"[2] During his 28-year tenure with the Court of Appeals, he ruled on several censorship cases, including keeping prayer out of New York schools and allowing the Tropic of Cancer by Henry James to be published.
[1][2][3] His parents were Virginia "Jenni" (née Marvin) and Daniel A. Dye, a teacher, farmer, and co-owner of a furniture business.
[3] After graduating from the academy, he spent an additional year at Forestville High School with the encouragement of a teacher.
[3] In November 1940, Dye was appointed by Governor Herbert H. Lehman to the New York Court of Claims.
[5] In November 1944, Dye was elected to serve as an associate judge on the New York Court of Appeals.
[2][3] During his tenure, he ruled on several censorship cases, including keeping prayer out of New York schools (Matter of Engel v. Vitale, 1961) and allowing the Tropic of Cancer by Henry James to be published (People of New York v. Frich, 1963).
[1][3] He also ruled that the novel Fanny Hill by John Cleland could be distributed and that a film based on Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence could be produced (Matter of Kingsley Intl.
[3] He retired from the Court of Appeals at the end of 1965 when he reached the constitutional age limit of 70 years.
[5][3] Dye died in at the Valley Manor Nursing Home Rochester on October 25, 1997 at the age of 102.