CHIEF JUSTICE WARREN BURGERWarren E. Burger was born on September 17, 1907, in the heart of Minnesota. Early on in his life, he took an interest in law and history. Yet, his meager upbringing limited his ability to pursue his passions. Nevertheless, he worked his way through St. Paul College of Law, where he earned his degree in 1931. Upon graduating, he worked at a law firm with a primary focus on civil and criminal casework. It was at that time he became a proud Republican activist who helped elect President Eisenhower to the White House. In turn, President Eisenhower appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals, where his opinions attracted national attention — so much attention that President Richard Nixon appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in hopes of establishing a court that was tough on crime. When it came to criminal justice, Chief Justice Burger did not disappoint the President. He consistently issued rulings that favored law enforcement and “gave new life” to the death penalty. Scholars credit Chief Justice Burger as being responsible for many reforms and improvements in the justice process, most notably his desire for continuing education for judges and his ability to improve the relationship between federal and state courts. (1)
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JUSTICE HARRY BLACKMUNHarry Blackmun was born in 1908 in St. Paul, Minnesota. He and Chief Justice Warren Burger became friends from a young age, attending the same elementary school and participating in similar extracurriculars. After completing high school, he attended Harvard on a scholarship, where he graduated with a degree in mathematics. Blackmun intended to become a doctor but instead went to law school. Upon graduating, he clerked for Judge Sanborn of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Blackmun then joined a prestigious law firm in Minneapolis, where he worked for 16 years. He left his position at the firm when President Eisenhower appointed him the replace Judge Sanborn on the US Court of Appeals. After President Nixon took office, he was appointed to the Supreme Court to be a conservative voice. However, as his tenure went on, his rulings became increasingly liberal. He issued progressive opinions on multiple civil rights issues, but he is best known for his majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, which overturned abortion laws in the US. While he supported the death penalty at the beginning of his tenure on the court, he changed his mind by the end, calling it a failed experiment. He died in 1999.
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JUSTICE WILLIAM BRENNAN JR.William J. Brennan Jr. was born in 1906 in Newark, New Jersey. The son of Irish Immigrants, he grew up in the face of discrimination and economic hardship. His upbringing led to a profound interest in curbing the injustices of America in hopes of easing people’s suffering. He attended Harvard Law and, upon graduating, joined Pitney Harden law firm where he forced on labor law. During World War II, Brennan enlisted in the Army, performing legal work. As a veteran, the governor appointed him as a Superior Court Judge before assuming a position on the New Jersey Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Eisenhower, where he established himself as a voice of inclusivity. He led many civil rights issues through the courts and bolstered the rights of the accused. Throughout his time on the Court, he has continuously challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty. He is remembered as one of the most influential justices of the 20th century. In New Jersey, there is a courthouse named in honor of him, and his law clerks recognized him by establishing the “Brennan Center for Justice” at NYU School of Law. He died in 1997.
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JUSTICE POTTER STEWARTPotter Stewart was born on January 23, 1915, in Jackson, Michigan, to an upper-class family. He earned his law degree from Yale Law School and became a lawyer in 1941. Soon after, Stewart served in the US Navy during World War II. As a veteran, he set up a law practice in Cincinnati and entered the public sphere as a member of the city council and as vice mayor. About a decade later, President Eisenhower appointed him to the Court of Appeals for the sixth district. Only a few years later, President Eisenhower promoted him to the Supreme Court. He was only 43 years old at the time — one of the youngest people to ever serve on the Court. Unlike some of his colleagues, he was neither an established progressive nor conservative. Though he tended to vote with the conservative bloc, he was a key swing vote. In the area of civil rights advances, he generally favored the individual over the state. When it came to the death penalty, he was in favor of a formal procedure to curb its arbitrary nature. He died in 1985 in New Hampshire.
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JUSTICE THURGOOD MARSHALLThurgood Marshall was born in 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. From a young age, Marshall attended court proceedings with his father in his free time. As an African American, he was forced to go to an all-black school. He attended the University of Oxford, Pennsylvania — which at the time was considered the “black counterpart” to Princeton. He was denied from the University of Maryland School of Law because he was black, so he instead attended Howard University. There, his mentors introduced him to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He graduated as valedictorian and set up a law firm in Baltimore. His firm focused on police brutality and harsh landlords. Soon, he started volunteering for the NAACP and eventually worked as an attorney for the organization. It took little time before Marshall became the “face of the NAACP.” During his time as an NAACP attorney, he argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, most notably Brown v Board of Education, which ruled segregation unconstitutional. Eventually, President Kennedy took note of Marshall as a progressive voice and appointed him to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in NYC. He served two years before the President appointed him to the Supreme Court - becoming the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. On the Court, he proved to be a voice of judicial activism. Marshall challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty, no matter the circumstance. As the Court became more conservative, Marshall had less influence on the Court, but he remained an activist until the day he died in 1993.
