Arnold Jack Rosenthal
Encyclopedia
Arnold Jack Rosenthal was an attorney and business
man from Alexandria
, Louisiana
, who from 1973 to 1977 was his city's last elected municipal commissioner of finance and utilities.
, Louisiana. Rosenthal's maternal forebears in 1863 built the oldest surviving general store
in Louisiana, Kaffie-Frederick, Inc., General Mercantile, which specializes in hardware and is located in the historic section of downtown Natchitoches. Many of those ancestors are interred at the Jewish Cemetery in Natchitoches. Rosenthal lost his mother, who died at the age of thirty-four, when he was nine years old; his younger brother, Bernard F. "Bernie" Rosenthal, Jr. (1929–2004), later an employee of the Louisiana Department of Revenue, was only three at the time of their mother's passing.
Reared thereafter by a single father, Rosenthal attended public schools and graduated in 1940 from Bolton High School
in Alexandria, located near his longstanding family home on Albert Street in the city's Garden District. He then attended Baptist
-affiliated Louisiana College
in Pineville before transferring to Roman Catholic-affiliated Tulane University
in New Orleans
. In 1946, he received his law degree from Tulane University Law School
. Rosenthal was the former owner of the defunct Joy Theater in Alexandria. From his youth to his later years of semi-retirement, Rosenthal was an avid tennis
player. He also owned race horses and, with his brother, was particularly active in the racing industry.
, which met in Los Angeles
to nominate the John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon B. Johnson
ticket, which easily prevailed in Louisiana.
In the spring of 1973, Rosenthal unseated Carroll E. Lanier
in the Democratic
primary
for finance and utilities commissioner. He was one of three officials elected citywide under the former commission government
, a plan permitted through the Lawrason Act
of 1898. In 1977, the commission government was replaced under a new municipal charter with the current mayor-council
arrangement. Rosenthal's fellow commissioners were John K. Snyder
(1922–1993), who held the title of mayor
and performed the executive duties over public safety and sanitation, and Malcolm P. Hebert (1926–2006), who directed the departments of streets and parks, with jurisdiction over Alexandria Zoological Park
. Often on the three-member council, also exercising legislative duties, Snyder and Hebert formed 2-1 majorities, with Rosenthal in the dissenting role, even though all three were Democrats.
Rosenthal retained Miriam Haworth Taylor (1918–2007) as his executive secretary. She had joined the finance and utilities department in 1946 and had served under Commissioner Lanier. After the change in government format, Mrs. Taylor was secretary to several Alexandria mayors.
In 1975, Rosenthal convinced the council to hire Velda Mae LaBorde Lee (1935–2011) of rural Flatwoods in Rapides Parish as an internal auditor as a check on municipal financial practices of the long-time secretary-treasurer Ray R. Allen
. Formerly of Union Parish
in north Louisiana, Lee was an honor graduate of Louisiana Tech University
and obtained a master's degree in accounting from Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge
. She was only the second woman in Louisiana to obtain CPA
designation. Later she was finance director in the second Snyder administration.
In 1977, Snyder and Rosenthal both ran for mayor but were badly defeated by Lanier, who staged a stunning comeback. Lanier defeated Snyder in a runoff, 68-32 percent. Lanier served a 5.5-year term and was unseated in the fall of 1982 by Snyder, who returned for his second nonconsecutive term in office, one term under each form of government.
After his failed bid for mayor, Rosenthal made two other unsuccessful campaigns in the two succeeding years: for Rapides Parish
district attorney
in 1978 against incumbent Edwin O. Ware, III, of Alexandria, and for state representative
in 1979 against Jock Scott
, also of Alexandria. Rosenthal received 2,229 votes (23.1 percent) in the race against Scott, who prevailed with 7,419 ballots (76.9 percent). In 1984, Rosenthal ran again for district attorney when Ware declined to seek a third term.
Even earlier, Rosenthal ran third in a heated 1971 Democratic primary race for Louisiana state senator
against incumbent Cecil R. Blair
of Alexandria and Lecompte
in south Rapides Parish. In the runoff election, Rosenthal endorsed Blair's opponent, Floyd W. Smith, Jr.
