years.[8]
Honors
Medina was featured on the cover of Time in its October 24, 1949 edition.[9]
^Staff. "Harold Medina, U.S. Judge, Dies at 102", The New York Times, March 16, 1990. Accessed October 28, 2015. "Harold R. Medina, a Federal judge for more than three decades, who achieved lasting fame for his handling of the trial of 11 Communist leaders in the 1940s, died in his sleep on Wednesday at Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J., where he was admitted on Monday with a slight fever, his grandson Standish Forde Medina Jr. said. Judge Medina was 102 years old. Judge Medina, who retired from the bench at the age of 92, lived at the Valley Nursing Home in Westwood."
