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	Levine's Love of the Law Thriving Retired Court of Appeals Judge Remains Enmeshed in the Legal World By Paul Grondahl Allbany Times Union June 29, 2008 http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=699902 NISKAYUNA — He's regarded as having been one of the most judicious of judges, guided by common sense, fairness and a calm demeanor. But retired Court of Appeals Judge Howard A. Levine once gave in to a flash of anger. It was during World War II, and Levine was a junior high school student in Schenectady. "A kid called me a 'dirty Jew' in class, and I gave him a bloody nose," he recalled. In the levelheaded fashion that became his hallmark on the bench, Levine and the bully put it behind them and later became friends. Today, at 76, after a three-decade judicial career and more than a half-century as a lawyer, Levine is up to his elbows in legal briefs as senior counsel at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. He's been meaning to unpack those boxes of photos and mementos on the floor of his office for more than a year. His desk is piled high with papers for pending cases, his chair turned away from a wide window with a glorious view of the Capitol. "He works as hard as anybody here," said his son, Neil Levine, a partner in the firm. "He still works on weekends and he takes legal papers with him on vacation. I don't think he views it as work. He just loves the law." In the past year, he was appointed a temporary administrator of the disputed $190 million estate of philanthropist Brooke Astor. He also was named to the New York state Commission on Public Integrity by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer. He recently headed an independent mediation program that settled claims against the Albany Roman Catholic Diocese by victims of clergy sexual abuse. "Judge Levine's credentials and credibility gave the program instant recognition and he worked from a deep sense of justice rooted in his Jewish faith," said Bishop Howard Hubbard, who knew Levine as a Family Court judge in the 1970s when they worked together to develop drug treatment programs. "I still like a great challenge and a high-profile assignment," Levine said as he relaxed one evening in his art-filled home on a wooded lot near the Mohawk River, where he and Barbara, his wife of 54 years and a social worker, have lived since 1984. They met at a college mixer at the Jewish Community Center in Schenectady. The couple raised three children, all of whom became lawyers, including their late daughter, Ruth Levine Sussman, an acting state Supreme Court justice who died in 2005 of breast cancer. They have seven grandchildren. Levine, whose grandfather was a Schenectady fruit peddler, built an impressive legal career by defying expectations. A Republican and former Schenectady County district attorney, he was elevated in 1993 to the state's highest court by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, a Democrat. Levine reached the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 in 2002 after writing a number of significant search-and-seizure decisions, studied for their devotion to fairness. Levine's judicial philosophy can be seen in a 1994 Court of Appeals case in which he wrote a decision upholding the Rockefeller Drug Laws, while articulating his view that the harsh penalties had not acted as a deterrent and were not justified by the criminal behavior involved. "Judge Levine brought a unique blend of scholarliness, humanity and good sense," said Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye. "He was so balanced, so authoritative and always did his homework," Kaye said. "I held my breath because I came after him in seniority and he could persuade everyone else by the time it was my turn to speak." Levine grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household, immersed in the Socratic method. His mother, Cecilia Levine, in 1927 was one of the first women to graduate from Albany Law School. His father, Henry, also an Albany Law grad, met his future bride in a bar exam study course he taught. Oswald D. Heck also took Levine's bar exam course and hired Levine as his counsel when he was speaker of the Assembly. "We talked a lot about legal matters and politics at the dinner table, and I grew up idolizing Governor Dewey because my father knew him," Levine recalled. His parents wanted their son to become a doctor and he took premed courses as an undergrad at Yale University. "I had a lot of trouble with organic chemistry and calculus," he said. After Yale Law School, Levine worked for his parents' law firm in Schenectady. Neil Levine recalled how his father has always kept thick texts on legal theory and legal philosophy on his nightstand, and the son once stole a glance inside one of the tomes. It was highlighted in different colors, and notes were scrawled in the margins with a variety of pens. "It was clear that my dad had read it at least three or four times," his son said. "He considers the law a calling as much as a job." Paul Grondahl can be reached at 454-5623 or by e-mail at pgrondahl@timesunion.com.
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