, the former mayor of Pineville
, the sister city of Alexandria. When Rosenthal assumed the office of commissioner in Alexandria, Smith became his executive assistant and served in that capacity until Snyder and Hebert joined to dismiss him in a 2-1 vote.
In 1983, Roosevelt, then listed as the junior partner of the law firm Levy, Oubre, Lenz & Rosenthal in Metairie
in Jefferson Parish
, was listed as a donor to the Democratic presidential campaign of then U.S. Senator John H. Glenn, Jr.
, of Ohio
. Glenn lost the nomination in 1984 to Walter F. Mondale, who in turn was defeated by Republican
U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan.
, of New Orleans. Rosenthal and Oubre obtained a $50,000 loan from the Louisiana National Bank in Baton Rouge
, and neither made payments accordingly. When the bank sued, Rosenthal purchased the note for the sum of $54,000 and then sued Oubre and Oubre's wife, Brenda, for repayment. Oubre claimed that he did not owe Rosenthal because Rosenthal was indebted to Oubre for half of the original $50,000 as a result of other expenses encountered from their partnership. The court ruled on appeal in favor of Rosenthal.
Rosenthal encountered other legal problems too. He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on March 11, 1986, in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. In return, prosecutors dropped the remaining twenty-four counts against him and two business partners from New Orleans, John B. Levy of the Levy law firm and Harry Caire, a Certified Public Accountant
. Rosenthal then agreed to cooperate with the government in its case against Levy and Caire
Rosenthal was accused of being part of a financial scheme to deplete the assets of the defunct Continental Service Life and Health Insurance Company of Baton Rouge of which Rosenthal was president and the principal stockholder. Rosenthal also headed a holding company
in Delaware
, which purchased Continental Service. Prosecutors said that Rosenthal, Levy, and Caire sought to substitute disputed mortgages on property belonging to an uncle of Levy in return for Continental Service's low-interest municipal bonds. The bonds were sold to make a 60 percent first payment on the company. Prosecutors said that some $3 million was plundered from the company. The company assets became so depleted that Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Sherman A. Bernard placed the firm in conservatorship.
Judge Peter Hill Beer
, a Jimmy Carter
appointee to the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans and like Rosenthal an alumnus of Tulane Law School, sentenced Rosenthal to twenty-two months in prison, assessed a $2,000 fine, and three years probation after having completed the incarceration. He was released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
from a facility in Florida
on September 4, 1987, after having served a year of the stated sentence.
, Karlyn Greenberg of Houston
, Texas
, Dorothy Lewy of Fairfax Station
, Virginia, and David Hart Rothman of Alexandria
, Virginia (not Louisiana).
The Rosenthal Montessori Elementary School in Alexandria is named for Rosenthal's grandfather, Jonas Rosenthal, who served on the Rapides Parish School Board. After the death of his brother, Arnold Jack Rosenthal made a monetary donation to the school to be used for nonspecified educational purposes.
Rosenthal was among a handful of Jews who played roles in Louisiana politics in the 20th century, along with State Senators Leopold Caspari
and Sylvan Friedman
, both of Natchitoches Parish
, where Rosenthal's mother was born.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man from Alexandria
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, who from 1973 to 1977 was his city's last elected municipal commissioner of finance and utilities.
Family and educational background
Rosenthal (addressed as "Arnold Jack") was the older of two sons of a Jewish couple, Bernard F. Rosenthal, Sr. (1889–1970), and the former May Violet Kaffie (1897–1932), a native of NatchitochesNatchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
, Louisiana. Rosenthal's maternal forebears in 1863 built the oldest surviving general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
in Louisiana, Kaffie-Frederick, Inc., General Mercantile, which specializes in hardware and is located in the historic section of downtown Natchitoches. Many of those ancestors are interred at the Jewish Cemetery in Natchitoches. Rosenthal lost his mother, who died at the age of thirty-four, when he was nine years old; his younger brother, Bernard F. "Bernie" Rosenthal, Jr. (1929–2004), later an employee of the Louisiana Department of Revenue, was only three at the time of their mother's passing.
