William J. Brennan Jr.
William J. Brennan Jr. | |
---|---|
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
In office October 16, 1956 – July 20, 1990[1] | |
Nominated by | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
Preceded by | Sherman Minton |
Succeeded by | David Souter |
Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court | |
In office April 1, 1951 – October 13, 1956 | |
Nominated by | Alfred E. Driscoll |
Preceded by | Henry E. Ackerson Jr.[2] |
Succeeded by | Joseph Weintraub |
Personal details | |
Born | William Joseph Brennan Jr. April 25, 1906 Arlington, Virginia, U.S. |
Resting place | Arlington National Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses |
|
Children | 3 |
Education | |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1942–1945 |
Rank | Colonel |
This article is part of a series on |
Liberalism in the United States |
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William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an
Born in
On the Supreme Court, Brennan was known for his outspoken
Due to his ability to shape a wide variety of opinions and bargain for votes in many cases, he was considered to be among the Court's most influential members. Justice Antonin Scalia called Brennan "probably the most influential Justice of the [20th] century."[4][5]
Early life and education
William J. Brennan Jr. was born on April 25, 1906, in Newark, New Jersey, the second of eight children. Both his parents, William and Agnes (McDermott) Brennan, were Irish immigrants. They met in the United States, although both were originally from County Roscommon in Ireland. William Brennan Sr. had little education and worked as a metal polisher, but rose to a position of leadership, serving as the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Newark from 1927 to 1930.
Brennan attended public schools in Newark, and graduated from
When he was 21, Brennan married Marjorie Leonard, whom he had met in high school. They eventually had three children: William III, Nancy, and Hugh.[9]
Early legal career
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Brennan entered private practice in his home state of
Supreme Court
Supreme Court appointment
Brennan was given a
]Brennan gained the attention of
His
Other factors playing into Brennan's appointment were his status as a state court judge – no state judge had been appointed to the High Court since Benjamin N. Cardozo in 1932 – and Eisenhower's desire to appear bipartisan after his appointments of two Republicans: Earl Warren (former Governor of California) and John Marshall Harlan II.[16]
Brennan filled the seat vacated by Justice Sherman Minton. He held the post until his retirement on July 20, 1990, for health reasons; he was succeeded on the Court by Justice David Souter. He was the last federal judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Eisenhower.[a] Brennan then taught at Georgetown University Law Center until 1994. With 1,360 opinions,[17] he is second only to William O. Douglas in number of opinions written while a Supreme Court justice.[18]
Warren Court
An outspoken liberal throughout his career, he played a leading role in the
In the 1962–1963 term, one of Brennan's law clerks was
Burger and Rehnquist Courts
On the less liberal
Brennan authored three Supreme Court opinions holding that a plaintiff has a cause of action for money damages (compensatory and punitive) arising solely out of an alleged violation of the Bill of Rights.
During the same period, Brennan began to adopt and promote a coherent and expansive vision of
In his penultimate and final terms on the Court, he wrote the controversial rulings for Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman, respectively. In both cases, the Court held that the First Amendment protects desecration of the United States flag.
Brennan's wife Marjorie died in December 1982. Slightly more than three months later, in March 1983 at age 76, he married Mary Fowler,[31] who had served as his secretary for 26 years.[32] Brennan's colleagues learned of his second marriage via a short office memo stating, "Mary Fowler and I were married yesterday and we have gone to Bermuda."[33]
Judicial philosophy
Brennan strongly believed in the Bill of Rights, arguing early on in his career that it should be applied to the states in addition to the federal government.[34] He often took positions in favor of individual rights against the state, favoring criminal defendants, minorities, the poor, and other underrepresented groups. Furthermore, he generally shied away from the absolutist liberal positions of Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas, being very amenable to compromise in order to win a majority of Justices.[35] Brennan's conservative detractors charged that he was a purveyor of judicial activism, accusing him of deciding outcomes before coming up with a legal rationale for them.[36] At his retirement, Brennan said the case he thought was most important was Goldberg v. Kelly, which ruled that a local, state or federal government could not terminate welfare payments to a person without a prior individual evidentiary hearing.[37]
In the 1980s, as the Reagan administration and the Rehnquist Court threatened to "roll back" the decisions of the Warren Court, Brennan became more vocal about his jurisprudential views. In a 1985 speech at Georgetown University, Brennan criticized Attorney General Edwin Meese's call for a "jurisprudence of original intention" as "arrogance cloaked as humility"[38] and advocated reading the U.S. Constitution to protect rights of "human dignity".
