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Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an
Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as
United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...
and
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
, and is the only person to have held all three of those offices. Jackson was also notable for his work as Chief United States Prosecutor at the
Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded m ...
of Nazi war criminals following
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Jackson was the last U.S. Supreme Court justice who did not have a law degree. He was
admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...
via the older tradition of
reading law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under th ...
under an established lawyer, after studying at
Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...
for just a year. Jackson is well known for his advice that, "Any lawyer worth his salt will tell the suspect, in no uncertain terms, to make no statement to the police under any circumstances", and for his
aphorism An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by ...
describing the Supreme Court, "We are not final because we are infallible, but we are infallible only because we are final." Jackson developed a reputation as one of the best writers on the Supreme Court and one of the most committed to enforcing due process as protection from overreaching federal agencies. He was considered a moderate
liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
and is known for his dissents in '' Terminiello v. City of Chicago'', '' Zorach v. Clauson'', '' Everson v. Board of Education'', and '' Korematsu v. United States'', as well as his majority opinion in '' West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette''.


Early life

Jackson was born on his family's farm in Spring Creek Township, Warren County, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1892, and was raised in
Frewsburg, New York Frewsburg is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Carroll in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 1,906 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code is 14738 and the telephone exchange (which extends past Carroll and ...
. The son of William Eldred Jackson and Angelina Houghwout, he graduated from Frewsburg High School in 1909 and spent the next year as a post-graduate student attending Jamestown High School, where he worked to improve his writing skills. Jackson decided on a legal career; since attendance at college or law school was not a requirement if a student learned under the tutelage of an established attorney, at age 18 he began to study law with the Jamestown, New York firm in which his uncle, Frank Mott, was a partner. His uncle soon introduced him to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was then serving as a member of the New York State Senate. Jackson attended
Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...
of
Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...
from 1911 to 1912. At the time, students at Albany Law School had three options: taking individual courses without receiving a degree; completing a two-year program and receiving an
LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree; or demonstrating the knowledge required of a first-year student and then taking the second year of the two-year program, which produced a certificate of completion. Jackson chose the third option; he successfully completed the second-year courses, and received his certificate in 1912. After completing the year at Albany Law School, Jackson returned to Jamestown to complete his studies. He passed the New York
bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associ ...
in 1913 at the age of twenty-one by reading law, and then joined a law practice in Jamestown. In 1916, he married Irene Alice Gerhardt, in Albany. In 1917, Jackson was recruited to work for Penney, Killeen & Nye, a leading Buffalo firm, primarily defending the International Railway Company in trials and appeals. In late 1918, Jackson was recruited back to Jamestown to serve as the city's corporation counsel. Over the next 15 years, he built a successful practice, and became a leading lawyer in New York State; he also enhanced his reputation nationally, through leadership roles with bar associations and other legal organizations. In 1930, Jackson was elected to membership in the American Law Institute; in 1933, he was elected Chairman of the American Bar Association's Conference of Bar Association Delegates (a predecessor to today's ABA House of Delegates). Jackson became active in politics as a Democrat; in 1916, he spearheaded Jamestown's local Wilson for President organization. In the years during and after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he was a member of the New York State Democratic Committee. He also continued his association with Roosevelt; when Roosevelt served as Governor of New York from 1929 to 1933, he appointed Jackson to a commission which reviewed the state judicial system and proposed reforms. He served on that commission from 1931 to 1939. Jackson also turned down Roosevelt's offer to appoint him to the
New York Public Service Commission The New York Public Service Commission is the public utilities commission of the New York state government that regulates and oversees the electric, gas, water, and telecommunication industries in New York as part of the Department of Public Servi ...
, because he preferred to remain in private practice.


Federal appointments, 1934–1938

In 1932, Jackson was active in Franklin Roosevelt's Presidential campaign as Chairman of an organization called Democratic Lawyers for Roosevelt. (Another Robert H. Jackson was also active in the Roosevelt campaign. That Jackson (1880-1973) was Secretary of the Democratic National Committee, and was a resident of
New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
.) In 1934, Jackson agreed to join the Roosevelt administration; he served initially as Assistant General Counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Internal Revenue (today's Internal Revenue Service), where he was in charge of 300 lawyers who tried cases before the Board of Tax Appeals. In 1936, Jackson became
Assistant Attorney General Many of the divisions and offices of the United States Department of Justice are headed by an assistant attorney general. The president of the United States appoints individuals to the position of assistant attorney general with the advice and ...
, heading the Tax Division of the Department of Justice, and in 1937, he became Assistant Attorney General, heading the Antitrust Division. Jackson was a supporter of the New Deal, litigating against corporations and utilities holding companies. He participated in the 1934 prosecution of Samuel Insull, the 1935 income tax case against
Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...
, and the 1937 anti-trust case against Alcoa, in which the Mellon family held an important interest.


