{{Short description|FBI official and federal judge (1906–1985)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = | image = Edward Allen Tamm.jpg | office = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit | appointer = Lyndon B. Johnson | term_start = March 11, 1965 | term_end = September 22, 1985 | predecessor = Walter M. Bastian | successor = James L. Buckley | office1 = Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia | appointer1 = Harry S. Truman | term_start1 = June 22, 1948 | term_end1 = March 11, 1965 | predecessor1 = James McPherson Proctor | successor1 = Oliver Gasch | birth_name = Edward Allen Tamm | birth_date = {{birth date|1906|4|21}} | birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota, U.S. | death_date = {{nowrap|{{death date and age|1985|9|22|1906|4|21}}}} | death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | education = Georgetown University (LLB) | nickname = E.A. Tamm }} '''Edward Allen Tamm''' (typically "E.A. Tamm" in FBI files, sometimes "Edward Tamm") (April 21, 1906 – September 22, 1985) worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), reaching the third-highest position as Assistant to the Director (J. Edgar Hoover) before accepting an appointment as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and then United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.<ref name=DCCHS> {{cite web | title = Edward Allen Tamm | publisher = Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit | url = https://dcchs.org/judges/tamm-edward-allen/ | date = | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=OpenJurist> {{cite web | title = Edward Allen Tamm | publisher = Open Jurist | url = https://openjurist.org/judge/edward-allen-tamm | date = | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=WPobit-Tamm> {{cite news | author = Richard Pearson | title = U.S. Appeals Court Judge Edward A. Tamm, 79, Dies | newspaper = Washington Post | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1985/09/23/us-appeals-court-judge-edward-a-tamm-79-dies/5ae4571c-d0f7-439e-8c73-94ba60e1c35f/ | date = 23 September 1985 | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm> {{cite news | title = Judge Edward Tamm, Ex-F.B.I. Official, 79 | work = New York Times | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1985/09/24/us/judge-edward-tamm-ex-fbi-official-79.html | date = 24 September 1985 | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref>
==Early life and education== [[File:Georgetown_Law_1910s.jpg|thumb|right|Georgetown University Law School (circa 1910-1925), where Tamm first studied law]] Edward Allen Tamm was born on April 21, 1906, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His parents were Edward Allen Tamm and Lucille Catherine Buckley.{{cn|date=February 2023}} In 1925, Tamm studied at St. Charles College of Helena, Montana.{{cn|date=February 2023}} In 1930, he received an LLB from Georgetown University Law School.<ref name=DCCHS/><ref name=OpenJurist/>
==Career== In 1928, Tamm arrived in Washington, where he attended Georgetown University Law School and graduated in 1930.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/>
===FBI=== In 1930, Tamm joined what was then the Bureau of Information (and in 1935 became the FBI) as a special agent.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/> In 1934, he became a special assistant to the FBI Director.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/> In 1940, he became the Assistant to the Director, second only to Clyde Tolson.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/><ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|2335|nid=1388551|name=Edward Allen Tamm<!--(1906–1985)-->}}</ref> In 1945, Tamm served as FBI "special adviser" in the US delegation to the United Nations Conference on International Organization.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=RosswurmFBI> {{cite book | author = Steven Rosswurm | title = The FBI and the Catholic Church, 1935-1962 | publisher = University of Massachusetts Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=H0TvwAEACAAJ | pages = 5, 73, 85-86 (Budenz), 87, 97-132, 97-98 (Eucharistic speech), 108, UN), 109 (Cronin), 109-111 (Communism), 112 (Cronin), 113 (UN), 123-141 (judge), 131-132 (Eucharistic speech), 159-160 (UN), 256, 259-260 (Carey) | date = 2009 | isbn = 9781558497290 | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref>
In his 2009 book ''The FBI and the Catholic Church, 1935-1962'', author Steve Rosswurm devoted a chapter to Tamm. Rosswurm credits Tamm, "the FBI's highest-ranking Catholic, in forging the alliance" between the FBI and the Catholic Church during the 1930s and 1940s.<ref name=RosswurmFBI/><ref> {{cite book | author = Steven Rosswurm | title = The FBI and the Catholic Church, 1935-1962 | publisher = University of Massachusetts Press | url = https://www.umasspress.com/9781625344397/the-fbi-and-the-catholic-church-1935-1962/ | pages = | date = 2009 | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref>
(On May 5, 1949, Hoover appointed D.M. Ladd to Tamm's Number 3 position of Assistant to the Director.<ref name=FBI-comprehensive> {{cite book | author1 = Athan G. Theoharis | author2 = Susan Rosenfeld | author3 = Richard G. Powers | title = The FBI: A Comprehensive Reference Guide | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VnQduXa4JdoC | page = 338 | date = 1999 | isbn = 9780897749916 | access-date = 31 January 2023}}</ref> Ladd took over "supervision of all the FBI's investigative activities in both criminal and subversive fields."<ref name=WES-obit> {{cite news | title = D. Milton Ladd Dies; FBI Agent 25 Years | newspaper = Washington Evening Star | url = | page = | date = 22 July 1960 | access-date = }}</ref>)
===Federal judicial service=== On June 22, 1948, Tamm received a recess appointment from US President Harry S. Truman to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia vacated by Judge James McPherson Proctor.<ref name=DCCHS/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/> On January 13, 1949, Truman nominated him to the same position; on March 29, 1949, the United States Senate confirmed him; and on April 1, 1949, he received his commission.<ref name=DCCHS/><ref name=OpenJurist/> (Congress subsequently reorganized the court. His service terminated on March 16, 1965, due to elevation to the D.C. Circuit.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=DCCHS/>) That court dealt also heard cases for the District of Columbia "normally... tried before state courts" and appointed the DC school board.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/>