Brennan was also less interested in stare decisis or the avoidance of "absolutist" positions where the death penalty was concerned, as he believed that the deliberate taking of human life by the state, as a punishment, was inherently cruel and unusual. Brennan and Thurgood Marshall, Brennan's closest ally in the Court, concluded in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was, in all circumstances, unconstitutional, and never accepted the legitimacy of Gregg v. Georgia, which ruled that the death penalty was constitutional four years later. Thereafter, Brennan or Marshall took turns, joined by the other, in issuing a dissent in every denial of certiorari in a capital case, and from every decision in a case which the Court did take which failed to vacate a sentence of death.[39]
Brennan also authored a dissent from the denial of certiorari in Glass v. Louisiana. In Glass, the Court chose not to hear a case that challenged the constitutionality of the use of the electric chair as a form of execution. Brennan wrote:[40]
Th[e] evidence suggests that death by electrical current is extremely violent and inflicts pain and indignities far beyond the "mere extinguishment of life". Witnesses routinely report that, when the switch is thrown, the condemned prisoner "cringes," "leaps," and "fights the straps with amazing strength." "The hands turn red, then white, and the cords of the neck stand out like steel bands." The prisoner's limbs, fingers, toes, and face are severely contorted. The force of the electrical current is so powerful that the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and "rest on [his] cheeks." The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool.
Brennan concluded by stating that electrocution is "nothing less than the contemporary technological equivalent of burning people at the stake." Brennan voted with the majority in
Brennan supported
He is regarded as one of the most liberal justices in the history of the court.[48]
Later life and death
Brennan's retirement in 1990 was precipitated by a mild stroke. While he initially intended to continue serving, his doctors told him that he would be at risk of a more debilitating stroke if he kept working.[49]
Throughout retirement, Brennan maintained a friendly relationship with his successor, David Souter.[49] In 1995, the Brennan Center for Justice opened at New York University, a research institute created at the initiative of several of Brennan's former clerks, and named in his honor.[49]
In November 1996, Brennan fell and broke his hip, and underwent rehabilitation for the injury at a nursing home in
Honors and awards
As a result of his long and distinguished career on the United States Supreme Court, Brennan was honored with many different awards. In 1969, he was awarded the
Upon his death, Brennan lay in repose in the Great Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building.[56]
Years after his death, in 2010, Brennan was inducted into the
See also
- Brennan Center for Justice
- List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 3)
- List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office
- List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Burger Court
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Rehnquist Court
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Warren Court
- William J. Brennan Award
Notes
- ^ One of Eisenhower's circuit court appointees, Harry Blackmun, would be appointed to the Supreme Court in 1970 by Richard Nixon and remain active on the Supreme Court until 1994; one Eisenhower district court appointee, Frank Minis Johnson, would be appointed by Jimmy Carter to the Fifth Circuit and remain in active service as a circuit court judge on the newly created Eleventh Circuit until 1991, while a third surviving Eisenhower appointee, Giles Rich of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, would remain in active service on the Federal Circuit until 1999.
- ^ Byron White was the third survivor of the Warren Court during Rehnquist's tenure but often sided with the conservatives, especially on cases involving criminals or abortion.
References
- ^ a b "Justices 1789 to Present". Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ "HENRY ACKERSON OF JERSEY COURT". The New York Times. December 11, 1970. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
- ^ Brennan, Patricia (October 6, 1996), "Seven Justices, On Camera", The Washington Post, archived from the original on November 19, 2018, retrieved April 21, 2010
- ^ Antonin Scalia - Charlie Rose, retrieved October 17, 2022
- ISBN 9780520219816. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ^ "Famous Delts". Delta Tau Delta. Archived from the original on March 8, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
- ^ "Harvard Legal Aid Bureau". Law.harvard.edu. October 9, 2008. Archived from the original on February 3, 2010. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ David J. Garrow (October 17, 2010). "Justice William Brennan, a liberal lion who wouldn't hire women". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 12, 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ISBN 9781587982712. Archivedfrom the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
It is often reported that Pitney, Hardin & Ward, now located in Morristown, New Jersey, was founded by one Supreme Court justice and produced another. But it is not true.
- ^ a b McMillion, Barry J. (January 28, 2022). Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2020: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9780743272261. Archivedfrom the original on May 11, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2008.
- ^ a b Eisler (1993), p. 85.
- ^ "I believe that the Senators are entitled to know how you feel...." Archived April 8, 2016, at the Wayback Machine: Hearings on the Nomination of William J. Brennan Jr. to Be an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Princeton University (accessed February 14, 2016).
- ^ Eisler (1993), p. 119.
- ^ Eisler (1993), p. 84.
- ^ Little, Rory K. (1999). "Reading Justice Brennan: Is There a "Right" to Dissent?" (PDF). Hastings Law Journal. 50: 683. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
- ^ "In the opinion of many, Justice Brennan was the most influential member in the US Supreme Court's history". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ^ "Richard A. Posner | University of Chicago Law School". www.law.uchicago.edu. December 2008. Archived from the original on September 27, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ "Judge Richard Posner explains why we should "burn all copies of the Bluebook"". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 25, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ "Swan Song of a Great Colossus: The Latest from Richard Posner". Law & Liberty. May 13, 2019. Archived from the original on May 17, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
- ^ Robotti, Michael P. (2009). "Separation of Powers and the Exercise of Concurrent Constitutional Authority in the Bivens Context". Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal. 8: 171.
