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95-488: Notable members include Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan , Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick , activist and First Lady Michelle Obama , Attorney General Loretta Lynch , Berkshire Hathaway 's Charlie Munger and law professors Erwin Chemerinsky and Laurence Tribe . The bureau is composed of approximately fifty second- and third-year student attorneys at Harvard Law School who provide free legal services to

190-537: A Bachelor of Laws , magna cum laude , among the top of the class. During his time at Harvard, Scalia was awarded a Sheldon Fellowship, which allowed him to travel abroad in Europe during 1960 and 1961. Scalia began his legal career at the law firm Jones, Day, Cockley and Reavis (now Jones Day ) in Cleveland, Ohio , where he worked from 1961 to 1967. He was highly regarded at the law firm and would most likely have been made

285-508: A Jesuit military school in Manhattan , from which he graduated ranked first in his class in 1953. Scalia achieved a 97.5 average at Xavier, earning decorations in Latin , Greek , and debate , among other subjects, in addition to being a distinguished member of its Glee club . He later reflected that he spent much of his time on schoolwork and admitted, "I was never cool." While a youth, Scalia

380-408: A Republican . Cardinal Francis Spellman had asked Eisenhower to appoint a Catholic to the court. Brennan was one of two candidates who met Eisenhower's three criteria: experience on lower courts; relative youth and good health; and a Catholic. Brennan gained the attention of Herbert Brownell , United States Attorney General and Eisenhower's chief legal affairs adviser, when Brennan had to give

475-474: A "jurisprudence of original intention" as "arrogance cloaked as humility" and advocated reading the U.S. Constitution to protect rights of "human dignity". Brennan was also less interested in stare decisis or the avoidance of "absolutist" positions where the death penalty was concerned, as he believed that the deliberate taking of human life by the state, as a punishment, was inherently cruel and unusual. Brennan and Thurgood Marshall , Brennan's closest ally in

570-594: A Supreme Court justice. An outspoken liberal throughout his career, he played a leading role in the Warren Court's expansion of individual rights. Brennan played a behind-the-scenes role during the Warren Court, coaxing more conservative colleagues to join the Court's decisions. Brennan's opinions with respect to voting ( Baker v. Carr ), criminal proceedings ( Malloy v. Hogan ), the free speech and establishment clauses of

665-502: A case which the Court did take which failed to vacate a sentence of death. Brennan also authored a dissent from the denial of certiorari in Glass v. Louisiana . In Glass , the Court chose not to hear a case that challenged the constitutionality of the use of the electric chair as a form of execution. Brennan wrote: Th[e] evidence suggests that death by electrical current is extremely violent and inflicts pain and indignities far beyond

760-696: A cause of action under the Federal Tort Claims Act ). During the same period, Brennan began to adopt and promote a coherent and expansive vision of personal jurisdiction . He authored the sole dissent in Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, S. A. v. Hall , defining minimum contacts very broadly for the purposes of general jurisdiction , and influential dissents and partial concurrences in World-Wide Volkswagen Corp. v. Woodson and Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court on

855-645: A champion collegiate debater in Georgetown's Philodemic Society and a critically praised thespian. He took his junior year abroad in Switzerland at the University of Fribourg . Scalia graduated from Georgetown in 1957 as class valedictorian with a Bachelor of Arts , summa cum laude . Scalia then went to Harvard Law School , where he was a notes editor for the Harvard Law Review . He graduated in 1960 with

950-615: A citizen such as Hamdi held in the United States as an enemy combatant the right to contest that detention before a neutral decision maker. Scalia opined that the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists) could not be read to suspend habeas corpus and that the Court, faced with legislation by Congress that did not grant the president power to detain Hamdi, was trying to "Make Everything Come Out Right". In March 2006, Scalia gave

1045-557: A diverse population of low-income clients in the Greater Boston area. It is Boston's second largest legal services provider. Members of the bureau practice under Rule 3:03 of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court , which allows them to appear in court as counsel of record for low-income clients. The bureau currently employs nine practicing attorneys who train and supervise members. Bureau members practice in

