United States Federal Judge, Convicted Criminal. He is remembered as the first United States Federal judge who was charged with accepting bribes. He wrote about 650 opinions during his career, nearly 30 a year. Although he was acquitted of bribery, he was convicted of conspiracy to obstruct justice, ending his career with a fine and sentenced to serve time in Federal prison. Born into a poor Irish-immigrant family, he rose to be a member of the most powerful court in the United States. Even in high school, he stood out as a scholar. He entered Columbia Law School as a teenager, becoming a founder of the school's law review in his graduation year of 1901. After receiving a LL.B. from Columbia Law School, he was in private practice in New York City from 1901 to 1916. Manton was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson on August 15, 1916, to a seat vacated by Charles M. Hough, becoming a federal judge to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 23, 1916, and received commission the same day. Manton's service was terminated on March 22, 1918, due to appointment to another judicial position as a federal judge to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Manton was nominated once again by President Woodrow Wilson on March 12, 1918, to a seat vacated by Alfred Conkling Coxe. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 18, 1918, and received commission the same day. At one point in his career, he was a candidate for the Supreme Court of the United States in 1922. He was involved in several note-worthy cases as a judge including banning the book "Ulysses" by Irish author James Joyce and a series of controversial decisions concerning control and financing of the companies then operating the New York City Subway. Early in his career, he was the lawyer for Charles Becker, the New York City policeman, who was tried, convicted, and executed for first degree murder. A millionaire before age 40 in 1920, Manton had capitalized with land development in Queens, New York with his real estate development firms, including the Forest Hills Terrace Corporation. With his salary as a judge being annually $10,000, many were questioning the mathematics. At the time of the 1929 Stock Market Crash, he held a $1.8 million mortgage on 200 acres under development in Jackson Heights. On February 7, 1939, Manton, who suffered near financial ruins during the Great Depression, resigned under pressure after being accused of accepting bribes or "loans" of $664,000 in all from those coming before him in litigation. As a newspaper reporter, S. Burton Heath, published these detailed revealing articles, including the trial coverage, in the "New York World-Telegram. Heath was awarded the 1940 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for this coverage. The "New York Times" had headlines "Ex-judge Manton faces trial…Accused of Selling Rulings." President Franklin Roosevelt relieved Manton of his judgeship. On December 4, 1939 Manton was sentenced to pay a $10,000 fine and two years in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, yet served 19 months. Not only was Manton involved with these underhanded dealings, but a network was revealed during the trial. He retired to the village of Fayetteville in up-state New York, remaining there until his death. He married and he and his wife adopted two children. A park and a street in Queens, New York bears his name. Being released in 2023 is Gary Stein's 384-page "Justice for Sale: Graft, Greed, and a Crooked Judge in the 1930s."