The All-Time All-Star All-Era Supreme Court

Home , Charles Evans Hughes, Earl Warren, Hugo Black, John Marshall, Louis Brandeis, Samuel Freeman Miller

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1-1983

James E. Hambleton

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Recommended Citation James E. Hambleton, The All-Time All-Star All-Era Supreme Court, 69 A.B.A. J. 462 (1983). Available at: https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/facscholar/10

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~A~LL[*- IEKv A lot of people have come up with lists of "great" judges. Here's the list to been particularly outstanding among the meet the time's necessities." "All of end all lists: a distillation of legal luminaries who have sat on the those on our list used the power of the everyone's choice for the Court during its long history." His "Ju- bench to the full." Other shared traits dicial All-Star Nine" appears in 1964 are long tenures on the bench and serv- greatest justices of the Wisconsin Law Review 3. Excluding ing during "creative" periods of Ameri- United States Supreme living Court members, Currie gives as can law. his selection criteria: over-all ability, pro- Court. phetic vision, and judicial statesmanship. Blue ribbon rosters These four lists vary in their scope, the Prophetic vision criteria for selection, and the number of By James E. Hambleton Ability is defined by Currie as profi- judges chosen. The Mersky-Blaustein ciency in the law, the power of persua- and Currie lists have only United States AMFRTCANS are great list makers. The sion, the power to reason logically and Supreme Court justices; the Pound and New York Times best-seller list, the top write well, and the capacity to "rise Schwartz lists also have candidates from 40 tunes, the Women's Wear Daily above prior political or economic views" the various state benches. Neither best-dressed list, the Guinness Book of to decide an issue objectively. Prophetic Pound nor Mersky-Blaustein discusses World Records, and even the Book of vision enables a judge to discern the im- criteria for selection, while Currie elabo- Lists all attest this fact. Making the all- pact of a decision both on future legal rates on selection standards, and star roster can be the highlight of an development and on the social order. Ju- Schwartz draws conclusions about athlete's season. dicial statesmanship includes the power shared traits from the judges chosen. It is not surprising, then, to find that to draft an opinion dictated by prophetic Mersky's and Blaustein's survey pro- lists of America's "best" judges have vision but placed on the proper legal and duced 12 justices termed "great." The been compiled. There are at least four of constitutional grounds. The enduring Schwartz and Pound tallies contain ten these, the first of which was drawn by character of a judge's legal contributions names, while Currie limited himself to an Roscoe Pound in his 1938 book, The was counted as proof that a particular all-star nine. Formative Era of American Law. judge possessed these qualities. The dates at which the various lists Pound's roster of "the ten judges who The third survey of best judges was were published also vary widely. The must be ranked first in American judicial tallied from a questionnaire sent to 65 Pound list was the first, released in 1938, history" includes both state and federal law school deans and professors of law. followed by the Currie list in 1964, entries. Pound put his list in a footnote Compiled by Roy M. Mersky and Albert Mersky's and Blaustein's in 1972, and without detailing the criteria he used for P. Blaustein, "Rating Supreme Court Schwartz's in 1979. The 40-year lapse selection. Justices" appears in 58 American Bar between Pound's roster and that of In 1964 George Currie of the Wiscon- Association Journal 1183 (1972). The re- Schwartz accounts for the last four sin Supreme Court picked an "all-time, spondents to the questionnaire evaluated names in Schwartz's roster being dif- all-star United States Supreme Court all justices who had sat on the Supreme ferent. comprised of nine members [who] have Court on a one-to-five scale, from "great" to "failure." No selection criteria were suggested. From this survey, 12 justices qualified as "great." The line-up: A more recent roster of greatest judges Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., c has been drafted by Bernard Schwartz, "The