Reared thereafter by a single father, Rosenthal attended public schools and graduated in 1940 from Bolton High School
Bolton High School (Louisiana)
Bolton High School is a secondary educational institution located in the Garden District of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. The school is named for its benefactor, James W...
in Alexandria, located near his longstanding family home on Albert Street in the city's Garden District. He then attended Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
-affiliated Louisiana College
Louisiana College
Louisiana College is a private institution of higher education located in Pineville, Louisiana, affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention, serving a student body of approximately 1,300 students. The college operates on a semester system, with two shorter summer terms...
in Pineville before transferring to Roman Catholic-affiliated Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. In 1946, he received his law degree from Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
. Rosenthal was the former owner of the defunct Joy Theater in Alexandria. From his youth to his later years of semi-retirement, Rosenthal was an avid tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. He also owned race horses and, with his brother, was particularly active in the racing industry.
Political aspirations
In 1960, Rosenthal was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention1960 Democratic National Convention
The 1960 Democratic National Convention was held in Los Angeles. In the end, the Kennedy-Johnson ticket was assembled and went on to secure an electoral college victory and a narrow popular vote plurality in the fall over the Republican candidates Richard M...
, which met in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
to nominate the John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
ticket, which easily prevailed in Louisiana.
In the spring of 1973, Rosenthal unseated Carroll E. Lanier
Carroll E. Lanier
Carroll Edwin Lanier is a former Democratic mayor of Alexandria, the seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in central Louisiana. Lanier served a special 5.5-year term from June 1977 to December 1982. He was the first mayor under the current mayor-council form of municipal government, which...
in the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
primary
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
for finance and utilities commissioner. He was one of three officials elected citywide under the former commission government
City commission government
City commission government is a form of municipal government which once was common in the United States, but many cities which were formerly governed by commission have since switched to the council-manager form of government...
, a plan permitted through the Lawrason Act
Lawrason Act
The Lawrason Act is an 1898 measure of the Louisiana State Legislature which permits municipalities in the state to incorporate into towns or cities without specific clearance from the legislature....
of 1898. In 1977, the commission government was replaced under a new municipal charter with the current mayor-council
Mayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
arrangement. Rosenthal's fellow commissioners were John K. Snyder
John K. Snyder
John Kenneth Snyder, Sr., sometimes known as Tillie Snyder , was a colorful, outspoken Democratic mayor of Alexandria, Louisiana, from 1973–1977 and again from 1982-1986....
(1922–1993), who held the title of mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and performed the executive duties over public safety and sanitation, and Malcolm P. Hebert (1926–2006), who directed the departments of streets and parks, with jurisdiction over Alexandria Zoological Park
Alexandria Zoological Park
The Alexandria Zoological Park is a zoo located in Alexandria, Louisiana, United States. First opened to the public in 1926, it is owned by the City of Alexandria and operated by the Division of Public Works. It is home to about 500 animals....
. Often on the three-member council, also exercising legislative duties, Snyder and Hebert formed 2-1 majorities, with Rosenthal in the dissenting role, even though all three were Democrats.
Rosenthal retained Miriam Haworth Taylor (1918–2007) as his executive secretary. She had joined the finance and utilities department in 1946 and had served under Commissioner Lanier. After the change in government format, Mrs. Taylor was secretary to several Alexandria mayors.
In 1975, Rosenthal convinced the council to hire Velda Mae LaBorde Lee (1935–2011) of rural Flatwoods in Rapides Parish as an internal auditor as a check on municipal financial practices of the long-time secretary-treasurer Ray R. Allen
Ray R. Allen
Ray Robert Allen was a municipal public official and banker in Alexandria, Louisiana, who served in 1977 as secretary-treasurer and then finance director when his city converted from the commissioner to the mayor-council form of government.-Background:Allen was born in Yell County near Danville in...
. Formerly of Union Parish
Union Parish, Louisiana
Union Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Farmerville....
in north Louisiana, Lee was an honor graduate of Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...
and obtained a master's degree in accounting from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
. She was only the second woman in Louisiana to obtain CPA
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
designation. Later she was finance director in the second Snyder administration.