U.S. Solicitor General, 1938–1940

In March 1938, Jackson became
United States Solicitor General The solicitor general of the United States is the fourth-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice. Elizabeth Prelogar has been serving in the role since October 28, 2021. The United States solicitor general represent ...
, succeeding Stanley Forman Reed, who had been appointed to the Supreme Court. Jackson served as Solicitor General until January 1940, working as the government's chief advocate before the U.S. Supreme Court. During his time in this post, he argued 44 cases to the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government, and lost only six. His record of accomplishment caused Justice Louis Brandeis to once remark that Jackson should be Solicitor General for life. Roosevelt regarded Jackson as a possible successor to the presidency in 1940, and worked with his staff on an effort to raise Jackson's public profile. Their plan was to mention Jackson favorably in presidential remarks as often as possible, and to have Jackson take part frequently in Roosevelt's public appearances. Roosevelt and his advisers next intended for Jackson to become the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York in 1938. They abandoned their effort to create a groundswell of support for Jackson's gubernatorial candidacy when they ran into resistance from state Democratic Party leaders. In addition, Roosevelt's decision to run for a third term in 1940 rendered moot the need to identify and promote a successor. Instead of running for Governor or President, Jackson joined Roosevelt's cabinet when he was appointed as Attorney General.


U.S. Attorney General, 1940–1941

Jackson was appointed as
United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
by Roosevelt, on January 4, 1940, replacing
Frank Murphy William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving ...
, whom Roosevelt had appointed to the Supreme Court. As Attorney General, Jackson supported a bill introduced by Sam Hobbs that would have legalized
wiretapping Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...
by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
, or any other government agency, if it was suspected that a
felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...
was occurring. The bill was opposed by
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) chairman
James Lawrence Fly James Lawrence "Larry" Fly (February 22, 1898 – January 6, 1966) was an American lawyer, famous as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission and, later, director of the American Civil Liberties Union. He helped inaugurate standards fo ...
, and it did not pass. While in office, he also helped President Roosevelt organize the Lend-Lease agreement, which allowed the United States to supply materials to help with the war effort to the Allied forces, before formally entering World War II.


U.S. Supreme Court, 1941–1954

On June 12, 1941, Roosevelt nominated Jackson as an
associate justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
of the U.S. Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy created when
Harlan Fiske Stone Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname * Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive *Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver *Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician * Byron ...
replaced
Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
as chief justice. Jackson was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...
on July 7, 1941, and took the judicial oath of office on July 11, 1941. On the Court, he was known for his eloquent writing style and championing of individual liberties. In 1943, Jackson wrote the majority opinion in '' West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette'', which overturned a public school regulation making it mandatory to salute the flag, and imposing penalties of expulsion and prosecution upon students who failed to comply. Jackson's stirring language in ''Barnette'' concerning individual rights is widely quoted. Jackson's concurring opinion in 1952's '' Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer'' (forbidding President
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
's seizure of steel mills during the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
to avert a strike), in which Jackson formulated a three-tier test for evaluating claims of Presidential power, remains one of the most widely cited opinions in Supreme Court history. (It was quoted repeatedly by Supreme Court nominees
John Roberts John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...
and Samuel Alito during their confirmation hearings.)


