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Justice Brennan Influences

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Justice William J. Brennan Jr. became involved in the legal realm when he went to and graduated from Harvard Law School, going on to practice labor law. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Justice Brennan returned to his legal practice but was eventually appointed as first a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey and then as a justice in the New Jersey Supreme Court. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Justice Brennan as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (he was later confirmed by the Senate in 1957) as a “recess appointment” to appease left-wing voters (although President Eisenhower hoped that Justice Brennan would make more right-wing decisions due to his Catholic faith). Rather than go along with the “absolutist” jurisprudence that Justice Black and Justice Douglas …show more content…
He was a strong believer in and defender of the Bill of Rights and often fought for the upholding of individual rights (particularly those related to the freedom of expression) over government interest (even though some of his personal beliefs did not align with his most liberal case decisions). One of Justice Brennan’s most influential case decisions was that of Baker v Carr (1962) in which the Supreme Court granted the right of federal courts to take on cases related to redistricting. He argued that because Fourteenth Amendment equal protection issues (those related to disproportionate voting power) arose in this type of case, and no real questions of politics arose, the political questions doctrine cannot apply. This landmark decision granted the power of federal courts to redraw districts and thus enable underrepresented voters to gain more representation and influence. Furthermore, another one of Justice Brennan’s most influential case decisions is that of Green v County School

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