Cockburn, Sir Alexander, 10th Baronet

Cockburn, Sir Alexander (James Edmund), 10th Baronet

(born Dec. 24, 1802—died Nov. 21, 1880, London, Eng.) British jurist. In his early career he earned a high reputation in trials and as a reporter of cases. He served in the House of Commons (1847–56), as attorney general (1851–56), and as chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas (1856–59) before being appointed to the Queen's Bench (1859–74). He served on the panel that decided the Alabama claims and finally served as lord chief justice of England (1874–80). He is best known for his tests of obscenity (to be obscene, the material in question had to be proved to “deprave and corrupt” those exposed to it) and insanity (to be insane, a criminal defendant had to be proved unwitting of the “nature and quality” of his criminal act or incapable of recognizing it as wrong).