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1140-487: A fellow judge on the DC Circuit. Feeling that this might well be Reagan's last opportunity to pick a Supreme Court justice, the president and his advisers chose Scalia over Bork. Many factors influenced the decision. Reagan wanted to appoint the first Italian-American justice. In addition, Scalia was nine years younger and would likely serve longer on the Court. Scalia also had the advantage of not having Bork's "paper trail";

1235-666: A judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Four years later, Reagan appointed him to the Supreme Court, where Scalia became its first Italian-American justice following a unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate 98–0. Scalia espoused a conservative jurisprudence and ideology, advocating textualism in statutory interpretation and originalism in constitutional interpretation . He peppered his colleagues with "Ninograms" (memos named for his nickname, " Nino ") intending to persuade them to his point of view. He

1330-518: A judgeship on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in early 1982 but declined it, hoping to be appointed to the more influential U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . Later that year, Reagan offered Scalia a seat on the D.C. Circuit, which he accepted. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 5, 1982, and was sworn in on August 17, 1982. On

1425-520: A law professor at the University of Virginia . In the early 1970s, he served in the Nixon and Ford administrations, eventually becoming an assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford . He spent most of the Carter years teaching at the University of Chicago , where he became one of the first faculty advisers of the fledgling Federalist Society . In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Scalia as

1520-556: A leading Supreme Court prospect". In 1986, Chief Justice Warren Burger informed the White House of his intent to retire. Reagan first decided to nominate Associate Justice William Rehnquist to become Chief Justice. That choice meant that Reagan would also have to choose a nominee to fill Rehnquist's seat as associate justice. Attorney General Edwin Meese , who advised Reagan on the choice, seriously considered only Scalia and Robert Bork ,

1615-479: A more debilitating stroke if he kept working. Throughout retirement, Brennan maintained a friendly relationship with his successor, David Souter . In 1995, the Brennan Center for Justice opened at New York University , a research institute created at the initiative of several of Brennan's former clerks, and named in his honor. In November 1996, Brennan fell and broke his hip, and underwent rehabilitation for

1710-517: A partner but later said he had long intended to teach. He left Jones Day in 1967 to become a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law , moving his family to Charlottesville . After four years in Charlottesville, Scalia entered public service in 1971. President Richard Nixon appointed him general counsel for the Office of Telecommunications Policy , where one of his principal assignments

1805-645: A plaintiff has a cause of action for money damages (compensatory and punitive) arising solely out of an alleged violation of the Bill of Rights. In Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents , Brennan so held with respect to the Unreasonable Search and Seizure clause of the Fourth Amendment . In Davis v. Passman , Brennan extended this rationale to the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of

1900-459: A presidential veto for a bill to amend the Freedom of Information Act , which would greatly increase the act's scope. Scalia's view prevailed, and Ford vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode it. In early 1976, Scalia argued his only case before the Supreme Court, Alfred Dunhill of London, Inc. v. Republic of Cuba . Scalia, on behalf of the U.S. government, argued in support of Dunhill, and that position

1995-417: A second battle over Scalia and were in any event reluctant to oppose the first Italian-American Supreme Court nominee. The judge was not pressed heavily on controversial issues such as abortion or civil rights. Scalia, who attended the hearing with his wife and nine children seated behind him, found time for a humorous exchange with Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-OH), whom he had defeated in a tennis match in, as

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2090-467: A short office memo stating, "Mary Fowler and I were married yesterday and we have gone to Bermuda ." Brennan strongly believed in the Bill of Rights, arguing early on in his career that it should be applied to the states in addition to the federal government. He often took positions in favor of individual rights against the state, favoring criminal defendants, minorities, the poor, and other underrepresented groups. Furthermore, he generally shied away from

2185-467: A speech at a conference (as a substitute for New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Arthur Vanderbilt ). To Brownell, Brennan's speech seemed to suggest a marked conservatism, especially on criminal matters. His nomination , formally submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 14, 1957, faced a small amount of controversy from two angles. The National Liberal League opposed

2280-628: A talk at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. When asked about detainee rights, he responded: "Give me a break ... I had a son on that battlefield and they were shooting at my son, and I'm not about to give this man who was captured in a war a full jury trial. I mean it's crazy". Although Scalia was not referring to any particular individual, the Supreme Court was about to consider the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan , supposed driver to Osama bin Laden , who

