Thurgood Marshall: The Lawyer As Judge

When Thurgood Marshall took the Oath in 1967, it was the twilight of one of the Court\u27s most brilliant periods: the Warren Court\u27s revolution of criminal and racial justice. He was a part of that alliance for two Terms. When a new Court, and new alliances, moved the Court into the dark shadows, he and his closest colleague, William Brennan, Jr., held staunchly to their vision of the Court\u27s historic function “to be watchful for the constitutional rights of the citizen, and against any stealthy encroachment thereon.” He remained faithful to that vision to the end when, as a lone figure from those Halcyon days, he would write in his last opinion, not merely for a Court that had marginalized him, but for all of those Americans who continued to revere him: “Power, not reason, is the new currency of this Court\u27s decision making.