Carol Weiss King

Carol Weiss King (24 August 1895 – 22 January 1952)[1] was a well-known immigration lawyer, renowned for her advocacy in defending the civil rights of immigrants, key founder of the International Juridical Association, and a founding member of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States.

Her eldest brother, William S. Weiss, continued their father's firm until forced to stop by multiple sclerosis.

[3][4] After graduating from law school in 1920 and being admitted to the bar, she commenced her practice at the firm of Hale, Nelles, and Schorr.

King became known for her dedication to defending civil rights, particularly in cases involving victims of antiradical hysteria.

[3][4] By 1920, as Carol Weiss King, she volunteered to work with Local 25 of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union (ILGWU).

[21] One of Carol Weiss King's first and most durable relationships was with Pollak, a onetime partner of Benjamin Cardozo, whom she met through her brother-in-law Carl Stern.

[22][23]) King also associated with left-wing activists, including members of the Communist Party of the United States of America.

[1] In 1925, she helped Brodsky found the International Labor Defense for the CPUSA (then operating under the name Workers Party of America) and served on its legal advisory committee.

The case reached the Supreme Court of the United States, which reversed the deportation order during World War II.

King's representation of Communist Party leader William Schneiderman[26] exemplifies her success in enlisting other (male) attorneys to work for free on key constitutional cases — in this case, recruiting Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican Party presidential nominee, to represent Schneiderman before the Supreme Court.

King won this case in 1943, preventing the Government's revocation of the Communist Party leader's citizenship.

"[30] King also defended "red conspirator" J. Peters against the INS (named by Louis Budenz and Whittaker Chambers as mastermind of a Soviet underground spy ring operating in Washington, DC, during the 1930s and 1940s) and counseled Peters on how to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) (1948-1949).

[31] Although the J. Peters case was among the best known of King's career, Ann Fagan Ginger makes only a single reference to it in her biography of more than 500 pages.

This ruling froze deportation hearings until the INS agreed to comply with the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Later, they were relieved by O. John Rogge, gangster Frank Costello's lawyer George Wolf, William W. Kleinman, Joseph L. Delaney, Frank Serri, Osmond K. Fraenkel, Henry G. Singer, Abraham J. Gellinoff, Raphael P. Koenig, and Nicholas Atlas.

[35] Other alumnae who appeared in that article include poet Leonie Adams Troy ('22), author Irma Simonton Black ('27), and Margaret Mead ('23).