Feud with Hugo Black

Justices Jackson and Hugo Black had profound professional and personal disagreements dating back to October 1941, the first term during which they served together on the Supreme Court. According to Dennis Hutchinson, editor of '' The Supreme Court Review'', Jackson objected to Black's practice of importing his personal preferences into his jurisprudence. Hutchinson quotes Jackson as having remarked, "With few exceptions, we all knew which side of a case Black would vote on when he read the names of the parties." While Hutchinson points out that Jackson objected to Black's style of jurisprudence in such cases as '' Minersville v. Gobitis'' (1940) and ''United States v. Bethlehem Steel'' (1942), Black's involvement in the ''Jewell Ridge'' case struck Jackson as especially injudicious. In ''
Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Mine Workers ''Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. United Mine Workers of America'', 325 U.S. 161 (1945), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States dealing with the compensation of mine workers for time spent traveling to work sites while underground. ...
'' (1945), the Supreme Court faced the issue of whether to grant the coal company's petition for a rehearing, on the grounds that the victorious miners were, in a previous matter, represented by Crampton P. Harris, who was Justice Black's former law partner and personal lawyer. Despite this apparent conflict of interest, Black lobbied the Court for a
per curiam In law, a ''per curiam'' decision (or opinion) is a ruling issued by an appellate court of multiple judges in which the decision rendered is made by the court (or at least, a majority of the court) acting collectively (and typically, though not ...
denial of the petition. Justice Jackson objected, with the result that Jackson filed a concurrence disassociating himself from the ruling and, by implication, criticizing Black for not addressing the conflict of interest. Jackson also strongly objected to Black's judicial conduct in ''Jewell Ridge'' for another reason. As Jackson later alleged, while Justice Murphy was preparing his opinion, Black urged that the Court hand down its decision without waiting for the opinion and dissent. In Jackson's eyes, the "...only apparent reason behind this proposal was to announce the decision in time to influence the contract negotiations during the coal strike" between the coal company and the miners, which were taking place at the time. Jackson probably regarded Black's conduct as unbecoming of a Supreme Court Justice in another related matter. On April 3, 1945, the Southern Conference for Human Welfare held a dinner, at which it honored Justice Black as the 1945 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Award. Fred M. Vinson spoke at the dinner. While Jackson declined an invitation to the event, citing a conflict arising out of the fact that a number of leading sponsors of the dinner were then litigants before the Supreme Court, Black attended the dinner and received his award. Crampton Harris, counsel in two pending cases, ''Jewell Ridge'' and ''CIO v. McAdory'' (1945), was one of the sponsors. Jackson later took these grievances public in two cables from Nuremberg. Jackson had informally been promised the Chief Justiceship by Roosevelt; however, the seat came open while Jackson was in Germany, and Roosevelt was dead. President Harry S. Truman was faced with two factions, one recommending Jackson for the seat, and the other advocating for Hugo Black. In an attempt to avoid controversy, Truman appointed Vinson. Jackson blamed machinations by Black for his being passed over for the seat, and publicly exposed some of Black's controversial behavior and feuding within the Court. The controversy was heavily covered in the press, casting the New Deal Court in a negative light, and had the effect of tarnishing Jackson's reputation in the years that followed. On June 8, 1946, Jackson sent a cable to President Truman. Jackson's cable to Truman began with an insincere offer of congratulations to the President for his appointment of Vinson. However, the cable then quickly addressed the rumor, which Jackson had gotten wind of in Nuremberg, according to which Truman had appointed Fred Vinson, in part, to avert a resignation on the part of Justice Black. Rumors had been circulating in Washington that Black would resign in the event that Truman chose Jackson as Chief Justice Stone's successor. "I would be loath to believe that you would concede to any man a veto over court appointments." Jackson closed his cable by stating that he could not continue his service as an Associate Justice under Vinson if an associate "had something on im, which would disqualify him from serving, or if he, Truman, regarded Jackson's opinion in the ''Jewell Ridge'' case as a "gratuitous insult" to Justice Black.''Dennis v. United States'' After receiving a response from Truman in which he denied having given consideration to, or having even heard of, the rumor of Black's threatened resignation, Jackson rashly fired off a second cable to
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, on June 10. This cable stated Jackson's reasons for his belief that Justice Black faced a conflict of interest in ''Jewell Ridge'', from which he wrongfully, at least, in Jackson's eyes, did not recuse himself, and ended with Jackson's threat that if such a practice "is ever repeated while I am on the bench, I will make my ''Jewell Ridge'' opinion look like a letter of recommendation, by comparison."


Jackson and ''Dennis v. United States''


The "clear and present danger" test

In 1919, the Supreme Court decided '' Schenck v. United States''. In Schenck, the petitioners, members of the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
, were convicted of violating the
Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
for printing and distributing circulars asserting that American citizens had a right to oppose the draft during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
because, among other things, it violated the United States Constitution. The ''Schenck'' decision promulgated the "clear and present danger test," which provided the standard for sustaining a conviction when speech is relied upon as evidence that an offense has been committed. Justice
Holmes Holmes may refer to: Name * Holmes (surname) * Holmes (given name) * Baron Holmes, noble title created twice in the Peerage of Ireland * Chris Holmes, Baron Holmes of Richmond (born 1971), British former swimmer and life peer Places In the Uni ...
, writing for a unanimous court, affirmed the decision of the lower court positing:
We admit that, in many places and in ordinary times, the defendants, in saying all that was said in the circular, would have been within their constitutional rights. But the character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done ... The question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances, and are of such a nature as to create a "clear and present danger" that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent. It is a question of proximity and degree.