In 1977, Snyder and Rosenthal both ran for mayor but were badly defeated by Lanier, who staged a stunning comeback. Lanier defeated Snyder in a runoff, 68-32 percent. Lanier served a 5.5-year term and was unseated in the fall of 1982 by Snyder, who returned for his second nonconsecutive term in office, one term under each form of government.
After his failed bid for mayor, Rosenthal made two other unsuccessful campaigns in the two succeeding years: for Rapides Parish
Rapides Parish, Louisiana
-Military Installations:*Camp Beauregard *Esler Airfield *England Air Force Base *Camp Claiborne *Camp Livingston -Demographics:...
district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
in 1978 against incumbent Edwin O. Ware, III, of Alexandria, and for state representative
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
in 1979 against Jock Scott
Jock Scott
John Wyeth "Jock" Scott, II was a lawyer and college professor in Alexandria, who served three terms from District 26 in the Louisiana House of Representatives, first as a Democrat and then as a Republican . He was defeated in a race for the Louisiana State Senate in 1987...
, also of Alexandria. Rosenthal received 2,229 votes (23.1 percent) in the race against Scott, who prevailed with 7,419 ballots (76.9 percent). In 1984, Rosenthal ran again for district attorney when Ware declined to seek a third term.
Even earlier, Rosenthal ran third in a heated 1971 Democratic primary race for Louisiana state senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
against incumbent Cecil R. Blair
Cecil R. Blair
Cecil Ray Blair was a Rapides Parish farmer and businessman who was a Democratic member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. He served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1952 to 1956...
of Alexandria and Lecompte
Lecompte, Louisiana
Lecompte is a town in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is part of the Alexandria, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,366 at the 2000 census....
in south Rapides Parish. In the runoff election, Rosenthal endorsed Blair's opponent, Floyd W. Smith, Jr.
Floyd Smith (Louisiana politician)
Floyd William Smith, Jr. , was a businessman from Winnfield, Louisiana, who served as the Democratic mayor of Pineville in Rapides Parish from 1966-1970. He was a maternal second cousin of former U.S. Representative Speedy O...
, the former mayor of Pineville
Pineville, Louisiana
Pineville is a city in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is adjacent to the city of Alexandria, and is part of that city's Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 13,829 at the 2000 census....
, the sister city of Alexandria. When Rosenthal assumed the office of commissioner in Alexandria, Smith became his executive assistant and served in that capacity until Snyder and Hebert joined to dismiss him in a 2-1 vote.
In 1983, Roosevelt, then listed as the junior partner of the law firm Levy, Oubre, Lenz & Rosenthal in Metairie
Metairie, Louisiana
Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...
in Jefferson Parish
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Jefferson Parish is a parish in Louisiana, United States that includes most of the suburbs of New Orleans. The seat of parish government is Gretna....
, was listed as a donor to the Democratic presidential campaign of then U.S. Senator John H. Glenn, Jr.
John Glenn
John Herschel Glenn, Jr. is a former United States Marine Corps pilot, astronaut, and United States senator who was the first American to orbit the Earth and the third American in space. Glenn was a Marine Corps fighter pilot before joining NASA's Mercury program as a member of NASA's original...
, of Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Glenn lost the nomination in 1984 to Walter F. Mondale, who in turn was defeated by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
U.S. President Ronald W. Reagan.
Legal troubles
The "Oubre" in Levy, Oubre, Lenz & Rosenthal was former state Senator George T. Oubre, Sr., of St. James Parish. In the 1971 Democratic primary in which Rosenthal ran for the state Senate against Blair and Smith, Oubre sought the office of state attorney general but lost the party nomination to William J. "Billy" Guste, Jr.William J. Guste
William J. "Billy" Guste, Jr., is a New Orleans attorney, businessman and popular Democratic attorney general of Louisiana from 1972 to 1992. He succeeded the scandal-plagued Jack P.F. Gremillion, a fellow Democrat who had held the position since 1956. Guste received recognition for molding the...