- ^ Daniel, Scott R. (2008). "The Spy Who Sued the King: Scaling the Fortress of Executive Immunity for Constitutional Torts in Wilson v. Libby". American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law. 16: 503.
- ^ Vladeck, Stephen I. (2010). "National Security and Bivens after Iqbal". Lewis & Clark Law Review. 14: 255.
- ^ Bandes, Susan (1995). "Reinventing Bivens: The Self-Executing Constitution". Southern California Law Review. 68: 289.
- ^ Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971).
- ^ Davis v. Passman, 442 U.S. 228 (1979).
- ^ Carlson v. Green, 446 U.S. 14 (1980).
- ^ "Mary Fowler Brennan, 83, Justice's Widow". The New York Times. The New York Times. April 2, 2000. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
- ^ "Marjorie Brennan, the wife of Supreme Court Justice William".
- OCLC 1330888409.
- ^ Eisler (1993), p. 167
- ^ Eisler (1993), p. 13
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
- ISBN 0-465-04195-7.
- ^ "Justice Brennan Calls Criticism of Court Disguised Arrogance". Associated Press. October 13, 1985. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved July 13, 2016 – via LA Times.
- ^ Woodward, The Brethren; Lazarus, Closed Chambers
- ^ "Execution News and Developments: 2004–1998". Deathpenaltyinfo.org. Archived from the original on November 3, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ISBN 9780547523897.
- ^ "Roth v. United States". First Amendment Encyclopedia. University of Minnesota. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ "William J. Brennan Jr". First Amendmemt Encyclopedia. University of Minnesota. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Schoen, Roderick B. "A Strange Silence: Vietnam and the Supreme Court" (PDF). Texas Tech University Libraries. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
- ^ Brennan, William J. Jr. "San Antonio Independent School District V. Rodriguez". Justia.
- ISBN 9780786730940.
- ^ "Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)". LII / Legal Information Institute. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ Ph. D., History; M. A., University of Colorado; B. A., University of Connecticut. "The 7 Most Liberal Supreme Court Justices in American History". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Greenhouse, Linda (July 25, 1997). "William Brennan, 91, Dies; Gave Court Liberal Vision". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ Seelye, Katharine Q. (July 30, 1997). "With Gentle Humor, Brennan Is Buried". The New York Times. p. A14. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ "Recipients | The Laetare Medal". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- ^ "National – Jefferson Awards Foundation". Archived from the original on November 24, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2016.
- ^ Karnoutsos, Carmela. "Brennan (William J.) Hudson County Courthouse". New Jersey City University. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2014.
- ^ Four Freedoms Award#Freedom Medal
- ^ U.S. Senate. "Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients". Archived from the original on July 14, 2004. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
- ^ McGonigal, Chris; Farias, Cristian (February 17, 2016). "Historic Photos Show Supreme Court Justices' Funerals Through The Years". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018.
- )
- ^ "SCHOOL NAMESAKE". nisd.net. nisd. 2009. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Schoonmaker, L. Craig. "Brennan Park". NewarkUSA Blog. Blogspot. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
- ^ "Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Park". Google Maps. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
Sources
- Abraham, Henry J. (1992). Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506557-3.
- Cushman, Clare (2001). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.). Supreme Court Historical Society, Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 1-56802-126-7.
- Eisler, Kim Isaac (1993). A Justice for All: William J. Brennan Jr. and the Decisions That Transformed America. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-76787-7.
- Frank, John P. (1995). Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L. (eds.). The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions. New York: Chelsea House. ISBN 0-7910-1377-4.
- Hudson, David L. (2006). The Rehnquist Court: Understanding Its Impact and Legacy. New York: Praeger. ISBN 0-275-98971-2.
- Hall, Kermit L., ed. (1992). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505835-6.
- Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990). The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 0-87187-554-3.
- Schwartz, Herman (2003). The Rehnquist Court: Judicial Activism on the Right. New York: Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-8074-8.
- Stern, Seth, and Stephen Wermiel. Justice Brennan: liberal champion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), 674 pages; detailed scholarly biography
- ISBN 978-0-393-32757-1.
- ISBN 0-8153-1176-1.
- ISBN 978-0-380-52183-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - Wermiel, Stephen, and Seth Stern. Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010) 688pp excerpt and text search Archived July 31, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, based on Brennan's case notes and 50 hours of interviews
- Remarks by the President in Ceremony Honoring Medal of Freedom Recipients – November 30, 1993 Archived June 8, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Caballero, Raymond. McCarthyism vs. Clinton Jencks. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- William Brennan Jr. FBI file at vault.fbi.gov
- William Joseph Brennan Jr. at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- Arlington National Cemetery