''Dennis v. United States''


=Background

= In 1951, the Supreme Court decided '' Dennis v. United States''. In Dennis, the petitioners were zealous
Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
who organized for the purpose of teaching the "Marxist-Leninist Doctrine." The principal texts used to teach the doctrine were: ''History of the Communist Party of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
''; ''Foundations of Leninism'' by
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
; ''
The Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Commu ...
'' by
Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
and Engels; and '' State and Revolution'' by
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
. The Petitioners were convicted for violating clause 2 and clause 3 of the Smith Act which, among other things, made it unlawful to conspire to organize a group which advocates the overthrow of the United States government by force or violence. The issue before the Supreme Court was " ether either §2 or §3 of the
Smith Act The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3d session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of th ...
, inherently, or as construed and applied in the instant case, violates the First Amendment and other provisions of the Bill of Rights ..."


=Jackson's concurrence

= In ''Dennis'', Jackson concluded that the "clear and present danger test" should not be applied. To this end, Jackson analyzed: the effect Communism had outside the United States; the nature of Communists; and the problems with applying the test. Jackson's analysis can be summarized as follows: On the effect that Communists historically had on foreign countries, Jackson analyzed their effect on
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
. In Czechoslovakia, a Communist organization disguised as a competing political faction secretly established its roots in key control positions "of police and information services." During a period of national crisis, a clandestine Communist organization appeared and overthrew the Czechoslovakian government. Establishing control of mass communication and industry, the Communist organization's rule was one of "oppression and terror." Ironically, as Jackson points out, the Communist organization suppressed the very freedoms which made its conspiracy possible. On the nature of Communists, Jackson characterized them as an extraordinarily dedicated and highly selective group, disciplined and indoctrinated by Communist policy. The goal of Party members is to secretly infiltrate key positions of government, industry, and unions and to leverage their power once in such positions. Jackson goes on to say that, although "Communist have no scruples against sabotage, terrorism, assassination, or mob disorder," they "advocate force only when prudent," which "may never be necessary, because infiltration and deception may be enough." On the problems with applying the clear and present danger test in ''Dennis'', Jackson deemed significant that the test was authored "before the era of World War II revealed the subtlety and efficacy of modernized revolutionary technique used by totalitarian parties."''Dennis v. United States'' at 568. Jackson believed that the application of the test should be limited to cases bearing strong enough likeness to those for which it was originally crafted – i.e., "...criminality of hot-headed speech on a street corner, or parading by some zealots behind a red flag, or refusal of a handful of Jehovah Witness school children to salute our flag." Expressing strong concern that the expansive construction the Court had recently given the test in ''Bridges v. California,'' Jackson asserted that the test provided Communists with "unprecedented immunities," while the "Government is captive in a judge-made verbal trap." Jackson goes on to describe the application of the test to Communists, when determining the constitutionality of the Smith Act facially, or as applied as one of "...apprais ngimponderables, including international and national phenomena, which baffle the best informed foreign offices and our most experienced politicians." Jackson concludes his First Amendment analysis in ''Dennis'' by asserting that:
The authors of the "clear and present danger test" never applied it to a case like this, nor would I. If applied as it is proposed here, it means that the Communist plotting is protected during its period of incubation; its preliminary stages of organization and preparation are immune from the law; the Government can move only after imminent action is manifest, when it would, of course, be too late.


=Conclusion

= In the end, the Court applied its own version of the "clear and present danger test" in ''Dennis'', essentially disregarding the analytical elements of probability and temporality which had previously appeared to be requirements of the doctrine. Jackson, however, as one commentator put it, expressed in ''Dennis'' (at least with regards to Communists) that, "when used as part of a conspiracy to act illegally, speech loses its First Amendment protection."


