Curtis Shake

Curtis Grover Shake (July 14, 1887 – September 11, 1978), a noted Indiana jurist and politician, author, and a member of the Indiana Senate, is best known for his service as the 72nd justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from January 4, 1938, to January 7, 1945, and as the presiding civilian judge over the IG Farben trial, one of the Nuremberg trials the United States convened at Nuremberg, Germany, in 1947–48, following World War II. Shake, a native of Knox County, Indiana, attended Vincennes University for two years and earned a law degree from Indiana University in 1910. He initially established a law practice in Bicknell, Indiana, but relocated his family and law practice to the county seat at Vincennes, in 1916. Shake was elected as a Democrat to represent Knox and Daviess Counties in the Indiana Senate in 1926, but lost his bid to become Indiana Attorney General in 1928. Shake presided as chief justice of the Indiana Supreme Court three times (1939, 1941, and 1944), but he did not run for re-election in 1945. Between 1938 and 1946 Shake was also involved at the national level in mediating labor disputes, including service on six presidential emergency boards charged with settling railroad strikes. In 1947 Shake was appointed presiding judge over the Farben trial at Nuremberg. News reporters harshly criticized the relatively light sentences imposed on those found guilty of war crimes. Years later Shake remarked that although he accepted the legitimacy of the tribunals, he thought an impartial trial from neutral countries using neutral judges would have been preferable. After his return to the United States in 1948, Shake continued to practice law in Vincennes, where he was also a longtime member of Vincennes University’s board of trustees (1923–66). Shake was elected to the Indiana Academy in 1975 for his contributions to Indiana and the nation. Early life and education Curtis Grover Shake, the son of Arminda and Daniel Shake, was born in Monroe City, Harrison Township, Knox County, Indiana, on July 14, 1887. Daniel was a farmer and music teacher; Arminda worked as a midwife. Shake completed eighth grade in Knox County's public schools. In 1903, because there were no public high schools in the area, Shake began studies at Vincennes University, where he attended classes for two years to earn a teacher's license. At Vincennes he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity.