A Justice for All

A Justice for All PDF Author: Kim Isaac Eisler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
"Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., was both a radical egalitarian and a prime mover on the United States Supreme Court. From 1956 to 1990 - through the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist eras - he effected both judicial and social change via decisions on racial desegregation, pornography, the application of the Bill of Rights to the states, privacy, and abortion. Brennan's stamp is on nearly every contemporary American social issue. A Justice for All, the first biography of Justice Brennan, gathers his considerable achievements in the context of his times and his life." "Brennan had been the original "stealth" nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Having served eight years as a state court judge in New Jersey, Brennan was a total unknown on the national stage when President Eisenhower limited his search for a new justice to a Northeastern Catholic currently serving on a state court. In a rancorous confirmation hearing that foreshadowed events of the eighties and nineties, Brennan tangled with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Taking his place on a Supreme Court bench surrounded by such towering figures as Earl Warren, Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, William Douglas, and John Harlan, Brennan observed, "I felt a little like the mule at the Kentucky Derby."" "But in a career that would span one-third of a century, Brennan proved to be one of the most visionary and influential justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Not content merely to interpret the Constitution, Brennan rewrote American law in the fields of obscenity, criminal rights, affirmative action, and privacy." "This account of the life of an extremely private and little-understood man brings the reader face to face with the clash of intellectual forces that created the landmark rulings of the Warren court. In the midst of these colliding giants was an unpresuming lawyer from Newark who took Warren's broad concepts and wrote them into law; who convinced a firebrand like William O. Douglas, that, at times, it paid to compromise; and who willingly braved personal and professional confrontations with his former Harvard University law professor, Felix Frankfurter." "In his three years of research, author Kim Isaac Eisler utilized the private papers of Justices Brennan, Douglas, Harlan, Warren, and Black, among others; interviewed dozens of former Brennan clerks; and found childhood friends and onetime law partners to reveal what lit the fire inside this history-making judicial activist." "A Justice for All is the remarkable tale of a man who operated within the marble walls of the Supreme Court with the consummate skills of a dealmaker, creating majorities, writing laws, and all the while steering clear of political fire. In so doing, he succeeded in changing American law and society."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

A Justice for All

A Justice for All PDF Author: Kim Isaac Eisler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., was both a radical egalitarian and a prime mover on the United States Supreme Court. From 1956 to 1990 - through the Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist eras - he effected both judicial and social change via decisions on racial desegregation, pornography, the application of the Bill of Rights to the states, privacy, and abortion. Brennan's stamp is on nearly every contemporary American social issue. A Justice for All, the first biography of Justice Brennan, gathers his considerable achievements in the context of his times and his life." "Brennan had been the original "stealth" nominee to the United States Supreme Court. Having served eight years as a state court judge in New Jersey, Brennan was a total unknown on the national stage when President Eisenhower limited his search for a new justice to a Northeastern Catholic currently serving on a state court. In a rancorous confirmation hearing that foreshadowed events of the eighties and nineties, Brennan tangled with Senator Joseph McCarthy. Taking his place on a Supreme Court bench surrounded by such towering figures as Earl Warren, Felix Frankfurter, Hugo Black, William Douglas, and John Harlan, Brennan observed, "I felt a little like the mule at the Kentucky Derby."" "But in a career that would span one-third of a century, Brennan proved to be one of the most visionary and influential justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Not content merely to interpret the Constitution, Brennan rewrote American law in the fields of obscenity, criminal rights, affirmative action, and privacy." "This account of the life of an extremely private and little-understood man brings the reader face to face with the clash of intellectual forces that created the landmark rulings of the Warren court. In the midst of these colliding giants was an unpresuming lawyer from Newark who took Warren's broad concepts and wrote them into law; who convinced a firebrand like William O. Douglas, that, at times, it paid to compromise; and who willingly braved personal and professional confrontations with his former Harvard University law professor, Felix Frankfurter." "In his three years of research, author Kim Isaac Eisler utilized the private papers of Justices Brennan, Douglas, Harlan, Warren, and Black, among others; interviewed dozens of former Brennan clerks; and found childhood friends and onetime law partners to reveal what lit the fire inside this history-making judicial activist." "A Justice for All is the remarkable tale of a man who operated within the marble walls of the Supreme Court with the consummate skills of a dealmaker, creating majorities, writing laws, and all the while steering clear of political fire. In so doing, he succeeded in changing American law and society."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The Jurisprudence of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr

The Jurisprudence of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr PDF Author: David E. Marion
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780847685677
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
David E. Marion offers a careful review of Brennan's opinions that clarifies his defense of libertarian dignity and illustrates the profound political and constitutional impact of Brennan's opinions on public discourse and government policy.

Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall on Capital Punishment

Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall on Capital Punishment PDF Author: Alan I. Bigel
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. and Thurgood Marshall are the only members of the United States Supreme Court who categorically opposed the death penalty for the duration of their tenure. Both wrote a large number of intellectually provocative opinions which examined a wide range of legal and moral arguments frequently raised concerning capital punishment. This book is a meticulous examination of their opinions which not only amplifies their constitutional philosophy but also explores the evolving questions on capital punishment which were presented to the Court. The opinions of Brennan and Marshall were extremely cogent and quite consistent in their approach to the death penalty. Both maintained that the death penalty is unconstitutional and a barbaric form of punishment which has been arbitrarily inflicted based on racial and ethnic bias. This book examines their opinions within the larger context of arguments generally put forward both in support of, and opposition to, the death penalty. The text of this book originally appeared in its entirety in the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics, and Public Policy, vol.8, issue #1(1994).

