Earl Warren
From Conservapedia
Earl Warren, (1891-1974) was an American judge, best known for his role as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969.
Contents |
Early Professional Life
Prior to serving on the Court, Warren was a prosecutor and politician. As governor of California, Warren had supervised the World War II Japanese internments discussed in the famous Korematsu v. U.S. case. In 1948, Warren was the Republican Vice Presidential nominee. President Dwight Eisenhower appointed Warren to the Supreme Court as a political favor in recognition of Warren’s support at the 1952 Republican convention and his stature in the GOP. Years later Eisenhower stated that he regretted ever appointing Earl Warren. [1]
Brown v. Board of Education
Warren acceded to the position of Chief Justice while Brown v. Board of Education was being reargued at the behest of Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, who ordered re-argument as a stalling tactic, to allow the Justice to gather a unanimous consensus around a liberal Brown opinion that would outlaw segregation. Associate Justice Vinson was one such stumbling block.
Warren convened a meeting of the associate justices, and presented to them the simple argument that the only reason to sustain segregation was an honest belief in the inferiority of African Americans. Warren further submitted that the Court must overrule Plessy to maintain its legitimacy as an institution of liberty, and it must do so unanimously to avoid massive Southern resistance. He began to build a unanimous opinion.
Although many justices were convinced, Warren spent some time after this famous speech convincing two holdouts for segregation to sign onto the opinion. The first holdout, Justice Vinson, died during this initiative. The second finally decided to drop his dissent to what was by then a moderate opinion backed by the remaining six justices.
Liberals consider Warren's final opinion a political masterwork, not just for his political gamesmanship, but for his general writing, making use of dubious social science research to draw legal conclusions, and laying the groundwork for forced racial busing.
The Warren Court, Continued
Chief Justice Warren authored a number of other cases, such as the case defining American citizens' Miranda rights. He was a judicial supremacist, and succeeded in asserting court power beyond what had previously been accepted.
References
Brest, Levinson, et al, "Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, Cases & Materials, 5th Ed.," pp 898-950.
