- Brennan, William Joseph, Jr.
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▪ 1998U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. April 25, 1906, Newark, N.J.—d. July 24, 1997, Arlington, Va.), was considered the prototypical liberal interpreter of the Constitution during his tenure (1956-90) with the tribunal. Brennan was the author of some 1,350 Supreme Court decisions, second only to Justice William O. Douglas. The son of an Irish laborer and union activist, Brennan adopted his father's social vision. At Harvard Law School he studied under Felix Frankfurter (associate justice, 1939-62), who was a proponent of judicial self-restraint and with whom he came to bitterly disagree over political redistricting. After law school Brennan became a highly successful labour lawyer. In 1942 he joined the army; he was awarded the Legion of Merit for resolving labour disputes in the military. Returning to his law firm in 1946, he became an advocate of court reform. In 1949 he was appointed to the Superior Court, and he quickly advanced to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Brennan was widely praised for improving the flow of court cases, and he caught the attention of U.S. Pres. Dwight Eisenhower, who appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956. Brennan quickly rose to the occasion. In Baker v. Carr (1962), he wrote the majority opinion that the federal courts would thereafter supervise fair apportionment of legislative seats. Chief Justice Earl Warren later called this "the most vital decision" of his tenure. In the landmark 1964 ruling New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, Brennan considerably expanded the freedom of the press by ruling that public figures could collect damages for publication of false statements only if "actual malice" could be shown. In Goldberg v. Kelly (1970), Brennan broadened the right of due process by ruling that a state violates the 14th Amendment if it cuts off an individual's welfare benefits without a hearing. Citing the right to privacy, Brennan ruled in Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972) that a state could not criminalize the distribution of contraceptives to unmarried individuals. A champion of minority causes, Brennan ruled in 1979 that private affirmative action programs did not violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Though he considered the death penalty "cruel and unusual," he was never able to achieve a majority on this issue. In 1990 he authored United States v. Eichman, which held that flag burning is protected speech under the First Amendment. After suffering a stroke, he retired that same year.
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Universalium. 2010.