2375-679: Is "nothing less than the contemporary technological equivalent of burning people at the stake." Brennan voted with the majority in Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion nationally and helped craft the decision. Brennan wrote the majority opinion in Roth v. United States which set new standards for obscenity laws, allowing some prosecutions, but drastically loosening the laws overall. He later reversed his position in dissent in Miller v. California arguing that obscenity laws were unconstitutional. Although Brennan joined

2470-483: Is an expansion of the jurisdiction of state courts, particularly over corporations; state courts are typically more sympathetic to small, weak plaintiffs than to large, powerful corporate defendants. In this process, he frequently clashed with Justice Scalia over this issue, and uncharacteristically dissented from Justice Marshall's majority opinion on the subject in Shaffer v. Heitner . In his penultimate and final terms on

2565-524: The Equal Protection Clause . Brennan supported gay rights . In a dissent from a denial of certiorari in 1985 involving a lesbian teacher fired for her sexual orientation, Brennan publicly criticized homophobia , writing "Homosexuals have historically been the object of deep and sustained pernicious hostility, and it is fair to say that discrimination against homosexuals is likely to reflect deep-seated prejudice rather than rationality." He joined

2660-641: The Fifth Amendment , in a suit for gender discrimination in employment against a former Congressman (Congressional staffers were explicitly excluded from Title VII of the Civil Rights Act ). In Carlson v. Green , Brennan extended this rationale again to the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment , in a suit by the estate of a deceased federal prisoner (even though the plaintiff also had

2755-570: The First Amendment ( Roth v. United States ), and civil rights ( Green v. County School Board of New Kent County ) were some of the most important opinions of the Warren Era. Brennan's role in expanding free speech rights under the First Amendment is particularly notable, as he wrote the Court's opinion in 1964's New York Times Co. v. Sullivan , which created constitutional restrictions on

2850-797: The Freedom Medal . On November 30, 1993, President Bill Clinton presented Brennan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom . Upon his death, Brennan lay in repose in the Great Hall of the United States Supreme Court Building . Years after his death, in 2010, Brennan was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame and William J. Brennan High School was founded in San Antonio, Texas, honoring him. Brennan Park across from

2945-602: The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018, and the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University was named in his honor. Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey . A devout Catholic , he attended the Jesuit Xavier High School before receiving his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University . Scalia went on to graduate from Harvard Law School and spent six years at Jones Day before becoming

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3040-530: The Sixth Amendment ) and District of Columbia v. Heller (holding that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees an individual right to handgun ownership). Defunct Newspapers Journals TV channels Websites Other Economics Gun rights Identity politics Nativist Religion Watchdog groups Youth/student groups Miscellaneous Other Scalia

3135-578: The University of Notre Dame , considered the most prestigious award for American Catholics . In 1987, Brennan received the U.S. Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards . In 1989, the historic Hudson County Courthouse in Jersey City, New Jersey , which had opened in 1910, was renamed the William J. Brennan Court House in his honor and, in that same year, he received

3230-527: The University of Pennsylvania and then attended Harvard Law School . He entered private legal practice in New Jersey and served in the U.S. Army during World War II . He was appointed in 1951 to the Supreme Court of New Jersey . Shortly before the 1956 presidential election , President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a recess appointment to place Brennan on the Supreme Court. Brennan won Senate confirmation

3325-729: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania , where he graduated cum laude with a degree in economics in 1928. While there, he joined Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Brennan graduated from Harvard Law School near the top of his class in 1931 and was a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau . When he was 21, Brennan married Marjorie Leonard, whom he had met in high school. They eventually had three children: William III, Nancy, and Hugh. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Brennan entered private practice in his home state of New Jersey , where he practiced labor law at

3420-565: The jurisdiction-stripping Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. In federalism cases pitting the powers of the federal government against those of the states, Scalia often took the states' positions. In 1997, the Supreme Court considered the case of Printz v. United States , a challenge to certain provisions of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act , which required chief law enforcement officers of localities in states to perform certain duties. In Printz , Scalia wrote

