Thursday, July 14, 2005

Justices Who Defied Expectations

I found this and thought it was interesting enough to share,

By The Associated Press

Some of the Supreme Court justices who defied expectations of the presidents who appointed them:

_Oliver Wendell Holmes, appointed by Republican Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, sided with businesses and voted against the president in a case challenging the Sherman Antitrust Act. Roosevelt reportedly said of Holmes afterward, "Out of a banana I could carve a firmer backbone."

_Felix Frankfurter, appointed by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, became a strong advocate of judicial restraint, clashing with liberal members who sought an active court role in protecting minorities and monitoring fairness in the political process, such as legislative redistricting.

_Earl Warren, appointed by Republican Dwight Eisenhower in 1953, presided as chief justice over a court that assaulted racial segregation, outlawed school prayer and expanded individual rights against arbitrary government searches.

_William Brennan, appointed by Eisenhower in 1956, became the liberal architect of the Warren Court's decisions, and later secured majorities supporting affirmative action and overturning flag-burning laws.

_Harry Blackmun, appointed by Republican Richard Nixon in 1970, became the author of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that women had a constitutional right to an abortion and later opposed the death penalty.

_John Paul Stevens, appointed by Republican Gerald Ford in 1975, became a leader of the court's more liberal bloc in pushing a strict line between church and state, greater federal authority over states and protecting abortion rights.

_Anthony Kennedy, appointed by Republican Ronald Reagan in 1988, was a key swing vote in decisions promoting gay rights, barring prayer at school graduation and outlawing the death penalty for people who committed crimes as juveniles.

_David H. Souter, appointed by Republican George H.W. Bush in 1990, generally sides with the court's more liberal members in promoting abortion rights, upholding affirmative action and limiting use of the death penalty.

8 comments:

Scott G said...

We can only hope. For some reason, I think the Right isn't going to let someone get through who has ever thought about a liberal leaning decision though.

Unknown said...

Yes, that could end up being that way me4 but it kind of shows there have been some in history that weren't quite what was anticipated when they were picked..

:-)

Scott G said...

I think it would be hard to do. A federal judge may be a little easier to know what is goign to happen, but it would be tough to know how someone is going to act when they are the last word on the law.

Unknown said...

I see you joined in the fray at Watch Blog, good points made as always

:-)

Scott G said...

Yeah, I stopped by to check things out. I don't read as large a collecions of blogs as some others, but the ones I do read, I try to read as much of their writing as possible.

Unknown said...

I thanked you on your blog too, I appreciate your support over there since it's new for me and I'm not sure exactly how I fit in yet or if I fit in - lol

So I appreciate it very much.

:-)

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