Jackson and '' Korematsu v. United States''


Background

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, there was great suspicion surrounding Japanese-Americans, particularly those residing on the West Coast of the United States. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, giving the
War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...
permission to declare some zones "military zones" in which they could prohibit certain people from accessing prescribed areas. With this executive order, the War Department was able to declare that all United States citizens of Japanese ancestry were prohibited from areas in California that were deemed unsafe for Japanese-American habitation for national security purposes, and it forced them into internment camps. Fred Korematsu, born to Japanese parents on American soil, believed that this was an unconstitutional infringement on an individual's civil liberty. The question that came before the Supreme Court was whether the Executive and Legislative branches went beyond their war powers by depriving citizens of rights with no criminal basis.


Jackson's dissent

The Supreme Court decided that the President and Congress did not stretch their war powers too far by choosing national security over an individual's rights in a time of war. Justice Hugo Black wrote the majority opinion for this case, and Jackson wrote a dissenting opinion. The opening paragraph of Jackson's dissent illustrated his view of the case:
Korematsu was born on our soil, of parents born in Japan. The Constitution makes him a citizen of the United States by nativity, and a citizen of California by residence. No claim is made that he is not loyal to this country. There is no suggestion that apart from the matter involved here, he is not law-abiding and well- disposed. Korematsu, however, has been convicted of an act not commonly a crime. It consists merely of being present in the state whereof he is a citizen, near the place where he was born, and where all his life he has lived.
Jackson warned of the danger that this great allowance of executive power presented, through the War Department's ability to deprive individuals of their rights in favor of national security in time of war:
But if we cannot confine military expedients by the Constitution, neither would I distort the Constitution to approve all that the military may deem expedient. That is what the Court appears to be doing, whether consciously or not. I cannot say, from any evidence before me, that the orders of General DeWitt were not reasonably expedient military precautions, nor could I say that they were. But even if they were permissible military procedures, I deny that it follows that they are constitutional. If, as the Court holds, it does follow, then we may as well say that any military order will be constitutional, and have done with it.
Jackson was not concerned in evaluating the validity of DeWitt's claim that the internment of Japanese citizens on the West Coast was necessary for national security purposes, but whether this would set a precedent of war-time racial discrimination that would be used to strip individual liberties.
But once a judicial opinion rationalizes such an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution, or rather rationalizes the Constitution to show that the Constitution sanctions such an order, the Court for all time has validated the principles of racial discrimination in criminal procedure, and of transplanting American citizens. The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need. Every repetition imbeds that principle more deeply in our law and thinking, and expands it to new purposes.


Jackson and ''Brown v. Board of Education''