Brennan and Democracy

Brennan and Democracy PDF Author: Frank I. Michelman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400823366
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
In Brennan and Democracy, a leading thinker in U.S. constitutional law offers some powerful reflections on the idea of "constitutional democracy," a concept in which many have seen the makings of paradox. Here Frank Michelman explores the apparently conflicting commitments of a democratic governmental system where key aspects of such important social issues as affirmative action, campaign finance reform, and abortion rights are settled not by a legislative vote but by the decisions of unelected judges. Can we--or should we--embrace the values of democracy together with constitutionalism, judicial supervision, and the rule of law? To answer this question, Michelman calls into service the judicial career of Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, the country's model "activist" judge for the past forty years. Michelman draws on Brennan's record and writings to suggest how the Justice himself might have understood the judiciary's role in the simultaneous promotion of both democratic and constitutional government. The first chapter prompts us to reflect on how tough and delicate an act it is for the members of a society to attempt living together as a people devoted to self-government. The second chapter seeks to renew our appreciation for democratic liberal political ideals, and includes an extensive treatment of Brennan's judicial opinions, which places them in relation to opposing communitarian and libertarian positions. Michelman also draws on the views of two other prominent constitutional theorists, Robert Post and Ronald Dworkin, to build a provocative discussion of whether democracy is best conceived as a "procedural" or a "substantive" ideal.

Constitutional Conscience

Constitutional Conscience PDF Author: H. Jefferson Powell
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226677303
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
While many recent observers have accused American judges—especially Supreme Court justices—of being too driven by politics and ideology, others have argued that judges are justified in using their positions to advance personal views. Advocating a different approach—one that eschews ideology but still values personal perspective—H. Jefferson Powell makes a compelling case for the centrality of individual conscience in constitutional decision making. Powell argues that almost every controversial decision has more than one constitutionally defensible resolution. In such cases, he goes on to contend, the language and ideals of the Constitution require judges to decide in good faith, exercising what Powell calls the constitutional virtues: candor, intellectual honesty, humility about the limits of constitutional adjudication, and willingness to admit that they do not have all the answers. Constitutional Conscience concludes that the need for these qualities in judges—as well as lawyers and citizens—is implicit in our constitutional practices, and that without them judicial review would forfeit both its own integrity and the credibility of the courts themselves.

Brennan Vs. Rehnquist

Brennan Vs. Rehnquist PDF Author: Peter H. Irons
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
We see these two men serving together for two momentous decades, the leaders of the Court's liberal and conservative factions. We come to know them, their characters, their personalities, their beliefs.

The Conscience of the Court

The Conscience of the Court PDF Author: William J. Brennan
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 9780809322343
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The Conscience of the Court celebrates the work of Justice William J. Brennan Jr., who served on the United States Supreme Court for thirty-four years (1956-1990). Stephen L. Sepinuck and Mary Pat Treuthart introduce and present selected judicial opinions written by Justice Brennan on issues involving personal freedom, civil liberties, and equality. Brennan is ranked by many as the best writer ever to have served on the Supreme Court, and his written opinions depict real people, often in desperate, emotional situations. Remarkable for their clarity of analysis, for their eloquence, and for their forcefulness and persuasiveness, his opinions demonstrate that judicial thought need not be a proprietary enclave of lawyers or the intellectual elite. The extended excerpts selected by Sepinuck and Treuthart highlight Brennan's approach to judicial decision making. Concerned always with how each decision would actually affect people's lives, Brennan possessed a rare quality of empathy. In Brennan, the editors note, "people and groups who lacked influence in society -- Communists and flag burners, children and foreigners, criminal defendants and racial minorities" -- found a champion they could count on "to listen to their causes and judge them unmoved by the passions of the politically powerful". This book is divided into four chapters dealing with freedom of expression, religious liberties and guarantees, the individual versus the state, and protections of equality. Within each chapter, the excerpted cases are presented chronologically. The editors selected more dissenting and concurring opinions than majority opinions because, they reason, a justice writing a dissent or concurrence isfreer to express personal views than one writing for the majority who may feel compelled to include or exclude certain statements in order to hold a fragile coalition together. Each opinion has been edited to focus on the constitutional question at issue while still preserving Brennan's style of expression and process of reasoning. In their introduction to each opinion, the editors provide background facts, discuss how the excerpted opinion transformed the law or otherwise fit into the realm of constitutional jurisprudence, and delve into Justice Brennan's judicial philosophy, his method of constitutional interpretation, and the language he used.

The Progeny

The Progeny PDF Author: Lee Levine
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781627224499
Category : Freedom of the press
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This compelling work of historical non-fiction focuses on the progeny of the famous New York Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court Decision. It examines how Justice Brennan nurtured and developed the constitutional law of defamation and related claims. It provides the authoritative historical account of how an important body of constitutional law came to be. The Progeny offers fresh insights with respect to both what the law means and the process by which it was formulated.

Judging Free Speech

Judging Free Speech PDF Author: H. Knowles
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137412623
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Judging Free Speech contains nine original essays by political scientists and law professors, each providing a comprehensive, yet concise and accessible overview of the free speech jurisprudence of a United States Supreme Court Justice.

Closed Chambers

Closed Chambers PDF Author: Edward Lazarus
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 596

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Book Description
The author of "Black Hills/White Justice" offers an inside look at the most secretive institution in the American government--the Supreme Court. of photos.