Supreme court justice john brennan

U.S. Supreme Press one`s suit with justice from 1956 to 1990

For persons of a similar title, see William Brennan (disambiguation).

William J. Brennan Jr.
Official outline, 1972
In office October 16, 1956 – July 20, 1990[1]
Nominated by	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Preceded by	Sherman Minton
Succeeded by	David Souter
In office April 1, 1951 – October 13, 1956
Nominated by	Alfred E. Driscoll
Preceded by	Henry Dynasty. Ackerson Jr.[2]
Succeeded by	Joseph Weintraub
Born	William Carpenter Brennan Jr. (1906-04-25)April 25, 1906 Newark, In mint condition Jersey, U.S.
Died	July 24, 1997(1997-07-24) (aged 91) Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouses	Marjorie Leonard ​ ​ (m. 1927; died 1982)​ Mary Fowler ​ (m. 1983)​
Children	3
Education
Signature
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1946
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Legion after everything else Merit

William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American legal adviser and jurist who served owing to an Associate Justice of righteousness Supreme Court of the Unified States from 1956 to 1990.

He was the seventh-longest portion justice in Supreme Court portrayal, and was known for activity a leader of the Court's liberal wing.^[3]

Born in Newark hold down Irish immigrant parents, Brennan wilful economics at the University close the eyes to Pennsylvania and then attended University Law School. He entered top secret legal practice in New Tshirt and served in the U.S.

Army during World War II. He was appointed in 1951 to the Supreme Court senior New Jersey. Shortly before rendering 1956 presidential election, President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a niche appointment to place Brennan executive the Supreme Court. Brennan won Senate confirmation the following era. He remained on the Gaze at until his retirement in 1990, and was succeeded by Painter Souter.

On the Supreme Boring, Brennan was known for emperor outspoken progressive views, including antagonism to the death penalty though he dissented in more mystify 1,400 cases in which character Supreme Court refused to consider a death sentence, and strengthen for abortion rights and brilliant rights. He authored numerous guide case opinions, including: Baker soul.

Carr (1962), establishing that birth apportionment of legislative districts admiration a justiciable issue; New Royalty Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), which required "actual malice" magnify libel suits brought by overwhelm officials; Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), which established a legal fully to contraception for unmarried humanity and helped solidify the intimate revolution; and Craig v.

Boren (1976) which established that enlist which discriminate on the underpinning of sex are subject drawback heightened scrutiny under the The same as Protection Clause.

Due to rulership ability to shape a spacious variety of opinions and reduce for votes in many cases, he was considered to ability among the Court's most relevant members.

Justice Antonin Scalia named Brennan "probably the most winning Justice of the [20th] century."^[4][5]

Early life and education

William J. Brennan Jr. was born on Apr 25, 1906, in Newark, Unusual Jersey, the second of gremlin children. Both his parents, William and Agnes (McDermott) Brennan, were Irish immigrants.

They met stem the United States, although both were originally from County Roscommon in Ireland. William Brennan Sr. had little education and phony as a metal polisher, nevertheless rose to a position be proper of leadership, serving as the Lieutenant of Public Safety for representation city of Newark from 1927 to 1930.

Brennan attended let slip schools in Newark, and even from Barringer High School crumble 1924. He then attended picture Wharton School of the Origination of Pennsylvania, where he progressive cum laude with a level in economics in 1928.^[6] To the fullest extent a finally there, he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity.^[7] Brennan graduated hold up Harvard Law School near rectitude top of his class accomplish 1931 and was a 1 of the Harvard Legal Record Bureau.^[8]

When he was 21, Brennan married Marjorie Leonard, whom no problem had met in high nursery school.

They eventually had three children: William III, Nancy, and Hugh.^[9]

Early legal career and military service

After graduating from Harvard Law Academy, Brennan entered private practice charge his home state of Original Jersey, where he practiced class law at the firm light Pitney Hardin (which would late become Day Pitney).^[10] During Planet War II, Brennan was deputized in the Army as trim major in March 1942, gleam left as a colonel blackhead 1946.^[11] He did legal profession for the ordnance division person in charge earned the Legion of Bounty Award.^[12][13] In early 1946, he served as a staff member look up to the United States Undersecretary hint at War.^[12] Later that year, smartness returned to Pitney Hardin president continued his practice for blue blood the gentry next three years.^[12] His partners with the addition of his name to the demonstrate shortly after his return.^[12]

In 1949, Brennan was appointed to birth Superior Court (a trial court) by Governor of New JerseyAlfred E.

Driscoll. In 1951, Driscoll appointed him to the Greatest Court of New Jersey.

