Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

A Sketch Of John Marshall Harlan's Pre-Court Career, David G. Farrelly

Vanderbilt Law Review

Like other men before and after his time, John Marshall Harlan of Kentucky left his imprint on the law. Nearly 34 years on the Supreme Court of the United States gave Harlan ample opportunity to express his opinions on a host of legal questions. Sitting on the high bench as he did from 1877 to 1911, public problems passed before him for review in the form of litigation. During that post-Civil War period as today there was discrimination against the Negro in American society. Despite the constitutional guaranties of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, Negroes were not accorded the …