Source: https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1321/william-brennan-jr
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 22:18:18+00:00

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William J. Brennan Jr. (1906–1997) served more years as an associate justice of the Supreme Court (1956–1990) than all but seven other justices in the Court’s history. Brennan believed that the law should preserve the dignity of individuals and was concerned with the impact the Court’s decisions would have on people’s lives. As a result, he was an outspoken defender of the First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press against threats of government restriction, and he contributed to significant opinions on free exercise and establishment of religion.
The son of Irish immigrants, Brennan was born in Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1931, he practiced law in New Jersey. He was a nationally known state appellate judge when President Dwight Eisenhower nominated him for the Court in 1956. Some scholars consider him to have been the Court’s most influential associate justice, reflecting the important role he played in shaping decisions under Chief Justice Warren E. Burger.
Writing for the majority in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), Brennan declared that public officials may not sue news media for slander or libel unless the injurious statement is made with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth. The decision struck down an Alabama law under which the Montgomery city commissioner had sued the New York Times for libel after the paper published an advertisement accusing the city of unleashing “an unprecedented wave of terror” against civil rights demonstrators. The commissioner claimed that the advertisement contained minor factual errors and that, although he had suffered no actual loss, he had been libeled. Alabama courts awarded him an historic $500,000 in damages. Had the Supreme Court upheld the Alabama libel judgment, newspapers would be reluctant to print items critical of public officials for fear that minor factual errors would make them vulnerable to lawsuits.
Brennan noted that the nation’s interest in “uninhibited, robust, and wide-open” debate on public issues might include “vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on public officials.” The Constitution requires those officials to endure such criticism unless the statements were made with “actual malice — with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.” While Sullivan reduced public officials’ protection from libelous statements, the Court believed that free discussion must include the freedom to criticize those in power.
By 1973 Brennan had decided that it was impossible to construct a workable definition. He expressed that view in his dissent in Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton (1973): “No one definition, no matter how precisely or narrowly drawn, can possibly suffice for all situations, or carve out fully suppressible expression from all media without also creating a substantial risk of encroachment upon the guarantees of the Due Process Clause and the First Amendment.” He noted that governments could prevent children and nonconsenting adults from being exposed to certain materials but could not completely ban the materials.
Brennan also dissented in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988), when the Court approved a principal’s censorship of a student newspaper. Traditionally the Court had held that freedom of the press prohibited repressing expression before it was printed. Brennan wrote that because students “do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” the Court’s decision taught the wrong civics lesson.
The extremely unpopular Johnson decision led to protests, attempts to amend the Constitution, and the enactment of a federal law prohibiting flag desecration. In another opinion written by Brennan, United States v. Eichman (1990), the Court found the federal statute to be just as unconstitutional as the Texas law.
Brennan consistently supported a high wall of separation between church and state. He wrote an important concurrence in Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), finding mandatory Bible reading in public schools unconstitutional. He noted that even if such practices were acceptable at the time the Constitution was written, the educational landscape in the mid-twentieth century was significantly different. For example, education had become the responsibility of the government rather than the private schools the founders knew. In addition, the religious beliefs of the U.S. population had become vastly more diverse. Finally, he believed that public schools could best serve their civic functions if they were free of divisive or parochial concerns.
In another free exercise case, Brennan dissented in Goldman v. Weinberger (1986), arguing that an Air Force officer who was an Orthodox Jew should be allowed to wear a yarmulke with his uniform. Congress later enacted a law that reflected Brennan’s position.
Marion, David E. The Jurisprudence of William J. Brennan Jr.: The Law and Politics of “Libertarian Dignity.” Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997.
Pederson, William D., and Norman W. Provizer, eds. Leaders of the Pack: Polls and Case Studies of Great Supreme Court Justices. New York: Peter Lang, 2003.
Richards, Robert D. Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide Open: Mr. Justice Brennan’s Legacy to the First Amendment. Boone, N.C.: Parkway Publishers, 1994.
Sepinuck, Stephen L. and Mary Pat Treuthart, eds. The Conscience of the Court: Selected Opinions of Justice William J.Brennan Jr. on Freedom and Equality. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.
Greenhouse, Linda. "William Brennan, 91, Dies; Gave Court Liberal Vision." The New York Times, July 25, 1997.
Stone, Geoffrey R. "Justice Brennan and the Freedom of Speech: A First Amendment Odyssey." University of Pennsylvania Law Review 139 (1991): 1333-1355.
"William J. Brennan, Jr." Oyez.
Adams, Alrin M. "Justice Brennan and the Religion Clauses: The Concept of a Living Constitution." University of Pennsylvania Law Review 139 (1991): 1319-1331.

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