Full Description
An associate justice on the renowned Warren Court whose landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education overturned racial segregation in schools and other public facilities, Tom C. Clark was a crusader for justice throughout his long legal career. Among many tributes Clark received, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger opined that "no man in the past thirty years has contributed more to the improvement of justice than Tom Clark."
Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark is the first biography of this important American jurist. Written by his daughter, Mimi Clark Gronlund, and based on interviews with many of Clark's judicial associates, friends, and family, as well as archival research, it offers a well-rounded portrait of a lawyer and judge who dealt with issues that remain in contention today-civil rights, the rights of the accused, school prayer, and censorship/pornography, among them. Gronlund explores the factors in her father's upbringing and education that helped form his judicial philosophy, then describes how that philosophy shaped his decisions on key issues and cases, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the investigation of war fraud, the Truman administration's loyalty program (an anti-communist effort), the Brown decision, Mapp v. Ohio (protections against unreasonable search and seizure), and Abington v. Schempp (which overturned a state law that required reading from the Bible each day in public schools).
Contents
Foreword by Ramsey Clark
Preface
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part One. The Early Years, 1899-1936
Chapter 1. Early Influences
Chapter 2. Emerging into Manhood
Chapter 3. Forging the Steel
Chapter 4. Turning Points
Part Two. The Department of Justice Years, 1937-1949
Chapter 5. Some Disruptive Years
Chapter 6. His Greatest Mistake
Chapter 7. Beyond the Goal
Chapter 8. The President's Lawyer
Chapter 9. Juvenile Delinquency and the Freedom Train
Chapter 10. Civil Rights: Opening a New Era
Chapter 11. Cold War Fever: National Security versus Individual Freedom
Chapter 12. The 1948 Presidential Election
Part Three. The Supreme Court Years, 1949-1967
Chapter 13. A Controversial Appointment
Chapter 14. A Period of Adjustment
Chapter 15. Investigation Mania
Chapter 16. A Delicate Balance
Chapter 17. The Brown Decision and Civil Rights
Chapter 18. Some Troublesome Issues
Chapter 19. He Made a Difference
Chapter 20. An Ending and a Beginning
Part Four. Retirement, 1967-1977
Chapter 21. The Great Adventure
Chapter 22. The Federal Judicial Center
Chapter 23. Riding the Circuits, Championing Reforms
Chapter 24. Some Personal Observations
Chapter 25. A Life Well Lived
Epilogue
Appendix: Law Clerks of Justice Clark
Notes
Bibliography
Index
