Benjamin Brenner (August 3, 1903 – May 30, 1970) was a Polish-born Jewish-American lawyer and politician from New York who served as a member of the New York State Assembly in 1938, as a New York city judge in 1939 and again from 1948 to 1952, and as a Justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969.
Life Benjamin Brenner was born on August 3, 1903 in Poland.
Brenner was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1938, elected in November 1937 on the American Labor and City Fusion tickets in the 2nd assembly district of Brooklyn. He was defeated when running for re-election in 1938 on the Republican and American Labor tickets. On May 10, 1939, Brenner was appointed by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia to the Municipal Court (8th D.) to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Murray Hearn to the City Court.BENJAMIN BRENNER GETS COURT POST in The New York Times on May 11, 1939 (subscription required) In November 1939, he was defeated when running for a full term, and left the bench at the end of the year. In 1940, he ran in the 8th district for Congress but was defeated by Democrat Donald L. O'Toole.
In July 1944, he was elected Chairman of the Liberal Party in Brooklyn.LIBERAL PARTY PLANS TO NAME FULL SLATE in The New York Times on July 13, 1944 (subscription required) On September 27, 1948, he was appointed by Mayor William O'Dwyer as a City Magistrate.BRENNER IS SWORN IN AS CITY MAGISTRATE in The New York Times on September 28, 1948 (subscription required)
He was a justice of the New York Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969. In September 1960, he was nominated on the Liberal ticket for the New York Court of Appeals;Liberal Party Formally Backs Democratic Presidential Ticket; But It Names Own Candidate for State Appeals Bench in NYT on September 14, 1960 (subscription required) but declined to run.LIBERAL NOMINEE QUITS COURT RACE in NYT on September 19, 1960 (subscription required)
At the end of 1969, he resigned from the bench due to ill health, and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He died on May 30, 1970, in Memorial Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, of heart disease.Benjamin Brenner Dead at 66 in The New York Times on May 31, 1970 (subscription required)
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