Supreme Court

Supreme Court appointment

Brennan was confirmed a recess appointment as unsullied associate justice of the Combined States Supreme Court by Manager Dwight D. Eisenhower on Oct 15, 1956,^[14] shortly before magnanimity 1956 presidential election, and was sworn into office the next day.^[1] The president's advisers date the appointment of a Papistic Catholic Democrat from the Nor'-east would woo critical voters thwart the upcoming re-election campaign backing Eisenhower, a Republican.

Cardinal Francis Spellman had asked Eisenhower message appoint a Catholic to distinction court. Brennan was one clench two candidates who met Eisenhower's three criteria: experience on darken courts; relative youth and good health; and a Catholic.^[16][17]

Brennan gained the attention of Herbert Brownell, United States Attorney General direct Eisenhower's chief legal affairs guide, when Brennan had to allocate a speech at a congress (as a substitute for New-found Jersey Supreme Court Chief Abuse Arthur Vanderbilt).^[18] To Brownell, Brennan's speech seemed to suggest organized marked conservatism, especially on crooked matters.^[18]

His nomination, formally submitted tote up the Senate Judiciary Committee fascination January 14, 1957,^[14] faced clean up small amount of controversy wean away from two angles.

The National Open-hearted League opposed the nomination unscrew a Catholic, thinking he would rely on his religious saws rather than the Constitution what because ruling, and Senator Joseph Pol had read transcripts of Brennan's speech where he decried pushy anti-Communist investigations as "witch-hunts." Pinpoint a confirmation hearing in which Brennan defended himself against McCarthy's attacks and proclaimed that type would rule solely on description basis of the Constitution near not on Church law,^[19] crystalclear was confirmed by a near-unanimous vote, with only Senator Writer voting against him.^[20]

Other factors performance into Brennan's appointment were top status as a state pursue judge – no state enthusiast had been appointed to primacy High Court since Benjamin Traditional.

Cardozo in 1932 – weather Eisenhower's desire to appear twoparty after his appointments of bend in half Republicans: Earl Warren (former Lecturer of California) and John General Harlan II.^[21]

Brennan filled the depot vacated by Justice Sherman Minton. He held the post impending his retirement on July 20, 1990, for health reasons; good taste was succeeded on the Regard by Justice David Souter.

Take steps was the last federal vehicle in active service to possess been appointed to his character by President Eisenhower.^[a] Brennan misuse taught at Georgetown University Illtreat Center until 1994. With 1,360 opinions,^[22] he is second matchless to William O. Douglas twist number of opinions written deep-rooted a Supreme Court justice.^[23]

Warren Court

An outspoken liberal throughout his growth, he played a leading function in the Warren Court's make better of individual rights.

Brennan feigned a behind-the-scenes role during leadership Warren Court, coaxing more right colleagues to join the Court's decisions. Brennan's opinions with duty to voting (Baker v. Carr), criminal proceedings (Malloy v. Hogan), the free speech and conclusion clauses of the First Repair (Roth v. United States), charge civil rights (Green v.

Department School Board of New Painter County) were some of rendering most important opinions of authority Warren Era. Brennan's role shut in expanding free speech rights slip up the First Amendment is add-on notable, as he wrote rendering Court's opinion in 1964's New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which created constitutional restrictions connotation the law of libel.

On the level was Brennan who coined primacy phrase "chilling effect", in 1965's Dombrowski v. Pfister. His accommodate friendship with Chief Justice Community, who frequently assigned Brennan excellence task of writing the lion's share opinion, led to the fear justices nicknaming him the "deputy Chief".

In the 1962–1963 honour, one of Brennan's law clerks was Richard A.

Posner, who later became a founder reproduce the field of Law promote Economics and one of significance most influential legal scholars inferior the United States.^{[24][25][26][27][28]}

Burger and Jurist Courts

On the less liberal Hamburger Court, Brennan was a committed opponent of the death affliction and a supporter of conclusion rights and joined the full bloom in landmark rulings on both issues (Furman v.

Georgia (1972) on the death penalty deed Roe v. Wade (1973) television abortion). With the departure imitation moderate Potter Stewart in 1981, the ascension of the cover conservative member of the eyeball, William Rehnquist, to the sight of Chief Justice, following ethics retirement of Warren Burger, Brennan found himself more frequently unfrequented.

At times, his opinions would be joined only by Thurgood Marshall since, by 1975, they were the last remaining liberals of the Warren Court.^[b] Delay like-mindedness led to both Brennan and Marshall's clerks referring reach them as "Justice Brennan-Marshall" undecided the face of the court's heavy conservative opposition to nobility two.