One of Jackson's law clerks during 1952 – 53, William H. Rehnquist, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1971, and became chief justice in 1986. In December 1971, after Rehnquist's nomination had been approved by the
Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...
and was pending before the full Senate, a 1952
memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...
came to light that he had written as Jackson's law clerk in connection with the landmark case ''
Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segrega ...
'' that argued in favor of affirming the separate-but-equal doctrine of ''
Plessy v. Ferguson ''Plessy v. Ferguson'', 163 U.S. 537 (1896), was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that racial segregation laws did not violate the U.S. Constitution as long as the facilities for each race were equal in qualit ...
''. Rehnquist wrote a brief letter attributing the views to Jackson, and was confirmed. In his 1986 hearing, he was questioned about the matter. His explanation of the memorandum was disputed in both 1971 and 1986 by Jackson's former secretary, and scholars have questioned its plausibility. However, the papers of Justices Douglas and Frankfurter indicate that Jackson voted for ''Brown'' in 1954 only after changing his mind. The views of Justice Jackson about ''Brown'' can be found in his 1954 unpublished draft concurrence. The "Memorandum by Mr. Justice Jackson, March 15th, 1954", is available with Jackson's papers in the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
, but did not become publicly available until after Rehnquist's 1986 hearing for chief justice. Jackson's draft concurrence in ''Brown'', divided into four parts, shows how he struggled with how to write an effective opinion to strike down segregation. In Part 1 of Jackson's draft concurrence in ''Brown'', he wrote that he went to school where "Negro pupils were very few" and that he was "predisposed to the conclusion that segregation elsewhere has outlived whatever justification it may have had." Despite his own opinions regarding desegregation, Jackson acknowledged the inability of the Court to "eradicate" the "fears, prides and prejudices" that made segregation an important social practice in the South. Jackson thus concluded that the Northerners on the Court should be sensitive to the conditions that brought segregation to the South. In Part 2 of the draft
memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...
, Justice Jackson described the legal framework for forbidding segregation in "Does Existing Law Condemn Segregation?". Jackson notes that it was difficult for the Court, which expected "not to make new law, but only to declare existing law," to overturn a decision of such longevity as ''Plessy''. Looking at the doctrine of original intent with regard to th
Fourteenth Amendment
Jackson found no evidence that segregation was prohibited, particularly since states that had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment had segregated schools at the time. Jackson concluded, "I simply cannot find in the conventional material of constitutional interpretation any justification for saying" that segregated schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment. Part 3 of the draft memorandum, titled "Enforcement Power Limits", describes enforcement by Congress of the Fourteenth Amendment. Jackson addressed the possibility of leaving enforcement to Congress, particularly because the "courts have no power to enforce general declarations of law." Jackson noted that while segregation was already fading in some states, it would be difficult to overcome in those states where segregation was firmly established. While Jackson recognized the difficulties in the Supreme Court enforcing its judgment, he did not want the task to be left to the lower courts, as suggested by the Government. Jackson concluded that the Court must act because "our representative system has failed", and even though this "premise is not a sound basis for judicial action." Finally, in Part 4 of the draft memorandum, "Changed Conditions", Jackson began by stating that prior to ''Brown'', segregation was legal. According to Jackson, the premise for overruling ''Plessy'' was the now erroneous "factual assumption" that "there were differences between the Negro and the white races, viewed as a whole." The draft asserted that the "spectacular" progress of African-Americans, under adverse circumstances, "enabled
hem A hem in sewing is a garment finishing method, where the edge of a piece of cloth is folded and sewn to prevent unravelling of the fabric and to adjust the length of the piece in garments, such as at the end of the sleeve or the bottom of the g ...
to outgrow the system and to overcome the presumptions on which it was based." Jackson emphasized that the changed conditions, along with the importance of a public education, required the Court to strike down the concept of "separate but equal" in public education. While Jackson could not justify the decision in ''Brown'' in law, he did so on the basis of a political and social imperative. It is unknown if Jackson ever intended to publish this concurrence. Justice Jackson was in the hospital from March 30 to May 17, 1954. It is reported that Chief Justice Warren visited Jackson in the hospital several times, and discussed both Jackson's draft opinion and Warren's drafts. One suggestion that Warren took from Jackson was adding the following sentence: "Negroes have achieved outstanding success in the arts and sciences, as well as in the business and professional world." This quote is tied to the arguments in Part 4 of Jackson's draft opinion. On May 17, 1954, Jackson went to the Court from the hospital, so that he could be there the day that the ''Brown'' decision was handed down. When the ''Brown'' decision was handed down, a full court was present, to emphasize the unanimity of the decision. Robert H. Jackson died on October 9, 1954, and so there was not enough time between ''Brown'' and the death of Jackson to fully explore his views on desegregation.


Jackson and procedural due process

Jackson was a staunch defender (along with
Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...
) of
procedural due process Procedural due process is a legal doctrine in the United States that requires government officials to follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property. When the government seeks to deprive a person of one of those in ...
, for the rule of law that protects members of the public from overreaching by government agencies. One of his hymns to due process is often quoted:


International Military Tribunal, 1945–1946

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman appointed Jackson (who took a leave of absence from the Supreme Court), as U.S. Chief of Counsel for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals. He helped draft the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal, which created the legal basis for the Nuremberg Trials. He then served in
Nuremberg, Germany Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...
, as United States Chief Prosecutor at the International Military Tribunal. Jackson pursued his prosecutorial role with a great deal of vigor. His opening and closing arguments before the Nuremberg court were widely celebrated. In the words of defendant Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments and War Production, However, some believe that his cross-examination skills were generally weak, and it was British prosecutor
David Maxwell-Fyfe David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe, 1st Earl of Kilmuir, (29 May 1900 – 27 January 1967), known as Sir David Maxwell Fyfe from 1942 to 1954 and as Viscount Kilmuir from 1954 to 1962, was a British Conservative politician, lawyer and judge who combine ...
who got the better of
Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
in cross-examination, rather than Jackson, who was rebuked by the Tribunal for losing his temper and being repeatedly baited by Göring during the proceedings.