3515-521: The negative Commerce Clause doctrine, calling it "a judicial fraud". Scalia took a broad view of the Eleventh Amendment , which bars certain lawsuits against states in the federal courts. In his 1989 dissent in Pennsylvania v. Union Gas Co. , Scalia stated that there was no intent on the part of the framers to have the states surrender any sovereign immunity and that the case that provoked

3610-585: The "mere extinguishment of life". Witnesses routinely report that, when the switch is thrown, the condemned prisoner "cringes," "leaps," and "fights the straps with amazing strength." "The hands turn red, then white, and the cords of the neck stand out like steel bands." The prisoner's limbs, fingers, toes, and face are severely contorted. The force of the electrical current is so powerful that the prisoner's eyeballs sometimes pop out and "rest on [his] cheeks." The prisoner often defecates, urinates, and vomits blood and drool. Brennan concluded by stating that electrocution

3705-517: The 1989 case of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services but was not successful in doing so. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor cast the deciding vote, allowing the abortion regulations at issue in the case to stand but not overruling Roe . Scalia concurred only in part, writing, "Justice O'Connor's assertion, that a 'fundamental rule of judicial restraint' requires us to avoid reconsidering Roe cannot be taken seriously". He noted, "We can now look forward to at least another Term of carts full of mail from

3800-500: The 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey , Scalia wrote: The States may, if they wish, permit abortion on demand, but the Constitution does not require them to do so. The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting. "We can now look forward to at least another Term with carts full of mail from

3895-644: The Canadian government to write a report on how the United States was able to limit the activities of its secret services for the McDonald Commission , which was investigating abuses by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . The report—finished in 1979—encouraged the commission to recommend that a balance be struck between civil liberties and the essentially unchecked activities of the RCMP. In 1981, he became

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3990-519: The Commerce Clause, together with the Necessary and Proper Clause , permitted the regulation. In addition, Scalia felt that Congress may regulate intrastate activities if doing so is a necessary part of a more general regulation of interstate commerce. He based that decision on Wickard v. Filburn , which he now wrote "expanded the Commerce Clause beyond all reason". Scalia rejected the existence of

4085-487: The Court upheld a federal statute banning partial-birth abortion in Gonzales v. Carhart . University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey R. Stone , a former colleague of Scalia's, criticized Gonzales , stating that religion had influenced the outcome because all five justices in the majority were Catholic, whereas the dissenters were Protestant or Jewish. This angered Scalia to such an extent that he stated he would not speak at

4180-579: The Court's majority decision. The Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the provision that imposed those duties as violating the Tenth Amendment , which reserves to the states and to the people those powers not granted to the federal government. In 2005, Scalia concurred in Gonzales v. Raich , which read the Commerce Clause to hold that Congress could ban the use of marijuana even when states approve its use for medicinal purposes . Scalia opined that

4275-455: The Court, concluded in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was, in all circumstances, unconstitutional, and never accepted the legitimacy of Gregg v. Georgia , which ruled that the death penalty was constitutional four years later. Thereafter, Brennan or Marshall took turns, joined by the other, in issuing a dissent in every denial of certiorari in a capital case, and from every decision in

4370-561: The Court, he wrote the controversial rulings for Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman , respectively. In both cases, the Court held that the First Amendment protects desecration of the United States flag. Brennan's wife Marjorie died in December 1982. Slightly more than three months later, in March 1983 at age 76, he married Mary Fowler, who had served as his secretary for 26 years. Brennan's colleagues learned of his second marriage via

4465-410: The D.C. Circuit, Scalia built a conservative record while winning applause in legal circles for powerful, witty legal writing which was often critical of the Supreme Court precedents he felt bound as a lower-court judge to follow. Scalia's opinions drew the attention of Reagan administration officials, who, according to The New York Times , "liked virtually everything they saw and ... listed him as

4560-574: The Eleventh Amendment, Chisholm v. Georgia , came as a surprise to them. Professor Ralph Rossum, who wrote a survey of Scalia's constitutional views, suggests that the justice's view of the Eleventh Amendment was actually contradictory to the language of the Amendment. Scalia argued that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that if the people desire legalized abortion, a law should be passed to accomplish it. In his dissenting opinion in

