Commentary

Article Abstract:

Gerald Gunther's treatment of Judge Learned Hand's opinion in United States v. Dennis reveals one of the potential weaknesses of judicial biographies written by an admiring biographer. In Dennis, Learned Hand modified the test for freedom speech to ensure that communists would be found guilty of inciting violence. Instead of addressing how a judge considered liberal in his early days could come up with such a conservative ruling, Gunther attempted to reconcile Dennis with earlier decisions. A more consistent biographic approach would have been to acknowledge the blemish that this decision is.

Criticism and interpretation, Hand, Learned, Gunther, Gerald

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Themes in Warren Court biographies

Article Abstract:

The temptation for judicial biographers writing on the Warren Court and its justices may be to focus on the triumph of rights jurisprudence or on the judicial activism and restraint debate, but much of the court's actions would be omitted by limiting discussions to these two themes. There are few quality biographies of Warren Court justices. This may be so because the constitutional regime that the Warren Court was a part of is still continuing in 1995. Historical distance and a more nuanced understanding of the Warren Court's significance may be necessary to develop significant biographies.

Officials and employees, United States. Supreme Court

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Judicial biography: history, myth, literature, fiction, potpourri

Article Abstract:

Judicial biographies must comprise more that a narration of facts to be valuable and require the author to have extensive understanding of the subject, the cases decided, the values of the time and relationships with other figures. The author must also consider whether drama or pedagogy are essential to creating the biography of a specific judge. The biographer must be sure to focus on the perspectives of the subject and not use the subject as a conduit for expressing the author's own views.

Analysis

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