Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Harlan, John Marshall, II

John Marshall Harlan II served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan was the grandson of U.S. Supreme Court Justice JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN. He was a conservative voice during the WARREN COURT era, arguing for judicial restraint in the face of court decisions that changed the landscape of U.S. civil and CRIMINAL LAW.

Harlan was born May 20, 1899, in Chicago. His father, John Maynard Harlan, was a successful lawyer and reform Republican politician who served as a Chicago alderman. Harlan was educated at boarding schools in Canada and Princeton University. After graduating from Princeton in 1920, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and studied JURISPRUDENCE.

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