THE JUDICIARY: Your Witness, Mr. Murphy

Lawyer Lloyd Stryker's voice lifted in pride and reverence last week. "Call Mr. Justice Felix Frankfurter," he said. Dressed in an ordinary brown suit but robed in his uncommon prestige, little Justice Frankfurter stepped to the stand. He had come from the Supreme Court to Manhattan to be a character witness for Alger Hiss, his onetime Harvard law student, on trial in Federal Court for perjury. The Government had rested and Alger Hiss had begun his defense.

Few defendants in a criminal case had ever had more impressive assistance. Justice Frankfurter adjusted his...

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