Weinstein, Jack

Weinstein, Jack (1921–  ) judge; born in Wichita, Kans. A graduate of Brooklyn College (1943), he served in the navy before receiving a law degree from Columbia University (1948). He achieved a reputation as a distinguished legal scholar while a member of Columbia's faculty from 1952 to 1967. Appointed a federal judge for the Eastern District of New York (1967), he became known for his liberal, humanitarian rulings, and issued landmark decisions in several civil rights cases. In 1985 he oversaw a multimillion-dollar settlement of Vietnam veterans' health claims growing out of exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.