4655-594: The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau include: William J. Brennan William Joseph Brennan Jr. (April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1956 to 1990. He was the seventh-longest serving justice in Supreme Court history , and was known for being a leader of the Court's liberal wing. Born in Newark to Irish immigrant parents, Brennan studied economics at

4750-469: The Supreme Court, which struck down the law as violating the Presentment Clause of the Constitution, which governs what the president is permitted to do with a bill once it has passed both houses of Congress. Scalia dissented, seeing no Presentment Clause difficulties and feeling that the act did not violate the separation of powers. He argued that authorizing the president to cancel an appropriation

4845-476: The University of Chicago as long as Stone was there. Scalia generally voted to strike down laws that make distinctions by race, gender, or sexual orientation. In 1989, he concurred with the Court's judgment in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. , in which the Court applied strict scrutiny to a city program requiring a certain percentage of contracts to go to minorities, and struck down the program. Scalia did not join

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4940-403: The absolutist liberal positions of Justices Hugo Black and William O. Douglas , being very amenable to compromise in order to win a majority of Justices. Brennan's conservative detractors charged that he was a purveyor of judicial activism , accusing him of deciding outcomes before coming up with a legal rationale for them. At his retirement, Brennan said the case he thought was most important

5035-417: The apportionment of legislative districts is a justiciable issue ; New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), which required "actual malice" in libel suits brought by public officials; Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972), which established a legal right to contraception for unmarried people and helped solidify the sexual revolution ; and Craig v. Boren (1976) which established that laws which discriminate on

5130-520: The ascension of the most conservative member of the court, William Rehnquist , to the position of Chief Justice, following the retirement of Warren Burger , Brennan found himself more frequently isolated. At times, his opinions would be joined only by Thurgood Marshall since, by 1975, they were the last remaining liberals of the Warren Court . That like-mindedness led to both Brennan and Marshall's clerks referring to them as "Justice Brennan-Marshall" in

5225-399: The authority to hear cases involving people there. Scalia, joined by Justice John Paul Stevens , also dissented in the 2004 case of Hamdi v. Rumsfeld , involving Yaser Hamdi , an American citizen detained in the United States on the allegation he was an enemy combatant . The Court held that although Congress had authorized Hamdi's detention, Fifth Amendment due process guarantees giving

5320-484: The basis of sex are subject to heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause . Due to his ability to shape a wide variety of opinions and bargain for votes in many cases, he was considered to be among the Court's most influential members. Justice Antonin Scalia called Brennan "probably the most influential Justice of the [20th] century." William J. Brennan Jr. was born on April 25, 1906, in Newark, New Jersey ,

5415-562: The basis of the Constitution and not on Church law, he was confirmed by a near-unanimous vote, with only Senator McCarthy voting against him. Other factors playing into Brennan's appointment were his status as a state court judge – no state judge had been appointed to the High Court since Benjamin N. Cardozo in 1932 – and Eisenhower's desire to appear bipartisan after his appointments of two Republicans: Earl Warren (former Governor of California) and John Marshall Harlan II . Brennan filled

5510-497: The dissent in Bowers v. Hardwick , which allowed states to prosecute consensual homosexual sodomy, a decision which the Court announced in June 1986. He is regarded as one of the most liberal justices in the history of the court. Brennan's retirement in 1990 was precipitated by a mild stroke. While he initially intended to continue serving, his doctors told him that he would be at risk of

5605-620: The elder judge had written controversial articles about individual rights. Scalia was called to the White House and accepted Reagan's nomination. When Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Scalia's nomination opened in August 1986, he faced a committee that had just argued divisively over the Rehnquist nomination. Witnesses and Democratic senators contended that before becoming a judge, Rehnquist had engaged in activities designed to discourage minorities from voting. Committee members had little taste for

5700-545: The face of the court's heavy conservative opposition to the two. Brennan declared in Furman that he believed the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual" punishment, and for his remaining years on the bench, he and Marshall dissented from every case upholding the imposition of the death penalty. He was able to convince no other justice of this view, but Justice Harry Blackmun would eventually agree in 1994, after Brennan's retirement. Brennan authored three Supreme Court opinions holding that