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JUSTICE WILLIAM DOUGLASWilliam O. Douglas was born in 1898 in Maine, Minnesota. His father died when he was young, causing him to grow up in a financially unstable home. Nevertheless, Douglas proved himself as a dedicated scholar, and he graduated as valedictorian. He attended Witman College on a full scholarship, where he continued to struggle financially. In an attempt to get out of poverty, Douglas attended Columbia Law School and earned money through a tutoring service he offered to high schoolers in the area. Upon graduation, he accepted a position at a prestigious law firm on Wall Street. After a few years, Douglas became a law professor at Columbia Law School. However, in Lou of the Great Depression, he abandoned his position as a professor to advocate for President FDR’s New Deal Program. He soon became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. President Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court two years later. He established himself as a staunch advocate for civil liberties and individual rights. Douglas did not wholly challenge the constitutionality of the death penalty, but instead took issue with unguided jury discretion. He died in early 1980 after serving the longest tenure in Supreme Court History.
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JUSTICE LEWIS POWELL JR.Lewis F. Powell Jr. was born in 1907 in Suffolk, Virginia. His educational path was not traditional, as he studied with an elderly lady in her home. By the fourth grade, he transferred to a conventional school, where he took his academics seriously. He has a passion for the law throughout his entire life and continued his higher education at Washington and Lee and Harvard. Upon graduation, he worked at Hunton, Williams, Anderson, Gay & Moore — a leading firm at the time. He, like many of his colleagues, served in the military. As a veteran, he established himself as a businessman who often spoke out on controversial civil rights issues; this led to his appointment as president of the American Bar Association. As president, he reformed legal ethics and expanded legal services for the poor. In 1972, President Nixon appointed him to the Supreme Court. Powell viewed his position as a one rooted in tradition rather than in change. Yet, he provided many moderate rulings throughout his tenure on the Court. Powell voted to uphold the constitutionality of the death penalty while on the Court. However, later in his career, he came to change his opinion, arguing the death penalty served no useful purpose. He died in 1998.
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JUSTICE BYRON WHITEByron White was born in 1917 in a small town called Fort Collins in Colorado. As a young academic, White excelled. He graduated as valedictorian with an athletic scholarship to the University of Colorado at Boulder. Following his graduation, the NFL drafted him, and White played one season as a Pittsburgh Pirate. After leaving the NFL, he attended Yale Law School and served in the Navy during World War II. Following the war, he obtained his degree before moving to Washington D.C, where he clerked for Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson. Not only did he help with President John F. Kennedy’s campaign, but he served as the Deputy Attorney General under his administration. Two years later, he was appointed to the Supreme Court by the President. His judicial philosophy was not ideological. Instead, he ruled on a case-by-case basis after thoroughly examining the facts of each case. His opinion on the death penalty was based on his interpretation of the Eighth Amendment: he believed each punishment must be proportional to the severity of the crime. After 31 years of service, he retired in Colorado, where he passed at age 84.
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JUSTICE WILLIAM REHNQUISTWilliam Rehnquist was born in 1924 in a wealthy Milwaukee suburb. As a young adult, he joined the military and served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. As a veteran, he attended Stanford University, where he majored in political science. He continued his academics at Harvard, where he obtained a master's in government. At the time, he already established himself as a staunch conservative, which provided him multiple prestigious opportunities such as a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson. Later on in his career, President Nixon appointed him to serve as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Affairs. Two years later, the president appointed him to the Supreme Court, where he first served as an Associate Justice before replacing Chief Justice Warren Burger upon his retirement. His judicial philosophy was based in conservative ideals and strict separation of federal and state power. He felt that many civil rights issues lay in the hands of the state, not the federal courts. He was an advocate for the death penalty, voting to reinstate it following the Furman decision. Thought his time on the courts, he exercised judicial restraint and was known as, "." He died from cancer at age 80.
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