Death and legacy

On March 30, 1954, Jackson suffered a massive
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
. He was confined to the hospital until May 17 when he returned to the Court. He remained functioning in his position as Justice until October 4, 1954. On Saturday, October 9, 1954, Jackson had another heart attack. At 11:45 a.m. he died at age 62. Funeral services were held in Washington's National Cathedral and later in Jamestown's St. Luke's Church. All eight of the other Supreme Court Justices traveled together to Jamestown, New York, to attend his funeral service; the last time, for security purposes, that the Supreme Court all traveled together. Other prominent guests included Thomas E. Dewey. He was interred near his boyhood home in
Frewsburg, New York Frewsburg is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Carroll in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 1,906 at the 2010 census. The ZIP code is 14738 and the telephone exchange (which extends past Carroll and ...
. His headstone reads "He kept the ancient landmarks and built the new." The Robert H. Jackson Center, located in Robert H. Jackson's hometown of Jamestown, New York, offers guided tours to visitors who can see exhibits on Jackson's life, collections of his writings, and photos from the International Military Tribunal. An extensive collection of Jackson's personal and judicial papers is archived at the Manuscript Division of the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
and is open for research. Smaller collections are available at several other repositories. There are statues dedicated to Robert H. Jackson outside the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York, as well as the Robert H. Jackson field at the Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport. The United States District Court for the Western District of New York main courthouse, which is located in Buffalo and opened in November 2011, is dedicated to Justice Jackson and is named the Robert H. Jackson United States Courthouse.


Honors and awards

*Awarded the Medal for Merit by President Harry Truman on February 7, 1947.Official Congressional Directory: 83d Congress, 1st Session. Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1953
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Portrayal in popular culture

Robert H. Jackson has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television, and theater productions: *
Andrzej Łapicki Andrzej Łapicki (11 November 1924 – 21 July 2012) was a Polish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1999. He was married twice. His first marriage to Zofia Chrząszczewska lasted from 1947 to her death in 2005. He then mar ...
, in the 1970 Polish TV production, '' Epilog norymberski'' by
Jerzy Antczak Jerzy Antczak (born 25 December 1929, in Włodzimierz Wołyński) is a Polish film director. His film ''Nights and Days'' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Fe ...
*
Henderson Forsythe Henderson Forsythe (September 11, 1917 – April 17, 2006) was an American actor. Forsythe was known for his role as Dr. David Stewart #2 on the soap opera ''As the World Turns'', a role he played for 32 years, and for his work on the New York sta ...
, in the 1991 telefilm, ''
Separate but Equal Separate but equal was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law, according to which racial segregation did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which nominally guaranteed "equal protec ...
'' * Alec Baldwin, in the 2000 Canadian/U.S. TV production ''
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
'' *Edmund Dehn, in the 2005 German TV miniseries '' Speer und Er'' *
Colin Stinton Colin Stinton (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian actor. Early life Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1947, Stinton moved to the United States as a child in 1952. He lived in a trailer with his family—traveling throughout the U.S. and finall ...
, in the 2006 British television docudrama '' Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial''


See also

*
List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
* List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Stone Court *
List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Vinson Court This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Vinson Court, the tenure of Chief Justice Frederick Moore Vinson from June 24, 1946 through September 8, 1953. References {{SCOTUScaseli ...
*
List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Warren Court This is a partial chronological list of cases decided by the United States Supreme Court during the Warren Court, the tenure of Chief Justice Earl Warren Earl Warren (March 19, 1891 – July 9, 1974) was an American attorney, politician, ...
* Separation of powers under the United States Constitution


