|
||
Name:
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Dates:
Born: November 13, 1856 in Lousiville, Kentucky
Died: October 5, 1941 in Washington, D.C.
Biography:
Louis Dembitz Brandeis was the first Jew ever to be appointed to the United States
Supreme Court and became known for his generally liberal views on matters of
individual liberty and governmental power.
Brandeis practiced law in Boston between 1879 and 1916, acquiring the popular name of the "people's attorney" because he so commonly worked for causes which were in the public interest. Brandeis was particularly interested in the development and growing power of private mass movements, like trade unions. Louis Brandeis saw them as the means by which social power in modern society might gradually be transferred from the few to the man.
Starting in 1912, Brandeis worked to support Woodrow Wilson's bid for the presidency. Brandeis might have been appointed to a cabinet level post, but he was too radical for the taste of many. While President, Wilson continued to consult Brandeis on matters like labor legislation and, when a vacancy appeared, Wilson appointed him to the position of Associate Justice on the Supreme Court in 1916. Once again, Brandeis' radical views caused problems, resulting in the strongest protest ever lodged against a Supreme Court nominee up to that time.
While on the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis often joined Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in dissenting opinions which were critical of the more conservative ideology expressed by Chief Justice Howard Taft. This position of dissent changed during the 1930s when the Court itself became more and more liberal.
Brandeis retired from the Court in 1939, but he did not retire from work completely. Until his death in 1941, he was engaged in efforts to promote and support Zionism. He had originally become a Zionist back in 1912, but during his years on the Court he refrained from pursuing private political goals.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
Related Resources:
What are Political and Legal Philosophy
The Philosophy of Politics and the Philosophy of Law are often studied separately, but they are presented here jointly because they both come back to the same thing: the study of force. Politics is the study of political force in the general community, while jurisprudence is the study of how laws can and should be used to achieve political and social goals.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