Judicial Ten: America's Greatest John Marshall, p Judges," 1979 Southern Illinois Univer- Joseph Story, lb sity Law Journal 405. Schwartz discusses the reasons why each particular Benjamin N. Cardozo, 2b judge was chosen and near the end of the Charles Evans Hughes, ss article generalizes about what char- acteristics the selected judges share Hi Hugo Black, 3b conclusions are that all the judges can be Earl Warren, If distinguished by "their more affirmati' D. approach to the judicial role." Each Louis Brandeis, cf judge held rather strong views and "did Roger B. Taney, rf not hesitate to employ judicial power to Illustrations by Chuck Slack April, 1983 * Volume 69 463 Both Schwartz and Pound list: Supreme Court justices. The three John Marshall, Chief Justice of the names that appeared on the three United States, 1801-35 other lists also appear here: Marshall, James Kent, Justice, New York, Story, and Holmes. Cardozo, cut from 1798-1823 the Currie roster, reappears on Joseph Story, Justice, United States Mersky-Blaustein. The two additional Supreme Court, 1811-45 justices picked by Schwartz-Black and Lemuel Shaw, Chief Justice, Massa- Warren-also are in the line-up. Three chusetts, 1830-60 from Currie's tally also make the Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Justice, Mersky- Blaustein list: Taney, Brandeis, Massachusetts, 1882-1902; Justice, and Hughes. The final three Supreme United States Supreme Court, 1902-32 Court justices honored are: Benjamin Nathan Cardozo, Justice, John M. Harlan, 1877-1911 New York, 1914-32; Justice, United Harlan F. Stone, 1925-46 States Supreme Court, 1932-38. Felix Frankfurter, 1939-62. The other four on Pound's tally are: John Bannister Gibson, Justice, Penn- Hall of fame trio sylvania, 1816-53 No matter what selection criteria were Thomas Ruffin, Justice, North used or whether the lists included state Carolina, 1827-53 as well as United States Supreme Court Thomas McIntyre Cooley, Judge, justices, three people are always present: Michigan, 1864-85 John Marshall, Joseph Story, and Oliver Charles Doe, Justice, New Hamp- Wendell Holmes, Jr. These three un- shire, 1861-76. doubtedly would head the roster of the Pound drew only four of his ten names best Supreme Court justices. Another from the ranks of the United States Su- all-star selection would be Benjamin preme Court: Marshall, Story, Holmes, Cardozo, chosen by three of the four list and Cardozo. The other six all sat on makers. their respective state benches. To round out the all-star, all-era United States Supreme Court nine, there Judicial M.V.P.'s are five more judges whose names ap- Schwartz chose six of his ten from the pear on two of the four lists. Roger United States Supreme Court-the four Taney, Louis Brandeis, and Charles from the Pound roster (Marshall, Story, Evans Hughes were all rated among the Holmes, and Cardozo) plus Hugo greatest by both Currie and Mersky- LaFayette Black, 1937-71, and Earl Blaustein. The remaining two positions Warren, 1953-69. Schwartz selected two are filled by Hugo Black and Earl War- state court judges whom Pound listed- ren, whose names are on both the Kent and Shaw. Schwartz rounds out his Mersky-Blaustein and Schwartz rosters. register of the ten greatest with Arthur A synthesis of these four lists provides T. Vanderbilt, Justice, New Jersey, a new roster of the all-time, all-star, all- 1947-57, and Roger John Traynor, Jus- era, Supreme Court nine: tice, California, 1940-70. John Marshall Currie's all-star nine consists only of Joseph Story United States Supreme Court justices. Roger B. Taney His nine include three of the four that Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. both Pound and Schwartz selected: John Benjamin Nathan Cardozo Marshall, Joseph Story, and Oliver Louis Dembitz Brandeis Wendell Holmes, Jr. Cardozo did not Charles Evans Hughes make the cut. The others are: Hugo Black William Johnson, 1804-34 Earl Warren. Roger B. Taney, 1836-64 This catalogue of greats represents the Samuel Freeman Miller, 1862-90 elite of all the justices who have sat on Joseph P. Bradley, 1870-92 the Supreme Court, It is the definitive Louis Dembitz Brandeis, 1916-39 list until someone else draws up an all- Charles Evans Hughes, 1910-16 and star line-up. 1930-41. The Mersky-Blaustein list, like Cur- (James E. Hambleton is director of rie's, is made up only of United States the Texas State Law Library.)

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