Table Of ContentThe Warren Court
ABC-CLIO SUPREME COURT HANDBOOKS
The Burger Court, Tinsley E. Yarbrough
The Stone Court, Peter G. Renstrom
The Warren Court,Melvin I. Urofsky
Forthcoming:
The Fuller Court, James W. Ely, Jr.
The Hughes Court,Michael E. Parrish
The Jay-Ellsworth Court,Matthew P. Harrington
The Rehnquist Court,Thomas R. Hensley
The Taft Court,Peter G. Renstrom
The Taney Court,Timothy S. Huebner
The Vinson Court,Michal R. Belknap
Peter G. Renstrom, Series Editor
ABC-CLIO SUPREME COURT HANDBOOKS
The Warren Court
Justices,
Rulings, and
Legacy
Melvin I. Urofsky
Virginia Commonwealth University
Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England
Copyright © 2001 by Melvin I. Urofsky
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission
in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Urofsky, Melvin I.
The Warren court : justices, rulings, and legacy / Melvin I. Urofsky.
p. cm. — (ABC-CLIO Supreme Court handbooks)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57607-160-X (hard : acid-free paper) — ISBN 1-57607-593-1 (e-book : acid-free paper)
1. United States. Supreme Court-—History—20th century. 2. Warren,
Earl 1891–1974. 3. Constitutional history—United States. I. Title.
II. Series.
KF8742 .U764 2001
347.73'26—dc21 2001-000011
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ABC-CLIO, Inc.
130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911
Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper I.
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Emma Beatrice Urofsky
Like her grandmother, an ever-changing delight
Contents
Series Foreword, ix
Preface, xi
PART ONE
Justices, Rulings, and Legacy, 1
1 The Warren Court and the Period, 3
The Roosevelt Era, 3
World War II, 11
The Post–World War Era, 14
The Black-Frankfurter Debate, 19
Conclusion, 26
References, 27
2 The Justices,29
The Superchief and His Associates, 32
Conclusion, 73
References, 75
3 The Decisions,77
The Equal Protection of the Law, 78
The Reapportionment Cases, 103
The First Amendment: The Speech Clause, 111
The First Amendment: The Press Clause, 131
The First Amendment: The Religion Clauses, 138
The Rights of the Accused, 156
The Right to Privacy, 182
A Final Lesson in Democracy, 184
References, 186
vii
viii
Contents
4 The Legacy,189
The Transformation of the Court, 189
The Burger Court and Equal Protection, 191
The Rehnquist Court and Equal Protection, 195
The Legacy of Warren Court Equal Protection, 206
The Burger Court and Speech, 208
The Burger Court and a Free Press, 215
The Rehnquist Court and Free Speech, 219
The Burger Court and the Religion Clauses, 223
The Rehnquist Court and the Religion Clauses, 228
The Burger Court and Rights of the Accused, 236
The Rehnquist Court and Rights of the Accused, 241
The Right to Privacy—Abortion and the Right to Die, 243
Conclusion: The Warren Court’s Legacy, 253
References, 255
PART TWO
Reference Materials, 257
Key People, Laws, and Events,259
Chronology, 281
Table of Cases,287
Glossary, 297
Selected Bibliography, 311
Index, 327
About the Author, 357
Series Foreword
T
here is an extensive literature on the U.S. Supreme Court, but it contains dis-
cussion familiar largely to the academic community and the legal profession.
The ABC-CLIO Supreme Court series is designed to have value to the aca-
demic and legal communities also, but each volume is intended as well for the gen-
eral reader who does not possess an extensive background on the Court or American
constitutional law. The series is intended to effectively represent each of fourteen
periods in the history of the Supreme Court with each of these fourteen eras defined
by the chief justice beginning with John Jay in 1789. Each Court confronted consti-
tutional and statutory questions that were of major importance to and influenced by
the historical period. The Court’s decisions were also influenced by the values of each
of the individual justices sitting at the time. The issues, the historical period, the jus-
tices, and the Supreme Court’s decisions in the most significant cases will be exam-
ined in the volumes of this series.
ABC-CLIO’s Supreme Court series provides scholarly examinations of the Court
as it functioned in different historical periods and with different justices. Each vol-
ume contains information necessary to understand each particular Court and an
interpretative analysis by the author of each Court’s record and legacy. In addition to
representing the major decisions of each Court, institutional linkages are examined
as well—the political connections among the Court, Congress, and the president.
These relationships are important for several reasons. Although the Court retains
some institutional autonomy, all the Court’s justices are selected by a process that
involves the other two branches. Many of the significant decisions of the Court
involve the review of actions of Congress or the president. In addition, the Court fre-
quently depends on the other two branches to secure compliance with its rulings.
The authors of the volumes in the ABC-CLIO series were selected with great care.
Each author has worked extensively with the Court, the period, and the personalities
about which he or she has written. ABC-CLIO wanted each of the volumes to examine
several common themes, and each author agreed to work within certain guidelines.
Each author was free, however, to develop the content of each volume, and many of the
volumes advance new or distinctive conclusions about the Court under examination.
ix
x
Series Foreword
Each volume contains four substantive chapters. The first chapter will intro-
duce the Court and the historical period in which it served. The second chapter will
examine each of the justices who sat on the particular Court. The third chapter will
represent the most significant decisions rendered by the particular Court. Among
other things, the impact of the historical period and the value orientations of the indi-
vidual justices will be developed. A fourth and final chapter will address the impact
of each particular Court on American constitutional law—its doctrinal legacy.
Each volume will contain several features designed to make the volume more
valuable to those whose previous exposure to the Supreme Court and American con-
stitutional law is limited. Each volume will have a reference section that will contain
brief entries on some of the people, statutes, events, and concepts introduced in the
four substantive chapters. Entries in this section are arranged alphabetically. Each vol-
ume will also contain a glossary of selected legal terms used in the text. Following each
of the four chapters, a list of sources used in the chapter and suggestions for further
reading will appear. Each volume will also have a comprehensive annotated bibliogra-
phy. A listing of Internet sources is presented at the end of the bibliography. Finally,
there will be a comprehensive subject index and a list of cases (with citation numbers)
discussed in each volume. ABC-CLIO is delighted with the quality of scholarship rep-
resented in each volume and is proud to offer this series to the reading public.
Permit me to conclude with a personal note. This project has been an extraor-
dinarily rewarding undertaking for me as series editor. Misgivings about serving in
this capacity were plentiful at the outset of the project. After tending to some admin-
istrative business pertaining to the series, securing authors for each volume was the
first major task. I developed a list of possible authors after reviewing previous work
and obtaining valuable counsel from several recognized experts in American consti-
tutional history. In virtually every instance, the first person on my list agreed to par-
ticipate in the project. The high quality of the series was assured and enhanced as
each author signed on. I could not have been more pleased. My interactions with each
author have been most pleasant, and the excellence of their work will be immediately
apparent to the reader. I sincerely thank each author.
Finally, a word about ABC-CLIO and its staff. ABC-CLIO was enthusiastic about
the project from the beginning and has done everything necessary to make this series
successful. I am very appreciative of the level of support I have received from ABC-
CLIO. Alicia Merritt, senior acquisitions editor, deserves special recognition. She has
held my hand throughout the project. She has facilitated making this project a reality
in every conceivable way. She has encouraged me from the beginning, provided
invaluable counsel, and given me latitude to operate as I wished while keeping me on
track at the same time. This project would not have gotten off the ground without Ali-
cia, and I cannot thank her enough.
—Peter G. Renstrom
