Criminal Justice / Law: Jurists
Biographical Resources
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Biography: Gale in Context This link opens in a new window
Includes authoritative reference information alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day news-makers. Search or browse to find people based on occupation, role, or historical period, or search based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender.
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Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Search for individuals based on any combination of occupation, activity, gender, place of origin, birthday and lifespan. Limit by source type, and searchable indexes can be used to browse by biography name, document type, geographic terms and more. Original content supplemented with new biographies and updated versions of preexisting articles.
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Current Biography Illustrated This link opens in a new window
Contains biographical profiles on celebrities, politicians, business people, writers, actors, sports figures, artists, scientists, and others. Search by occupation, activity, gender, place of origin, birthday etc.
Notable Justices of the Supreme Court
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Samuel Alito Jr. (1950 - )From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Associate justice of the US Supreme Court from 2006. A judge on the US Court of Appeals from 1990, he replaced the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor. -
Louis Brandeis (1856 - 1941): Topic PageAmerican jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916-1939). His opposition to monopolies and defense of individual human rights formed the basis of many of his high court decisions.
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Stephen G. Breyer (1938 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1994–), b. San Francisco. A graduate of Stanford and Oxford universities and of Harvard Law School (1964), he clerked (1964–65) for Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, then worked for the Justice Dept. and as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. -
Warren E. Burger (1907 - 1995): Topic PageUS jurist, chief justice of the US Supreme Court 1969-86. Appointed to the court by President Richard Nixon because of his conservative views, Burger showed himself to be pragmatic and liberal on some social issues, including abortion and desegregation.
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Salmon P. Chase (1808 - 1873): Topic PageAmerican public official and jurist, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (1864–73), b. Cornish, N.H. Admitted to the bar in 1829, he defended runaway blacks so often that he became known as "attorney general for fugitive slaves."
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Sandra Day O'Connor (1930 - )From The Penguin biographical dictionary of women
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be appointed a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. -
Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993–), b. Brooklyn, N.Y. A graduate (1954) of Cornell Univ., she attended Harvard Law School, then transferred to Columbia Law School, graduating in 1959. -
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841 - 1935): Topic PageAmerican jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1902–32), b. Boston; son of the writer Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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Charles Evans Hughes (1862 - 1948): Topic PageAmerican statesman and jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1910–16), U.S. Secretary of State (1921–25), and eleventh Chief Justice of the United States (1930–41), b. Glens Falls, N.Y.
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John Jay (1745 - 1829): Topic PageAmerican statesman, first Chief Justice of the United States, b. New York City, grad. King's College (now Columbia Univ.), 1764.
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Anthony M. Kennedy (1936 - )From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US jurist, appointed associate justice of the US Supreme Court in 1988. A conservative, he wrote the majority opinion in Washington v. Harper (1990) that the administration of medication for mentally ill prisoners, without the prisoner's consent, is permissible. -
Thurgood Marshall (1908 - 1993): Topic PageAmerican jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1967 to 1991. As a lawyer for the NAACP Marshall argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them.
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William Rehnquist (1924 - 2005): Topic PageUS Supreme Court associate justice 1972-86, and chief justice from 1986. Under his leadership the court established a reputation for conservative rulings on such issues as abortion and capital punishment.
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John G. Roberts Jr. (1955 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American public official, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2005–) b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Harvard (B.A. 1976, J.D. 1979). He clerked (1980–81) for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist before serving in the Reagan administration as special assistant to the attorney general (1981–82) and associate counsel to the president (1982–86). -
Antonin Scalia (1936 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1986–), b. Trenton, N.J. He graduated from Harvard Law School (1960) and subsequently taught law at the Univ. of Virginia (1967–71) and the Univ. of Chicago (1977–82).
David H. Souter (1939 - )From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US Supreme Court associate justice from 1990. A former attorney general of New Hampshire 1976-78, he was nominated to the court by President George H W Bush in 1990.John Paul Stevens (1920 - )From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
US Supreme Court associate justice from 1975, nominated by President Gerald Ford. His opinions and dissents have been wide ranging, taking the view that the death penalty is not by definition cruel and unusual punishment in Jurek v. Texas (1976), and that the burning of the US flag in protest is unconstitutional in Texas v. Johnson.Clarence Thomas (1948 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1991-), b. Pin Point (Savannah), Ga. Raised in a poor family, he graduated (1974) from the Yale Law School and became a prominent black conservative active in Republican causes.Earl Warren (1891 - 1974)From Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
The fourteenth chief justice of the United States (1953–1969), Earl Warren became a lightning rod in the culture wars for the controversial decisions issued by the Supreme Court during his tenure.