, of New Orleans. Rosenthal and Oubre obtained a $50,000 loan from the Louisiana National Bank in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, and neither made payments accordingly. When the bank sued, Rosenthal purchased the note for the sum of $54,000 and then sued Oubre and Oubre's wife, Brenda, for repayment. Oubre claimed that he did not owe Rosenthal because Rosenthal was indebted to Oubre for half of the original $50,000 as a result of other expenses encountered from their partnership. The court ruled on appeal in favor of Rosenthal.
Rosenthal encountered other legal problems too. He pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud on March 11, 1986, in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. In return, prosecutors dropped the remaining twenty-four counts against him and two business partners from New Orleans, John B. Levy of the Levy law firm and Harry Caire, a Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant
Certified Public Accountant is the statutory title of qualified accountants in the United States who have passed the Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination and have met additional state education and experience requirements for certification as a CPA...
. Rosenthal then agreed to cooperate with the government in its case against Levy and Caire
Rosenthal was accused of being part of a financial scheme to deplete the assets of the defunct Continental Service Life and Health Insurance Company of Baton Rouge of which Rosenthal was president and the principal stockholder. Rosenthal also headed a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
in Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, which purchased Continental Service. Prosecutors said that Rosenthal, Levy, and Caire sought to substitute disputed mortgages on property belonging to an uncle of Levy in return for Continental Service's low-interest municipal bonds. The bonds were sold to make a 60 percent first payment on the company. Prosecutors said that some $3 million was plundered from the company. The company assets became so depleted that Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Sherman A. Bernard placed the firm in conservatorship.
Judge Peter Hill Beer
Peter Hill Beer
Peter Hill Beer is a United States federal judge.Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Beer was a Sergeant in the United States Army toward the end of World War II, from 1945 to 1946. He received a B.B.A. from Tulane University in 1949 and an LL.B. from Tulane Law School in 1952. He was a Captain in the...
, a Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
appointee to the Eastern District of Louisiana in New Orleans and like Rosenthal an alumnus of Tulane Law School, sentenced Rosenthal to twenty-two months in prison, assessed a $2,000 fine, and three years probation after having completed the incarceration. He was released by the Federal Bureau of Prisons
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons is a federal law enforcement agency subdivision of the United States Department of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the federal prison system. The system also handles prisoners who committed acts considered felonies under the District of Columbia's...
from a facility in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
on September 4, 1987, after having served a year of the stated sentence.
Death and legacy
Rosenthal died at the age of eighty-seven at Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria. He was a member of the Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim in Alexandria. Graveside services were held on December 23, 2010 at the Jewish Cemetery on Main Street in Pineville, with Rabii Arnold Task officiating. The divorced Rosenthal was survived by four cousins, Jack Kahn of Baton RougeBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, Karlyn Greenberg of Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Dorothy Lewy of Fairfax Station
Fairfax Station, Virginia
Fairfax Station is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, ZIP code 22039. The population as of the 2010 Census was 12,030. As a suburb of Washington, DC, it is a bedroom community for many who work in the federal government.-Averages:...
, Virginia, and David Hart Rothman of Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, Virginia (not Louisiana).
The Rosenthal Montessori Elementary School in Alexandria is named for Rosenthal's grandfather, Jonas Rosenthal, who served on the Rapides Parish School Board. After the death of his brother, Arnold Jack Rosenthal made a monetary donation to the school to be used for nonspecified educational purposes.
Rosenthal was among a handful of Jews who played roles in Louisiana politics in the 20th century, along with State Senators Leopold Caspari
Leopold Caspari
Leopold Caspari was a French-born businessman and politician from Natchitoches, Louisiana, who, as a state representative in 1884 pushed for the establishment of Northwestern State University....
and Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan Friedman
Sylvan N. Friedman was a Louisiana politician, a rare Jewish member of both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature...
, both of Natchitoches Parish
Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana
Natchitoches Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Natchitoches. As of 2000, the population was 39,080. This is the heart of the Cane River Louisiana Creole community...
, where Rosenthal's mother was born.