Seven Meritorious United States Supreme Court Justices 1801-2010

Two Marshalls through O’Connor and Stevens

 Listed by date of entry onto the Court

J

ohn Marshall (b. in a log cabin in Germantown rural community on Virginia frontier in vicinity of present-day Midland, Fauquier County, Northern Virginia, 1755 – 1835); fourth Chief Justice of the United States (1801 – 1835); before his SCOTUS years: fourth United States Secretary of State (1800 – 1801); Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Virginia’s 13th district, 1799 – 1800); known for helping “implement the principle of separation of powers and cement the position of the American judiciary as an independent and co-equal branch of government.”

William O (Orville) Douglas (b. Maine Township, Minnesota, 1898-1980; Justice on the US Supreme Court 1939-1975); before his SCOTUS years: 3rd Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1937 – 1939); professor of law at Columbia and Yale; author of books on legal matters and on nature and conservation; champion of freedom espoused in the Bill of Rights; known as a strong opponent of the Vietnam War, and an ardent advocate of environmentalism

William Joseph Brennan Jr. (b. Newark, New Jersey, 1906 –1997; Justice on the US Supreme Court 1956 – 1990);  before his SCOTUS years Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court 1951 – 1956; known for his opposition to the death penalty: “dissented from every case upholding the imposition of the death penalty”

 

T

hurgood Marshall (b. Baltimore, Maryland, 1908-1993; Justice on the US Supreme Court 1967-1991); before his SCOTUS years, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States (1965 – 1967); Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1961 – 1965); beginning in 1938 (and over 23 years), he was counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people during which time he won 29 of 32 major cases he undertook, setting constitutional precedents in matters such as voting rights and breaking down segregation in transportation and education; well-known for representing civil rights activists his greatest achievement the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson “separate but equal” ruling that had sustained segregated institutions and facilities;

Warren (Earl) Burger (b. Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1907 -1995; Justice on the US Supreme Court 1969-1986); before his SCOTUS years, assistant attorney general (1953-1955); Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1956-1969); known for his votes for civil rights and advocacy for administrative reforms of the federal court system (he resigned SCOTUS to work on the bicentennial observation of the adoption f the U.S. Constitution).

 

J

ohn Paul Stevens (b. Chicago’s Hyde Park, Illinois, Justice on the US Supreme Court

1975 – 2010); before his SCOTUS years Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1970 – 1975); he Stevens joined the SCOTUS majority in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), overruled Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) and “again allowed the use of the death penalty in the United States.” On his retirement from the court Stevens stated that the only vote he regretted was in the Gregg v. Georgia case.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (b. El Paso, Texas, 1930 -; Justice on the US Supreme Court 1981-2006), before her SCOTUS years: 23rd Chancellor of the College of William and Mary (2005 – 2012); Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals for Division One (1979 – 1981); Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court for Division (1975 – 1979); Member of the Arizona Senate (1969 – 1975); she was known for her studied independence on the high court.

 

Reflection on 

history

true merit

Not merely longevity or popularity

 

 Sources: The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography and Wikipedia

John Marshall, William O Douglas, William J Brennan Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Warren E Burger, John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O’Connor, Supreme Court of the United States, SCOTUS

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_O._Douglas
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Brennan_Jr.
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurgood_Marshall
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_E._Burger
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_Stevens
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandra_Day_O%27Connor

 

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