Word: warrens
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Even if he does not change the thrust of decisions, Fortas, an extraordinarily subtle and precise analyst, is likely to improve their quality. One justified criticism of the Warren court is that the decisions, though progressive and humane, were often so poorly written and negligent of precedent that they were confusing to lawyers and judges in lower courts, who must look on them...
Will the Fortas court be as active and adventuresome as the Warren court? The answer lies, ironically, not so much with Fortas as with Homer Thornberry, whose direction on the Supreme Court, despite a general record of moderate liberalism, is unpredictable. If he proves to be as liberal as Warren, whom he really replaces, the court will probably continue on much the same path. If he tends toward conservatism, it might move toward the right ? though probably not enough to satisfy the congressional critics. More vacancies might come even before Johnson leaves office. Black is 82; Douglas, 69, recently...
...Greatest Era. In his letter to President Johnson, Warren gave age as his sole reason for retiring. Still, it is not unlikely that he might have been prodded, as Republicans guessed, by the fear that a President Nixon would appoint a conservative who might undo much of what he had done. Nor is it altogether unlikely? unless last week's nominations are killed by a Senate filibuster? that Black and Douglas, also liberal, might be goaded by the same fear...
Still, the great controversies of the Warren era? civil rights, reapportionment and criminal justice? have largely been decided and the decisions are largely irreversible. "The work of the Warren era is finished," Fortas said last week. "It's done? magnificently. It was the greatest era of court history since John Marshall, and perhaps one can drop that qualification...
Some scholars see the next few years as a period of consolidation in which the Fortas court will refine and clarify the sometimes cluttered landmarks of the Warren era. Others, like Yale's Bickel, suspect that the Fortas court may have even bigger problems, exert even a greater influence on the nation...