(April 25, 1906 – July 24, 1997) was a Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Serving from October 16, 1956 – July 20, 1990, he was known for his liberal opinions, which reportedly included the per curiam opinion in Cooper v. Aaron that established judicial supremacy. Brennan was also the “driving force” behind the writing of Roe v. Wade (1973). Brennan (not the insecure, less gifted Justice Harry Blackmun)—was the driving force behind the final version of Roe v. Wade, which Blackmun originally had planned as a cautious, narrow decision. Brennan, in spite of his holding to Roman Catholicism which specifically forbade abortions, was largely responsible for the expansion of the abortion regime outlined in Roe into a “fundamental” right to abortion on demand that was used to strike down parental consent and notification laws, viability testing, informed consent requirements and numerous other legislative restrictions on abortion.[1]
Justice Brennan filled a vacancy left by Sherman Minton, but more accurately filled an “Irish-Catholic” seat vacated by Frank Murphy in 1949. President Dwight Eisenhower, concerned about his reelection only about a month later, hoped to appeal to northeastern Democratic voters in picking Brennan.[2] Eisenhower viewed his nomination of Brennan, alongside his nomination of Earl Warren, as a mistake, confirming as much when in retirement in an interview with a reporter, where he mentioned in response to a question regarding if he made any mistakes while in office that he made two and that “[the mistakes] are both on the Supreme Court.”[3]
In “Lemon v. Kurtzman” (1971), Brennan concluded that government subsidy of religious schools is an impermissible involvement of secular with religious institutions, thereby making it unconstitutional for Rhode Island to pay 15% of teachers’ salary in parochial schools. American Catholic bishops said that this decision violated the right of parents to educate their children in parochial schools. Justice Brennan and the majority of the Court upheld the Lemon ruling in 1973 (“The Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist”).
Justice Brennan wrote three of the most liberal court decisions in history:[4]
- Baker v. Carr (1962)
- Cooper v. Aaron (1958)[5]
- Plyler v. Doe (1982)
Brennan said: “Judicial power resides in the authority to give meaning to the Constitution.”
