Brennan, William J., Jr. 1906-1993

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

Legal Reformer.

Appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956 as a legal reformer by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, William J. Brennan, Jr. became over the next two decades the leading liberal on the court.

Background.

Brennan began his judicial career in 1950, when he was appointed to the Superior Court of New Jersey. In 1952 he was promoted to the New Jersey Supreme Court. His decisions on that court show his zeal to reform court procedure in order to reduce unfair delays. They also reflect Brennan's interest in the real people whose difficulties are often overlooked by appellate judges grappling with the abstract principles presented by their cases. When Justice Sherman Minton announced his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1956, Eisenhower chose Brennan as his replacement despite the fact that Brennan was a Democrat. Brennan took his seat on 16 October 1956 during a...

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