5795-439: The field of Law and Economics and one of the most influential legal scholars in the United States. On the less liberal Burger Court, Brennan was a staunch opponent of the death penalty and a supporter of abortion rights and joined the majority in landmark rulings on both issues ( Furman v. Georgia (1972) on the death penalty and Roe v. Wade (1973) on abortion). With the departure of moderate Potter Stewart in 1981,

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5890-434: The firm of Pitney Hardin (which would later become Day Pitney ). During World War II, Brennan was commissioned in the Army as a major in March 1942, and left as a colonel in 1945. He did legal work for the ordnance division. In 1949, Brennan was appointed to the Superior Court (a trial court ) by Governor of New Jersey Alfred E. Driscoll . In 1951, Driscoll appointed him to the Supreme Court of New Jersey . Brennan

5985-407: The first faculty adviser for the University of Chicago's chapter of the newly founded Federalist Society . When Ronald Reagan was elected president in November 1980, Scalia hoped for a major position in the new administration. He was interviewed for the position of solicitor general of the United States , but the position went to Rex E. Lee , to Scalia's great disappointment. Scalia was offered

6080-403: The following general practice areas: housing law, family law, government benefits, and employment law. Students usually focus primarily on housing or family law. Within these practices, students work on matters such as eviction defense, domestic violence, child custody and support, divorce, social security benefits, wage and hour violations, and employment discrimination cases. Prominent alumni of

6175-490: The following year. He remained on the Court until his retirement in 1990, and was succeeded by David Souter . On the Supreme Court, Brennan was known for his outspoken progressive views, including opposition to the death penalty as he dissented in more than 1,400 cases in which the Supreme Court refused to review a death sentence, and support for abortion rights and gay rights . He authored numerous landmark case opinions, including: Baker v. Carr (1962), establishing that

6270-447: The historic Essex County Veterans Courthouse in Newark, New Jersey , was named in Brennan's honor and a statue of him was erected in front of the Essex County Hall of Records by historian Guy Sterling . Antonin Scalia Antonin Gregory Scalia (March 11, 1936 – February 13, 2016) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1986 until his death in 2016. He

6365-415: The injury at a nursing home in Arlington, Virginia , where he died on July 24, 1997, at the age of 91. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery , beside his first wife and near the gravesites of other Supreme Court justices. As a result of his long and distinguished career on the United States Supreme Court, Brennan was honored with many different awards. In 1969, he was awarded the Laetare Medal by

6460-406: The issuance of the Guidelines was a lawmaking function that Congress could not delegate and dubbed the Commission "a sort of junior-varsity Congress". In 1996, Congress passed the Line Item Veto Act , which allowed the president to cancel items from an appropriations bill (a bill authorizing spending) once passed into law. The statute was challenged the following year. The matter rapidly reached

6555-419: The judicial branch whose members (some of whom were federal judges) were removable only for good cause. The petitioner argued that the arrangement violated the separation of powers and that the United States Sentencing Guidelines promulgated by the commission were invalid. Eight justices joined in the majority opinion written by Blackmun, upholding the Guidelines as constitutional. Scalia dissented, stating that

6650-403: The law of libel . It was Brennan who coined the phrase "chilling effect", in 1965's Dombrowski v. Pfister . His close friendship with Chief Justice Warren, who frequently assigned Brennan the task of writing the majority opinion, led to the other justices nicknaming him the "deputy Chief". In the 1962–1963 term, one of Brennan's law clerks was Richard A. Posner , who later became a founder of

6745-403: The majority in United States v. O'Brien which upheld the constitutionality of laws banning draft card burning , he later opposed the Vietnam War and dissented several times when the Supreme Court refused to hear challenges to its legality. In a dissent in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez Brennan argued that unequal funding of poor and wealthy school districts violated

6840-561: The majority opinion, however. He disagreed with O'Connor's opinion for the Court, holding that states and localities could institute race-based programs if they identified past discrimination and if the programs were designed to remedy the past racism. Five years later, in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña , he concurred in the Court's judgment and in part with the opinion that extended strict scrutiny to federal programs. Scalia noted in that matter his view that government can never have

