Word: novick
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...clear to anyone who reads the excerpts of his brilliant opinions why Holmes is so widely admired by legal scholars. But Novick is not afraid to point out the views held by the justice which would be considered dangerous and cruel today, even if they were not considered so then. For example, Novick describes Holmes' failure to support the voting rights of Blacks in the South. And he spends some time analyzing Holmes' most controversial--and perhaps even Fascist--opinion, which gave states the right to sterilize poor women who were institutionalized...
...addition to critically assessing Holmes' legal views, Novick is not afraid of exploring the peculiar quirks and flaws in the justice's personality. It is with some degree of harshness that Novick relates Holmes' frigid diary entry on the day he was married to his wife Fanny, around the time he was made the sole editor of the American Law Review: "Married. Sole editor...
...relationship, with Clare Castletown, the wife of the British Lord Castletown, was of particular importance to Holmes. Although it never advanced very far, or even seemed to tempt him with adultery, his letters to her are filled with powerful emotion. Recognizing that the letters' beauty need no explanation, Novick is content to print several pages of excerpts at the end of one chapter...
Through these unpublished letters and Holmes' other notes, Novick is able to expose Holmes the person, and that in turn lets him shed light on the ideas of Holmes the judge. By understanding the factors and experiences that shaped Holmes' thought processes, it is easier to understand his theories, many of which are now part of the laws of the land...
...that reason the biography is an excellent tool for all students of the law and of the Supreme Court. But Novick manages to do more with his research. By carefully exploring the changes in Holmes' opinions and ideas, he is able to chronicle, at last, the thought-processes of one of the greatest thinkers of recent centuries...