Associate Justice of The Supreme Court
In 1965, Lyndon Johnson, then President, persuaded Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg to resign his seat to become Ambassador to the United Nations so that he could appoint Fortas, his longtime friend, to the Court. Johnson thought that some of his Great Society reforms could be ruled unconstitutional by the Court, and he felt that Fortas would let him know if that was to happen. Johnson and Fortas did collaborate while Fortas was a justice; Fortas co-wrote Johnson's 1966 State of the Union speech.
On the Court, Fortas was particularly concerned with children's rights. Fortas dissented when the Court upheld some public intoxication laws.
In 1968, Fortas authored a book titled, Concerning Dissent and Civil Disobedience which was criticized by historian Howard Zinn in his book Disobedience and Democracy: Nine Fallacies on Law and Order.
Among Fortas's legal clerks were:
- Walter B. Slocombe, future under-Secretary of Defense.
- John L. Ray, future lawyer, Democratic party politician in Washington, D.C., and at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia.
- Martha A. Field, future Langdell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Noted scholar of constitutional law, family law, and issues bioethics.
Read more about this topic: Abe Fortas
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