6935-525: The most conservative justices on the Court. He filed separate opinions in many cases, often castigating the Court's majority—sometimes scathingly so. Scalia's most significant opinions include his lone dissent in Morrison v. Olson (arguing against the constitutionality of an Independent-Counsel law ), and his majority opinions in Crawford v. Washington (defining a criminal defendant's confrontation right under

7030-414: The most reviled cases in Supreme Court history: "I am optimistic enough to believe that, one day, Stenberg v. Carhart will be assigned its rightful place in the history of this Court's jurisprudence beside Korematsu and Dred Scott . The method of killing a human child ... proscribed by this statute is so horrible that the most clinical description of it evokes a shudder of revulsion". In 2007,

7125-402: The nomination of a Catholic, thinking he would rely on his religious beliefs rather than the Constitution when ruling, and Senator Joseph McCarthy had read transcripts of Brennan's speech where he decried overzealous anti-Communist investigations as "witch-hunts." After a confirmation hearing in which Brennan defended himself against McCarthy's attacks and proclaimed that he would rule solely on

7220-550: The nominee put it, "a case of my integrity overcoming my judgment". Scalia met no opposition from the committee. The Senate debated Scalia's nomination only briefly, confirming him 98–0 on September 17, thereby making him the Court's first Italian-American Justice. That vote followed Rehnquist's confirmation as Chief Justice by a vote of 65–33 on the same day. Scalia took his seat on September 26, 1986. One committee member, Senator and future President Joe Biden (D-DE), later stated that he regretted not having opposed Scalia "because he

7315-527: The public, and streets full of demonstrators, urging us — their unelected and life-tenured judges who have been awarded those extraordinary, undemocratic characteristics precisely in order that we might follow the law despite the popular will — to follow the popular will." — Scalia, concurring in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services Scalia repeatedly called upon his colleagues to strike down Roe v. Wade . Scalia hoped to find five votes to strike down Roe in

7410-476: The public, and the streets full of demonstrators". The Court returned to the issue of abortion in the 2000 case of Stenberg v. Carhart , in which it invalidated a Nebraska statute outlawing partial-birth abortion . Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the Court that the law was unconstitutional because it did not allow an exception for the health of the woman. Scalia dissented, comparing the Stenberg case to two of

7505-483: The screaming". Scalia indicated that the law was an unwarranted encroachment on the executive branch by the legislative. He warned, "Frequently an issue of this sort will come before the Court clad, so to speak, in sheep's clothing ... But this wolf comes as a wolf". The 1989 case of Mistretta v. United States challenged the United States Sentencing Commission , an independent body within

7600-461: The seat vacated by Justice Sherman Minton . He held the post until his retirement on July 20, 1990, for health reasons; he was succeeded on the Court by Justice David Souter . He was the last federal judge in active service to have been appointed to his position by President Eisenhower. Brennan then taught at Georgetown University Law Center until 1994. With 1,360 opinions, he is second only to William O. Douglas in number of opinions written while

7695-672: The second of eight children. Both his parents, William and Agnes (McDermott) Brennan, were Irish immigrants. They met in the United States, although both were originally from County Roscommon in Ireland. William Brennan Sr. had little education and worked as a metal polisher, but rose to a position of leadership, serving as the Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Newark from 1927 to 1930. Brennan attended public schools in Newark, and graduated from Barringer High School in 1924. He then attended

7790-505: The subject of specific jurisdiction , holding to a simple "stream-of-commerce" analysis for product liability cases and emphasizing the role of fairness in the Court's analysis of the holding in International Shoe Co. v. Washington . In Burger King v. Rudzewicz , Brennan authored the majority opinion and extended his broad view of personal jurisdiction to areas of business contracts and franchising. The upshot of Brennan's analysis

7885-582: Was Goldberg v. Kelly , which ruled that a local, state or federal government could not terminate welfare payments to a person without a prior individual evidentiary hearing. In the 1980s, as the Reagan administration and the Rehnquist Court threatened to "roll back" the decisions of the Warren Court , Brennan became more vocal about his jurisprudential views. In a 1985 speech at Georgetown University, Brennan criticized Attorney General Edwin Meese 's call for

