John Marshall Harlan was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called the Great Dissenter due to his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, including Plessy v. Ferguson, and was the sole dissenter in both the Civil Rights Cases (1883) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which permitted state and private actors to engage in racial segregation. He also dissented in Lochner v. New York (1905), which invalidated a state law setting maximum working hours on the basis of substantive due process. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
RoleAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1877-1911) 2 Nationality / Jurisdiction BirthplaceBoyle County, Kentucky, U.S. 2 Place of Death Classification
Field of Law Role
Role (category) FAQs
Why is John Marshall Harlan called the Great Dissenter?
He wrote many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, and many of those views were later adopted by the Court.
Harlan served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" because of his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, including the Civil Rights Cases, Plessy v. Ferguson and Giles v. Harris. Many of the views in his notable dissents became the official view of the Supreme Court starting from the 1950s Warren Court onward.
What did Harlan write in his dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson?
He was the lone dissenter and wrote that "our Constitution is color-blind".
In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the majority established the doctrine of "separate but equal". Harlan was the lone dissenting justice. He wrote that the judgement would in time prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision in the Dred Scott Case, and that "our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens." He argued that the law was "cunningly devised" to exclude colored people from coaches assigned to white persons and to overturn the results of the Civil War.
Connections
In Legal System
Source Wikidata: John Marshall Harlan
Long-Form Articles
Member Of
Source John Marshall Harlan (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source John Marshall Harlan (Wikipedia)Lead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 – October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911.
Sources
1. John Marshall Harlan (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFull article, field of lawQuote, Full article, field of law
He ultimately decided to remain on the Court, but supplemented his income by teaching constitutional law at the Columbian Law School, which later became the George Washington University Law School.
2. John Marshall Harlan (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, opening sentence
John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833 - October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911.
Lead section, birth date
June 1, 1833
Lead section, death date
October 14, 1911
Infobox, personal details
October 14, 1911(1911-10-14) (aged 78) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Lead section, nickname sentence
is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties
- Member Of: United States Supreme Court, lead states served as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911
View the Source Wikidata: John Marshall Harlan
Wikidata Q1700972 self-citation (QID resolved for a previously unsourced jurist)
P31 (instance of): human; QID resolved and verified for this jurist (John Marshall Harlan)
- In Legal System: Law of the United States, John Marshall Harlan (June 1, 1833, October 14, 1911) was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate
View the SourceReader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.