References


Bibliography

*Abraham, Henry J., ''Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. 3d ed.'' New York, NY:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1992. . *Cushman, Clare, ''The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995'' (2nd ed.) ( Supreme Court Historical Society).
Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
Books, 2001 ; . *Department of State. ''Report of Robert H. Jackson, United States Representative, to the International Conference on Military Trials''. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. *Frank, John P., ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'' (Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, eds.). New York, NY:
Chelsea House Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includi ...
Publishers, 1995 , . *Gerhart, Eugene. ''Robert H. Jackson: Country Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, America's Advocate''. Getzville, NY: William S. Hein & Co., 2003 , . *Harris, Whitney. ''Tyranny on Trial: The Trial of the Major German War Criminals at the End of World War II, at Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-46''. College Station, TX:
Texas A & M University Press Texas A&M University Press (also known informally as TAMU Press) is a scholarly publishing house associated with Texas A&M University. It was founded in 1974 and is located in College Station, Texas, in the United States. Overview The Texas A&M ...
, 1999 , . *Hockett, Jeffrey D.. ''New Deal Justice: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Hugo L. Black, Felix Frankfurter, and Robert H. Jackson''. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1996 . *Jackson, Robert H. ''The Case Against the Nazi War Criminals''. New York, NY:
Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...
, 1946. *Jackson, Robert H. ''FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin olume 9, No. 3, March, 1940'. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1940. *Jackson, Robert H. ''General Welfare and Industrial Prosperity: Address prepared by Robert H. Jackson, Solicitor General of the United States, for Delivery at the Convention in Rockford, Illinois, on September 14th, 1938''. The Department of Justice, 1938. *Jackson, Robert
''The Meaning of Liberalism: An Address by Robert H. Jackson to the Liberal Voters' League of Montgomery Co., MD, Rockville, MD, November 22nd, 1938''
1938. *Jackson, Robert H. ''The Nurnberg Case, as Presented by Robert H. Jackson''. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1947. *Jackson, Robert H. ''The Reminiscences of Robert H. Jackson''. Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of United States, 1955. *Jackson, Robert H. ''Struggle for Judicial Supremacy''. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1941. *Jackson, Robert H. ''The Supreme Court in the American System of Government''. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...
, 1955. *Jackson, Robert H. ''Statement by Robert H. Jackson to the Judiciary Committee of the Senate''. The Department of Justice, 1937. *Jackson, Robert H. ''That Man: An Insider's Portrait of Franklin D. Roosevelt''. John Q. Barrett, ed.. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2003. . *Jackson, Robert H. ''Trial of German War Criminals: Opening Address by Robert H. Jackson''. Literacy Licensing, LLC, 2003. . *Jarrow, Gail. ''New Deal Lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, Nuremberg Prosecutor''. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek, 2008. . *Massa, Stephen J. ''Justice Jackson and the Perpetrators: Robert H. Jackson, the Third Reich, WWII, Nuremberg, the Defendants''. Eagles Publishing, 2012. *Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U., ''The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography''. Congressional Quarterly Books, 1990. . *Nielsen, James
''Robert H. Jackson: The Middle Ground''
6 La. L. Rev. / The University of Louisiana, 1945. *O'Brien, David M. ''Justice Robert H. Jackson's Unpublished Opinion in Brown vs. Board: Conflict, Compromise, and Constitutional Interpretation''. Lawrence, KS:
University Press of Kansas The University Press of Kansas is a publisher located in Lawrence, Kansas. Operated by The University of Kansas, it represents the six state universities in the US state of Kansas: Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas Sta ...
, 2017. . *Shubert, Glendon. ''Dispassionate Justice: A Synthesis of the Judicial Opinions of Robert H. Jackson''. Indianapolis, IN:
Bobbs-Merrill Company The Bobbs-Merrill Company was a book publisher located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Company history The company began in 1850 October 3 when Samuel Merrill bought an Indianapolis bookstore and entered the publishing business. After his death in ...
, 1969. . *Tusa, Ann and Tusa, John, ''The Nuremberg Trial''. London: Macmillan, 1983 . *United States of America. ''Nomination of Robert H. Jackson to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Hearings, Seventy-Seventh Congress, First'' ''Session.'' 1941. *Urofsky, Melvin I., ''The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary''. New York:
Garland Publishing Garland Science was a publishing group that specialized in developing textbooks in a wide range of life sciences subjects, including cell and molecular biology, immunology, protein chemistry, genetics, and bioinformatics. It was a subsidiary o ...
, 1994. 590 pp. ; .


External links


The Robert H. Jackson Center's websiteThe International Humanitarian Law DialogsThe Jackson List: Justice Jackson, the Supreme Court, Nuremberg, and related topicsThe Nuremberg Timeline (Timeline of the International Military Tribunal)Jackson's Nuremberg Report
introduced by Justice Jackson, as Chief Prosecutor for the United States at the Nuremberg Trials, with applications to today
Nuremberg opening statementNuremberg closing statement
*
Justice Robert H. Jackson (Character)
on
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
* * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Robert H. 1892 births 1954 deaths Medal for Merit recipients 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians Albany Law School alumni American Episcopalians American people of Dutch descent Franklin D. Roosevelt administration cabinet members Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States New York (state) Democrats New York (state) lawyers Nuremberg trials People from Chautauqua County, New York People from Frewsburg, New York People from Warren County, Pennsylvania Prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Antitrust Division United States Attorneys General United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States federal judges appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt United States Solicitors General