Kentucky Lawyer

Sturdy oak

13 Kentucky Lawyer shine still. Judge Taylor eamined the probation officer’s report and saw that the defendant was the mother of ten children. He looked up at her standing quietly as she awaited her sentence. “I see,” said the judge, “that you are the mother of ten children.” “Yes, sir,” she meekly replied. “I also notice,” continued Judge Taylor, “that your last child was born after this indictment was returned. Is that true?” With a bright smile on her face she responded hopefully , “Yes, sir, Judge, and I named him for you.” Sturdy oak While it may be said that some judges affect a false air of importance and endeavor to establish themselves as legendary figures, there are others whose very presence and natural demeanor impress those with whom they come in contact, both on and off the bench, with their dignity and professional erudition. Such a one was the Honorable A. M. J. Cochran of Maysville, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Kentucky, from the time of its establishment at the turn of the twentieth century until his death in 193. Judge Cochran was a graduate of Centre College and Harvard Law School. He was a man of wealth and aristocratic background, deeply learned both in liberal arts and the law. Notwithstanding his social prominence and independent wealth, he was of simple taste and a constant and indefatigable worker. In his thirty-three years on the 1 Mac Swinford bench, he never took a vacation and never left the state of Kentucky ecept on one occasion. At that time he went to Washington, D.C., to appear before a congressional committee to oppose, which he did successfully, the division of his district and the establishment of a third federal judicial district in Kentucky. In appearance Judge Cochran was most distinctive: he was tall, spare, and had shaggy sideburns that came down on his cheeks to his lower jaw; on his thin face these sideburns gave him a very austere look indeed. He wore, in both winter and summer, black suits of the finest broadcloth and silk. He was rarely seen in company with others and usually while attending court ate alone and spent his hours off the bench in his hotel room. Those of us who were privileged to know Judge Cochran intimately knew that beneath this somewhat forbidding eterior he was a man of deep sympathy and kindness, never unmindful of the feelings and rights of all who came before him, whether as litigants, witnesses or attorneys. John W. Menzies of Covington probably knew the judge better than any other person outside his family. Clerk of the court for the Eastern District of Kentucky for many years and later clerk of the Court of Appeals for the Sith Circuit at Cincinnati for another many years, Mr. Menzies, a most personable and charming gentleman and a storyteller of eception, could entertain by the hour with incidents of the courtroom while he served with Judge Cochran. When I became United States Attorney I was thirtythree and the judge was near eighty. We were of different 1 Kentucky Lawyer political faiths and possibly adhered to widely different economic principles, but we soon became warm friends. It was during prohibition and the criminal dockets were very heavy. There were numerous civil cases including two hundred and twelve war risk insurance cases in which the government was involved. I was before the court almost constantly. As I look back upon those hectic days, I realize how my ineperience must have been irritating to the court, but Judge Cochran always treated me with the greatest deference. If his patience was severely tested, he gave no evidence of it. I shall always cherish his memory for his consideration and kindness to me. During my service as United States Attorney under Judge Cochran, a very amusing thing occurred one time at the regular term of court at London. We had an unusually heavy criminal docket, growing out of an intensive drive against persons using the mails to defraud by sending orders for goods in fictitious names, false letters of credit, and worthless checks. Complaints had come in from various mail-order houses, principally in Chicago and St. Louis. I had not directed an investigation at once as I knew the great epense to which the government would be put in order to complete...