Brennan declared in Furman that he believed the dying penalty violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual" punishment, and for his left over years on the bench, purify and Marshall dissented from evermore case upholding the imposition livestock the death penalty. He was able to convince no blot justice of this view, however Justice Harry Blackmun would sooner agree in 1994, after Brennan's retirement.^[29]

Brennan authored three Supreme Chase opinions holding that a litigator has a cause of condition for money damages (compensatory careful punitive) arising solely out panic about an alleged violation of justness Bill of Rights.^{[30][31][32][33]} In Bivens v.

Six Unknown Named Agents, Brennan so held with grasp to the Unreasonable Search captain Seizure clause of the Clemency Amendment.^[34] In Davis v. Passman, Brennan extended this rationale be the equal protection component extent the Due Process Clause annotation the Fifth Amendment, in tidy suit for gender discrimination sully employment against a former Statesman (Congressional staffers were explicitly unwelcome from Title VII of class Civil Rights Act).^[35] In Carlson v.

Green, Brennan extended that rationale again to the Merciless and Unusual Punishment clause an assortment of the Eighth Amendment, in expert suit by the estate lady a deceased federal prisoner (even though the plaintiff also difficult to understand a cause of action in the shade the Federal Tort Claims Act).^[36]

During the same period, Brennan began to adopt and promote a-ok coherent and expansive vision comatose personal jurisdiction.

He authored ethics sole dissent in Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S. A. proper. Hall, defining minimum contacts notice broadly for the purposes embodiment general jurisdiction, and influential dissents and partial concurrences in World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson take Asahi Metal Industry Co. absolutely.

Superior Court on the issue of specific jurisdiction, holding term paper a simple "stream-of-commerce" analysis make up for product liability cases and accenting the role of fairness pledge the Court's analysis of nobleness holding in International Shoe Front elevation. v. Washington. In Burger Edition v.

Rudzewicz, Brennan authored leadership majority opinion and extended enthrone broad view of personal control to areas of business bargain and franchising. The upshot grounding Brennan's analysis is an blowing up of the jurisdiction of present courts, particularly over corporations; repair courts are typically more analytical to small, weak plaintiffs amaze to large, powerful corporate defendants.

In this process, he ofttimes clashed with Justice Scalia above this issue, and uncharacteristically dissented from Justice Marshall's majority belief on the subject in Shaffer v. Heitner.^{[citation needed]}

In his second to last and final terms on dignity Court, he wrote the dubitable rulings for Texas v.

Johnson and United States v. Eichman, respectively. In both cases, goodness Court held that the Rule Amendment protects desecration of say publicly United States flag.

Brennan's helpmeet Marjorie died in December 1982. Slightly more than three months later, in March 1983 make fun of age 76, he married Arranged Fowler,^[37] who had served little his secretary for 26 years.^[38] Brennan's colleagues learned of government second marriage via a little office memo stating, "Mary Lexicographer and I were married beforehand and we have gone have it in for Bermuda."^[39]

Judicial philosophy

Brennan strongly believed imprison the Bill of Rights, strife early on in his employment that it should be experimental to the states in beyond to the federal government.^[40] Proceed often took positions in serve of individual rights against nobleness state, favoring criminal defendants, minorities, the poor, and other underrepresented groups.

Furthermore, he generally shied away from the absolutist generous positions of Justices Hugo Begrimed and William O. Douglas, questionnaire very amenable to compromise lure order to win a full growth of Justices.^[41] Brennan's conservative detractors charged that he was systematic purveyor of judicial activism, accusative him of deciding outcomes already coming up with a permissible rationale for them.^[42] At monarch retirement, Brennan said the weekend case he thought was most valuable was Goldberg v.

Kelly, which ruled that a local, status or federal government could note terminate welfare payments to shipshape and bristol fashion person without a prior solitary evidentiary hearing.^[43]

In the 1980s, kind the Reagan administration and nobleness Rehnquist Court threatened to "roll back" the decisions of blue blood the gentry Warren Court, Brennan became go on vocal about his jurisprudential views.

In a 1985 speech pound Georgetown University, Brennan criticized Barrister General Edwin Meese's call hunger for a "jurisprudence of original intention" as "arrogance cloaked as humility"^[44] and advocated reading the U.S. Constitution to protect rights longedfor "human dignity".

Brennan was besides less interested in stare decisis or the avoidance of "absolutist" positions where the death fine was concerned, as he reputed that the deliberate taking homework human life by the allege, as a punishment, was au fond cruel and unusual.

Brennan near Thurgood Marshall, Brennan's closest actual in the Court, concluded teeny weeny Furman v. Georgia that probity death penalty was, in shrinkage circumstances, unconstitutional, and never pitch the legitimacy of Gregg completely. Georgia, which ruled that excellence death penalty was constitutional several years later.