On March 1, 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Tamm as an associate justice of the federal District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia, a seat vacated by Walter M. Bastian.<ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/> On March 11, 1965, the Senate confirmed him, and on March 11, 1965, he received his commission. He served until his death in 1985.<ref name=DCCHS/><ref name=OpenJurist/>
At the time of his elevation, the ''Washington Post'' retracted concern from 1949 as to whether a high-level FBI official would serve well as a judge: <blockquote>[Tamm] has won general recognition as a trial judge of great fairness and firmness. His devotion to the law and his understanding of it have been enriched by his experience on the bench. He has thoroughly earned elevation, and there is every reason to expect that he will be a discerning and dedicated appellate judge.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/></blockquote>
In 1977, as the ''Washington Post'' noted, Tamm: <blockquote> set aside an FCC ruling that seven words (referring to such things as various sexual activities and portions of the female anatomy) could not by aired by radio. He wrote that the FCC order carried the agency into the 'forbidden realm of censorship." He also pointed out that the broadcasting ban would prohibit the airing, not only of the George Carlin record in question, but certain of Shakespeare's plays, portions of the Bible, works of a long list of prominent authors, "and the Nixon tapes".<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/></blockquote> In 1981, Tamm "made headlines... when he took his own profession to task" for a growing backlog of judicial work building up, with "his own court the biggest federal offender" and recommended a statute to deny salary to federal judges failing to dispose of cases "within 60 days after the date of the hearing."<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/>
Tamm also served as Chief Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals from 1972 to 1981.<ref name="auto"/>
==Personal life and death== On January 30, 1934, Tamm married Grace Monica Sullivan; they had two surviving children.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/>
Tamm's younger brother Quinn Tamm also served as an FBI officer.<ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/><ref name="auto"/>
Tamm served as a trustee of Saint Joseph College, board member of the Police Boys Club of Washington, D.C., and lieutenant commander in the United States Naval Reserve.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/>
Other associations included: American Bar Association (member advisory committee on judges function 1969-1985, special committee on prevention and control crime 1969-1985), Federal Bar Association, District of Columbia Bar Association (honorary), American Law Institute, American Judicature Society, Metropolitan Board Trade, United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church,<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/> Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, United States Power Squadron, Sons Union Vets, John Carroll Society,<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/> President's Cup Regatta Association, Columbia Country Club,<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/> Gourmet Society, ''La Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tasterin'', ''Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs''.{{cn|date=February 2023}}
Edward Allen Tamm died age 79 on September 22, 1985, of cancer at his home in Washington, D.C.<ref name="auto"/><ref name=DCCHS/><ref name=WPobit-Tamm/><ref name=NYTobit-Tamm/>
==Awards and recognition== * 1971: Honorary Doctorate, Suffolk University Law School<ref> {{cite web | title = 1971 Suffolk University commencement program | publisher = Suffolk University | url = https://dc.suffolk.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1078&context=comm | date = 1971 | access-date = 20 April 2026}}</ref> * 1980: Honorary Doctor of Laws, New York Law School<ref> {{cite web | title = 1980 commencement program | publisher = New York Law School | url = https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?params=/context/commencement_progs/article/1029/&path_info=1980_Commencement_Exercises.pdf | date = 1980 | access-date = 20 April 2026}}</ref>
In its obituary, the ''Washington Post'' noted: <blockquote>During his years on the appeals bench, the U.S. Circuit Court here became a leading force in the protection of defendants' rights. And if the former FBI agent did not always concur with the court's liberal wing, he often was seemingly guided by a common-sense approach to the case at hand.<ref name=WPobit-Tamm/></blockquote>
==Legacy== In 1995, Georgetown University created an annual "Tamm Memorial Award" of $300 with plaque for best student writing on the ''Georgetown Law Journal'', created Supreme Court Chief Justice and Mrs. Warren Burger."<ref> {{cite web | title = Awards 1995 | publisher = Georgetown University Law Center | url = https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/bitstream/handle/10822/1059848/law_center_awards_1995.pdf | date = 1995 | access-date = 28 February 2023}}</ref>
==See also== * J. Edgar Hoover * Clyde Tolson * D.M. Ladd * List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External sources== * {{FJC Bio|2335|nid=1388551|name=Edward Allen Tamm<!--(1906–1985)-->}} * [https://dcchs.org/judges/tamm-edward-allen/ Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit: Edward Allen Tamm] * [https://dcchs.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Edward-Tamm-Portrait.jpg Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit: Portrait of Edward Allen Tamm] * [https://openjurist.org/judge/edward-allen-tamm Open Jurist: Edward Allen Tamm]
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=James McPherson Proctor}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia}}|years=1949–1965}} {{s-aft|after=Oliver Gasch}} |- {{s-bef|before=Walter M. Bastian}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit}}|years=1965–1985}} {{s-aft|after=James L. Buckley}} |- {{s-new|office}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief Judge of the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals|years=1972–1981}} {{s-aft|after=J. Skelly Wright}} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamm, Edward Allen}} Category:1906 births Category:1985 deaths Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia Category:Georgetown University Law Center alumni Category:People from Saint Paul, Minnesota Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson Category:United States district court judges appointed by Harry S. Truman