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The Brandeis Brief, Marion E. Doro

Vanderbilt Law Review

On February 13, 1939, Louis D. Brandeis wrote the following note to his Chief Executive:

Dear Mr. President:Pursuant to the Act of March 1, 1937, I retire this day from regular service on the bench. Cordially, Louis D. Brandeis

With this brief, laconic statement, he ended twenty-three years on the Supreme Court of the United States at the age of eighty-two. In frail health, but still retaining the intellectual vigor he displayed all his life, he stepped down from the bench to make way for a younger member. This act in itself was characteristic of Brandeis; his respect for the …