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The Family Letters of Louis D. Brandeis
Widely regarded as a leading progressive reformer as well as a major figure in Constitutional history, Louis D. Brandeis was an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939. Liberals and conservatives alike consistently rate him as one of the few truly great jurists to serve on that court.
Until now, only Brandeis's professional correspondence has been available in print. Here, Melvin I. Urofsky and David W. Levy present the private correspondence between Brandeis and his immediate family, particularly his wife and two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan. Not only do the letters reveal much about progressive politics and personalities, they also reveal Brandeis the person. Author of the "right to privacy" doctrine, Brandeis jealously guarded his personal life. He enjoyed the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He liked to hike and canoe. As a husband and father, he faced the same problems and frustrations faced by every spouse and parent. He relished a good joke yet carefully restricted this side to this family and a few close friends. While many who came in contact with him thought him cold and remote, those closest to him saw the human side behind the mantle of Supreme Court justice.
Until now, only Brandeis's professional correspondence has been available in print. Here, Melvin I. Urofsky and David W. Levy present the private correspondence between Brandeis and his immediate family, particularly his wife and two daughters, Elizabeth and Susan. Not only do the letters reveal much about progressive politics and personalities, they also reveal Brandeis the person. Author of the "right to privacy" doctrine, Brandeis jealously guarded his personal life. He enjoyed the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He liked to hike and canoe. As a husband and father, he faced the same problems and frustrations faced by every spouse and parent. He relished a good joke yet carefully restricted this side to this family and a few close friends. While many who came in contact with him thought him cold and remote, those closest to him saw the human side behind the mantle of Supreme Court justice.
608 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2002
About the author
Louis D. Brandeis
61 books27 followersLouis Dembitz Brandeis was an American lawyer and Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents from Bohemia, who raised him in a secular home. He enrolled at Harvard Law School, graduating at the age of twenty with the highest grade average in the law school's history.
Brandeis settled in Boston where he became a recognized lawyer through his work on progressive social causes. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept by writing a Harvard Law Review article of that title, and was thereby credited by legal scholar Roscoe Pound as having accomplished "nothing less than adding a chapter to our law". He later published a book titled Other People's Money And How the Bankers Use It, suggesting ways of curbing the power of large banks and money trusts, which partly explains why he later fought against powerful corporations, monopolies, public corruption, and mass consumerism, all of which he felt were detrimental to American values and culture. He also became active in the Zionist movement, seeing it as a solution to antisemitism in Europe and Russia, while at the same time being a way to "revive the Jewish spirit."
When his family’s finances became secure, he began devoting most of his time to public causes and was later dubbed the “People’s Lawyer.” He insisted on serving on cases without pay so that he would be free to address the wider issues involved. The Economist magazine calls him "A Robin Hood of the law." Among his notable early cases were actions fighting railroad monopolies; defending workplace and labor laws; helping create the Federal Reserve System; and presenting ideas for the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He achieved recognition by submitting a case brief, later called the "Brandeis Brief," which relied on expert testimony from people in other professions to support his case, thereby setting a new precedent in evidence presentation.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson nominated Brandeis to become a member of the Supreme Court. However, his nomination was bitterly contested, partly because, as Justice William O. Douglas wrote, "Brandeis was a militant crusader for social justice whoever his opponent might be. He was dangerous not only because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage. He was dangerous because he was incorruptible. . . [and] the fears of the Establishment were greater because Brandeis was the first Jew to be named to the Court." He was eventually confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 47 to 22 on June 1, 1916,—21 Republican Senators and one Democratic Senator (Francis G. Newlands of Nevada) voted against his nomination—and became one of the most famous and influential figures ever to serve on the high court. His opinions were, according to legal scholars, some of the "greatest defenses" of freedom of speech and the right to privacy ever written by a member of the Supreme Court.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents from Bohemia, who raised him in a secular home. He enrolled at Harvard Law School, graduating at the age of twenty with the highest grade average in the law school's history.
Brandeis settled in Boston where he became a recognized lawyer through his work on progressive social causes. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept by writing a Harvard Law Review article of that title, and was thereby credited by legal scholar Roscoe Pound as having accomplished "nothing less than adding a chapter to our law". He later published a book titled Other People's Money And How the Bankers Use It, suggesting ways of curbing the power of large banks and money trusts, which partly explains why he later fought against powerful corporations, monopolies, public corruption, and mass consumerism, all of which he felt were detrimental to American values and culture. He also became active in the Zionist movement, seeing it as a solution to antisemitism in Europe and Russia, while at the same time being a way to "revive the Jewish spirit."
When his family’s finances became secure, he began devoting most of his time to public causes and was later dubbed the “People’s Lawyer.” He insisted on serving on cases without pay so that he would be free to address the wider issues involved. The Economist magazine calls him "A Robin Hood of the law." Among his notable early cases were actions fighting railroad monopolies; defending workplace and labor laws; helping create the Federal Reserve System; and presenting ideas for the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He achieved recognition by submitting a case brief, later called the "Brandeis Brief," which relied on expert testimony from people in other professions to support his case, thereby setting a new precedent in evidence presentation.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson nominated Brandeis to become a member of the Supreme Court. However, his nomination was bitterly contested, partly because, as Justice William O. Douglas wrote, "Brandeis was a militant crusader for social justice whoever his opponent might be. He was dangerous not only because of his brilliance, his arithmetic, his courage. He was dangerous because he was incorruptible. . . [and] the fears of the Establishment were greater because Brandeis was the first Jew to be named to the Court." He was eventually confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 47 to 22 on June 1, 1916,—21 Republican Senators and one Democratic Senator (Francis G. Newlands of Nevada) voted against his nomination—and became one of the most famous and influential figures ever to serve on the high court. His opinions were, according to legal scholars, some of the "greatest defenses" of freedom of speech and the right to privacy ever written by a member of the Supreme Court.
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