Republican Senators Attack Thurgood Marshall’s Judicial Philosophy! :(

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan has handled herself well today, her first full day of testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee!

But it is obvious that Republican Senators are out to condemn the judicial philosophy and reputation of the first African American to serve on the Court, Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, and serving until his retirement in 1991! 🙁

Kagan served as a law clerk under Marshall, and reveres him in an appropriate way! But, of course, conservatives hate him, as he was the lawyer in the Brown V. Board of Education case in 1954, and was an unabashed liberal on the Supreme Court! His goal was to care about the average American, not just the rich and powerful, which unfortunately is who the Republicans care about when it comes to the law! 🙁

To Republicans, “activist” conservatives such as the four on the Court now, are just fine and, of course, are NOT “activist”! 🙁

But god forbid to have “activist” liberals such as Marshall, or William Brennan, or Earl Warren, or Harry Blackmun, or Louis Brandeis on the Court, because they might actually shape the Court to do what is best for the people, rather than the corporations that this conservative Court so adores! 🙁

As the New Republic declared today, the Supreme Court desperately needs a Louis Brandeis to shape the future of constitutional law!

The question is whether Elena Kagan has the potential to do that, and how the future of the Court might be affected by an activist in the mold of Thurgood Marshall or Louis Brandeis! It seems possible that she could, indeed, fill that role! But of course, there is no way to forecast the future, but we can hope for the best!

2 comments on “Republican Senators Attack Thurgood Marshall’s Judicial Philosophy! :(

  1. William Nightingale, Jr. June 30, 2010 12:27 am

    For clarity: Should you have Capitalized “god” (5th Paragraph) to represent the God of our fathers – I Am who I Am (Exodus 3:14 – New International Version) – The One True Living God or will any old false and dead god do here Ron?

    As the author of TWILIGHT OF PROGRESSIVISM: THE WESTERN REPUBLICAN SENATORS AND THE NEW DEAL (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1981), I am astonished that you failed to mention Justice Hugo Black – in the same paragraph with “Marshall, William Brennan, Earl Warren, Harry Blackmun, or Louis Brandeis on the Court, because they might actually shape the Court to do what is best for the people, rather than the corporations that this conservative Court so adores!” After all, he does fit your Progressive View and most certainly is a vital component to the History of the US Supreme Court – Why the omission?

    Indeed, Mr. Daniel J. Meador writes about Justice Black: “Among high-ranking public officials in the United States during the 20th century, none was a more ardent admirer of Thomas Jefferson than Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black. Few, if any, looked to Jefferson for inspiration and guidance on important public issues to the extent that Black did, both as Senator and Justice. This Jeffersonian influence had two sources. One was Black’s origin and early life experiences; the other was his intense interest in reading and learning from history.” Furthermore, Mr. Michael Ariens writes: “Black, who strongly supported FDR’s court reorganization plan, was nominated by FDR to replace Van Devanter. Given senatorial courtesy, Black was confirmed nearly immediately.”

    And, what about his legacy for Jurisprudence in Judicial Restraint; Textualism and Originalism; Federalism; Civil Rights; First Amendment; Criminal Procedure; Incorporation; Due Process Clause; Voting Rights and the Equal Protection Clause? Did he not provide the overall balance to fit in your Progressive View? Surely, even you can see that (by 1953) “while all members of the Court were New Deal liberals, Black was part of the most liberal wing of the Court, together with Warren, Douglas, William Brennan, and Arthur Goldberg. They said the Court had a role beyond that of Congress”. (Lucas A. Powe, The Warren Court and American Politics 2000)

    Is Justice Black not worth your Progressive Consideration and Mention?

  2. Ronald June 30, 2010 7:36 am

    Bill, you are absolutely correct–notice I do not wish to say right LOL 🙂 I certainly could have used Hugo Black in this entry, and also could have used William O. Douglas, both great Progressives in their view of the Court.

    Let me now correct something you have written, when you say by 1953 etc etc–Arthur Goldberg was not on the Court in 1953–he was appointed in 1962, left in 1965 when LBJ asked him to go to the United Nations. This is one of the few times I could really be angry at LBJ. He deprived us of Goldberg on the Court for a generation, and one still must wonder why Goldberg allowed himself to be pushed off the Court. Is there some hidden story here? 🙂 One must wonder! 🙂

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