Favorite SC Justice in US History?

[MortSahlFan]

William O. Douglas... Of course, he'd be considered too much of a partisan liberal today who never shied away from Vietnam, wasn't afraid to grant a temporary stay of execution for the Rosenbergs, and even said that trees had rights, "Trees have standing" was a clever way of putting it. Very clever and witty man.

I don't know anyone who can stand all the non-answers during the confirmation process, but the second they are, they become activist judges. Like in the 2000 election when the American people spoke. All 5 of them!

[marybourg]

1. He'd be denounced for sexual harrassment and abuse today.

Standards have changed.

[sharedvalues]

2. Louis Brandeis!

Thurgood Marshall.

There are some good candidates

[unblock]

3. not sure i have one specific favorite, but earl warren is certainly near the top of the list.

[BootinUp]

10. My pop is a huge Warren fan. Nt

[unblock]

4. i wonder how much television has changed the confirmation process.

sure, there was always print media, but i don't know how much coverage confirmation hearings got back then.

i suspect they weren't nearly as dramatic as some of the recent ones have been.

[MortSahlFan]

13. You bring up something important

TV has made EVERYTHING (politics, art, etc) into a show. Artificial and superficial.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

5. Justice Learned Hand

I can't remember many of his decisions I learned in law school, but I remember thinking it was a great name for a jurist.

[sl8]

8. Very influential, but not a Supreme Court justice. n/ t

[ADX]

6. Thurgood Marshall...

...hands down...

[Hermit-The-Prog]

14. ditto!

[jalan48]

16. +1

[StevieM]

7. I really love Sonia Sotomayer. Louis Brandeis and Thurgood Marshall were also pretty great. (eom)

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

9. RBG... not even close!!

[MrsCoffee]

11. RBG.

[PCIntern]

12. Branseis

Basically created the Right to Privacy

[Celerity]

15. 'I love the peace, but I adore a riot.'

[First Speaker]

17. John Harlan...

...the ex-slaveholder who, in 1896, was the only justice who dissented from the loathsome Plessy decision, which gave us 60 years of Constitutionally-sanctioned segregation. He was the only one who said openly that the Constitution was color blind, and didn't sanction bigotry. If you read the majority opinions in that case, you will be amazed by the sheer fatuity of them. No one should have been convinced by their "arguments" for a second. To his eternal credit, Harlan wasn't.

[lastlib]

18. Douglas would be my favorite.

Warren, Oliver W. Holmes & Brandeis, CJ John Marshall would be next at the top.

Bottom would be CJ Taney, Rehnquist, Burger, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Scalia, Alito, and the pre-FDR bunch.

[Danmel]

19. William Brennan

And Thurgood Marshall.
Preferably together.

[Iterate]

20. Honorable mention to one of the worst, Chief Justice Fred Vinson,

who had the good sense to suddenly die of a heart attack in 1953, which allowed Justice Earl Warren to take his seat, and in turn removed the last impediment to a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board. Warren was was able to convince the remaining opposition to drop their dissent opinion.

Not exactly a Profile in Courage, but we can take victories where we find them.