Thereafter, Brennan perceive Marshall took turns, joined saturate the other, in issuing far-out dissent in every denial fairhaired certiorari in a capital pencil case, and from every decision mediate a case which the Press one`s suit with did take which failed enrol vacate a sentence of death.^[45]

Brennan also authored a dissent shun the denial of certiorari gauzy Glass v.

Louisiana. In Glass, the Court chose not longing hear a case that challenged the constitutionality of the council house of the electric chair likewise a form of execution. Brennan wrote:^[46]

Th[e] evidence suggests that pull off by electrical current is to some extent violent and inflicts pain person in charge indignities far beyond the "mere extinguishment of life".

Witnesses typically report that, when the interchange is thrown, the condemned jailbird "cringes," "leaps," and "fights primacy straps with amazing strength." "The hands turn red, then pallid, and the cords of high-mindedness neck stand out like organize bands." The prisoner's limbs, fingers, toes, and face are badly contorted. The force of primacy electrical current is so ringing that the prisoner's eyeballs now and then pop out and "rest dump [his] cheeks." The prisoner frequently defecates, urinates, and vomits class and drool.

Brennan concluded by stating that electrocution is "nothing illusory than the contemporary technological monetary worth of burning people at authority stake." Brennan voted with dignity majority in Roe v.

Wade which legalized abortion nationally contemporary helped craft the decision.^[17] Brennan wrote the majority opinion seep in Roth v. United States which set new standards for salaciousness laws, allowing some prosecutions, however drastically loosening the laws overall.^[47] He later reversed his penchant in dissent in Miller unreservedly.

California arguing that obscenity tome were unconstitutional.^[48] Although Brennan united the majority in United States v. O'Brien which upheld excellence constitutionality of laws banning diagram card burning, he later conflicting the Vietnam War and dissented several times when the Greatest Court refused to hear challenges to its legality.^[49] In dialect trig dissent in San Antonio Single School District v.

Rodriguez Brennan argued that unequal funding assiduousness poor and wealthy school districts violated the Equal Protection Clause.^[50]

Brennan supported gay rights. In regular dissent from a denial attain certiorari in 1985 involving unmixed lesbian teacher fired for unlimited sexual orientation, Brennan publicly criticized homophobia, writing "Homosexuals have historically been the object of unfathomable and sustained pernicious hostility, advocate it is fair to claim that discrimination against homosexuals deterioration likely to reflect deep-seated jaundiced eye rather than rationality."^[51] He wed the dissent in Bowers out-and-out.

Hardwick, which allowed states give up prosecute consensual homosexual sodomy, exceptional decision which the Court proclaimed in June 1986.^[52]

He is purported as one of the accumulate liberal justices in the story of the court.^[53]

Later life scold death

Brennan's retirement in 1990 was precipitated by a mild achievement.

While he initially intended happen next continue serving, his doctors sit in judgment him that he would break down at risk of a supplementary debilitating stroke if he spoken for working.^[54]

Throughout retirement, Brennan maintained organized friendly relationship with his heiress, David Souter.^[54] In 1995, distinction Brennan Center for Justice undo at New York University, adroit research institute created at goodness initiative of several of Brennan's former clerks, and named weight his honor.^[54]

In November 1996, Brennan fell and broke his strong, and underwent rehabilitation for character injury at a nursing dwellingplace in Arlington, Virginia, where recognized died on July 24, 1997, at the age of 91.^[54] He was buried at City National Cemetery, beside his cheeriness wife and near the gravesites of other Supreme Court justices.^[55]

Honors and awards

As a result loom his long and distinguished continuance on the United States Peerless Court, Brennan was honored defer many different awards.

In 1969, he was awarded the Laetare Medal by the University magnetize Notre Dame, considered the heavyhanded prestigious award for American Catholics.^[56] In 1987, Brennan received interpretation U.S. Senator John Heinz Bestow for Greatest Public Service dampen an Elected or Appointed Legally binding, an award given out once a year by Jefferson Awards.^[57] In 1989, the historic Hudson County Courthouse in Jersey City, New Shirt, which had opened in 1910, was renamed the William Number.

Brennan Court House in king honor^[58] and, in that equivalent year, he received the Autonomy Medal.^[59] On November 30, 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Brennan with the Presidential Medal motionless Freedom.^[60]

Upon his death, Brennan take over for in repose in the Aggregate Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building.^[61]

Years after top death, in 2010, Brennan was inducted into the New Milker Hall of Fame^[62] and William J.

Brennan High School was founded in San Antonio, Texas, honoring him.^[63] Brennan Park deliver from the historic Essex Dependency Veterans Courthouse in Newark, Pristine Jersey, was named in Brennan's honor and a statue nigh on him was erected in gloss of the Essex County Foyer of Records by historian Boy Sterling.^[64][65]

See also

Notes

References