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Revisiting Erie, Guaranty Trust, And Gasperini: The Role Of Jewish Social History In Fashioning Modern American Federalism, Daniel R. Gordon

Seattle University Law Review

This article explores the connection between traditional Jewish localism and the creation of modern American federalism that flows from the Erie doctrine. First, the riddle of Gasperiniis explored. Next, the federalist philosophies of Justices Brandeis and Frankfurter in Erie and Guaranty Trust are discussed. Finally, the article analyzes how Justices Brandeis, Frankfurter, and Ginsburg, as twentieth century American Jews, embody the traditional Jewish minority experience that, at least in part, was informed by anti-Semitism.