William Joseph Brennan Jr. lived from 1906 to 1997 and was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990, the eighth-longest serving justice in the Court's history and a leader of its liberal wing. Born to Irish immigrant parents in Newark, New Jersey, he studied economics at the University of Pennsylvania, attended Harvard Law School, entered private practice in New Jersey and served in the U.S. Army during World War II, before his 1951 appointment to the Supreme Court of New Jersey; President Dwight D. Eisenhower placed him on the U.S. Supreme Court by recess appointment shortly before the 1956 election, and the Senate confirmed him the following year. On the Court he was known for outspoken progressive views, including opposition to the death penalty, on which he dissented in more than 1,400 cases in which the majority declined to review a death sentence, and support for abortion rights and gay rights, authoring landmark opinions including Baker v. Carr, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, Eisenstadt v. Baird and Craig v. Boren.
Facts
RoleAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1956-1990; eighth-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history 1 Nationality / Jurisdiction Place of Death Classification
Field of LawLabor and Employment Law 1 Role
Role (category) William J. Brennan Jr.
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Why did President Eisenhower appoint William Brennan to the Supreme Court?
Politics and religion shaped the choice: advisers wanted a Catholic Democrat to appeal to voters before the 1956 election.
Eisenhower gave Brennan a recess appointment on October 15, 1956, shortly before the presidential election. His advisers thought that naming a Catholic Democrat from the Northeast would win critical voters for the Republican president, and Cardinal Francis Spellman had asked him to appoint a Catholic. Brennan was one of two candidates who met Eisenhower's three criteria: experience on lower courts, relative youth and good health, and being a Catholic. Attorney General Herbert Brownell had also taken note of a Brennan speech that seemed to suggest a marked conservatism, especially on criminal matters. Brennan instead became an outspoken liberal who played a leading role in the Warren Court's expansion of individual rights.
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In Legal System
Source Wikidata: William J. Brennan Jr.
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Source William J. Brennan Jr. (Wikipedia)
Works Attributed
Source New York Times Co v Sullivan (Wikipedia)
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Source William J. Brennan Jr. (Wikipedia)Lead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990.
Sources
1. William J. Brennan Jr. (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationEarly life and education section, first sentence
William J. Brennan Jr. was born on April 25, 1906, in Newark, New Jersey, the second of eight children.
Later life and death section
underwent rehabilitation for the injury at a nursing home in Arlington, Virginia, where he died on July 24, 1997, at the age of 91.
Lead paragraph, first sentence
William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 - July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990.
Full article, field of law
After graduating from Harvard Law School, Brennan entered private practice in his home state of New Jersey, where he practiced labor law at the firm of Pitney Hardin (which would later become Day Pitney).
Member Of: United States Supreme Court, Introduction
William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 - July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990.
View the Source 2. Wikidata: William J. Brennan Jr.
Wikidata Q717401, P569 date of birth claim (year)
P569 (date of birth): 1906
Wikidata Q717401, P570 date of death claim (year)
P570 (date of death): 1997
- In Legal System: Law of the United States, William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906, July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate
View the SourceNew York Times Co v Sullivan (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWorks Attributed: New York Times Co v Sullivan, Article textQuote, Works Attributed: New York Times Co v Sullivan, Article text
Justice William J. Brennan Jr. authored the Court's opinion
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