7980-409: Was a strong defender of the powers of the executive branch and believed that the U.S. Constitution permitted the death penalty and did not guarantee the right to either abortion or same-sex marriage . Furthermore, Scalia viewed affirmative action and other policies that afforded special protected status to minority groups as unconstitutional. Such positions would earn him a reputation as one of

8075-716: Was also active as a Boy Scout and was part of the Scouts' national honor society, the Order of the Arrow . Classmate and future New York State official William Stern remembered Scalia in his high school days: "This kid was a conservative when he was 17 years old. An archconservative Catholic. He could have been a member of the Curia . He was the top student in the class. He was brilliant, way above everybody else." In 1953, Scalia enrolled at Georgetown University , where he majored in history. He became

8170-511: Was an adherent to the formalist New Criticism school of literary theory. Scalia's mother, Catherine Louise ( née  Panaro ; 1905–1985), was born in Trenton to Italian immigrant parents and worked as an elementary school teacher. In 1939, Scalia and his family moved to Elmhurst, Queens , where he attended P.S. 13 Clement C. Moore School. After completing eighth grade , he obtained an academic scholarship to Xavier High School ,

8265-413: Was born on March 11, 1936, in Trenton, New Jersey . He was the only child of Salvatore Eugenio "Eugene" Scalia (1903–1986), an Italian immigrant from Sommatino , Sicily . Salvatore graduated from Rutgers University and was a graduate student at Columbia University and clerk at the time of his son's birth. The elder Scalia would become a professor of Romance languages at Brooklyn College , where he

8360-499: Was challenging the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. A group of retired military officers that supported Hamdan's position asked Scalia to recuse himself, or step aside from hearing the case, which he declined to do. The Court held 5–3 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the federal courts had jurisdiction to consider Hamdan's claims; Scalia, in dissent, contended that any Court authority to consider Hamdan's petition had been eliminated by

8455-526: Was continued by President Gerald Ford , and Scalia was confirmed by the Senate on August 22, 1974. In the aftermath of Watergate , the Ford administration was engaged in a number of conflicts with Congress. Scalia repeatedly testified before congressional committees, defending Ford administration assertions of executive privilege regarding its refusal to turn over documents. Within the administration, Scalia advocated

8550-459: Was described as the intellectual anchor for the originalist and textualist position in the U.S. Supreme Court 's conservative wing. For catalyzing an originalist and textualist movement in American law, he has been described as one of the most influential jurists of the twentieth century, and one of the most important justices in the history of the Supreme Court. Scalia was posthumously awarded

8645-548: Was given a recess appointment as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on October 15, 1956, shortly before the 1956 presidential election , and was sworn into office the following day. The president's advisers thought the appointment of a Roman Catholic Democrat from the Northeast would woo critical voters in the upcoming re-election campaign for Eisenhower,

8740-652: Was no different from allowing him to spend an appropriation at his discretion, which had long been accepted as constitutional. In 2004, in Rasul v. Bush , the Court held that federal courts had jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions brought by detainees at the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp . Scalia accused the majority of "spring[ing] a trap on the Executive" by ruling that it could hear cases involving persons at Guantanamo when no federal court had ever ruled that it had

8835-640: Was so effective". It was Scalia's view that clear lines of separation among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches follow directly from the Constitution, with no branch allowed to exercise powers granted to another branch. In his early days on the Court, he authored a powerful—and solitary—dissent in Morrison v. Olson (1988), in which the Court's majority upheld the Independent Counsel law . Scalia's thirty-page draft dissent surprised Justice Harry Blackmun for its emotional content; Blackmun felt "it could be cut down to ten pages if Scalia omitted

8930-481: Was successful. Following Ford's defeat by President Jimmy Carter , Scalia worked for several months at the American Enterprise Institute . He then returned to academia, taking up residence at the University of Chicago Law School from 1977 to 1982, though he spent one year as a visiting professor at Stanford Law School . During Scalia's time at Chicago, Peter H. Russell hired him on behalf of

9025-466: Was to formulate federal policy for the growth of cable television. From 1972 to 1974, he was chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States , a small independent agency that sought to improve the functioning of the federal bureaucracy. In mid-1974, Nixon nominated him as Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel . After Nixon's resignation, the nomination

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