Jurists & Legal Philosophers
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Dean Acheson (1893 - 1971): Topic PageU.S. lawyer and statesman: secretary of state (1949-53) under President Truman.
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John Ashcroft (1942 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American political figure, b. Chicago, grad. Yale Univ. (B.A., 1964), Univ. of Chicago School of Law (J.D., 1967). A conservative Republican, Ashcroft was Missouri state auditor (1975–76) and attorney general (1976–85) before being twice elected to the post of governor (1985–93). -
William Jennings Bryan (1860 - 1925): Topic PagePolitical leader and orator, born in Salem, Illinois, USA. After practising law, he was elected to the US House of Representatives (Democrat, 1891–5) and began to develop his reputation as the Great Commoner, using his oratorical skills on behalf of the causes of ordinary folk.
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Benjamin Cardozo (1870 - 1938): Topic PageAmerican jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1932–38), b. New York City. Educated at Columbia Univ., he practiced law until he was elected (1913) to the New York supreme court. Cardozo was then appointed (1914) to the court of appeals, elected (1917) for a 14-year term, and elected (1927) chief judge of the court, which, largely through his influence, gained international fame.
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Ramsey Clark (1927 - ): Topic PageAttorney general of the United States (1967–69), b. Dallas, Tex.; son of Tom Campbell Clark. Admitted to the bar in 1951, Ramsey Clark practiced law in Dallas.
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Clarence Darrow (1857 - 1938): Topic PageUS criminal defence lawyer; best known for his defence of the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in the Scopes trial.
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David Davis (1815 - 1886): Topic PageAmerican jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1862–77), b. Cecil co., Md., grad. Kenyon College, 1832; cousin of Henry Winter Davis. In 1836 he settled as a lawyer in Bloomington, Ill., his home thereafter.
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Abe Fortas (1910 - 1982): Topic PageAssociate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1965–69), b. Memphis, Tenn. After receiving his law degree from Yale in 1933, he taught there (1933–37) and also held a variety of government posts.
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Alberto Gonzales (1955 - )from The Columbia Encyclopedia
American government official, b. San Antonio, Tex. After serving in the Air Force (1973–75), he attended the Air Force Academy and graduated from Rice Univ. (B.A., 1979) and Harvard Law School (J.D., 1982). He was in private practice in Texas until he was named general counsel to Texas governor George W. Bush in 1994. -
John Marshall Harlan (1833 - 1911): Topic PageAmerican jurist. As an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1877-1911) he was known for his outspoken dissenting opinions.
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Robert F. Kennedy (1925 - 1968): Topic PageAmerican politician who served as U.S. attorney general (1961-1964) during the presidency of his brother John F. Kennedy. He was elected to the Senate (1964) and was campaigning for the presidency when he was assassinated in Los Angeles.
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James Kent (1763 - 1847): Topic PageAmerican jurist, b. near Brewster, N.Y. He was admitted to the bar in 1785 and began practice in Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Active in the Federalist party, he served several terms in the New York legislature.
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Robert Lansing (1864 - 1928): Topic PageU.S. Secretary of State (1915–20), b. Watertown, N.Y. An authority in the field of international law, he founded the American Journal of International Law in 1907 and remained an editor of it until his death.
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Michael Mukasey (1941 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American jurist, b. Bronx, N.Y., grad. Columbia (A.B., 1963), Yale Law School (LL.B., 1967). After being in private practice (1967–72), he was appointed assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in 1972 and served (1975–76) as chief of its official corruption unit. -
Roscoe Pound (1870 - 1964): Topic PageAmerican jurist who was dean of Harvard Law School (1916-1936) and wrote several influential books, including The Spirit of the Common Law (1921).
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Janet Reno (1938 - )From The Columbia Encyclopedia
U.S. attorney general (1993-2001), b. Miami, Fla.; grad. Harvard Law School (1963). As assistant state's attorney (1973-76) and state's attorney (1976-93) for Dade Co., Fla., she became known for her attention to children's rights, drug cases, and juvenile justice reform. -
Kenneth Starr (1946 - ): Topic PageUS attorney and judge. Starr's role as independent counsel in charge of the Whitewater investigation led to the impeachment of US president Bill Clinton on 19 December 1998, after Starr expanded his investigation in January 1998 to include allegations of an affair between President Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
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Joseph Story (1779 - 1845): Topic PageAmerican jurist, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1811–45), b. Marblehead, Mass. Admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1801, he practiced law in Salem and was several times elected to the Massachusetts legislature.