Thurgood Marshall Showed What `Justice' Means
Forty years ago, on June 13, 1967, President Lyndon Johnson strode into the Rose Garden for a news conference, accompanied by a tall, distinguished black man.
"I shall send to the Senate this afternoon," Johnson said, "the nomination of Mr. Thurgood Marshall to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court. ... He is best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country. I believe it is the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." Marshall was then best known for his role as an architect of Brown v. Board of Education and the effort to overturn legal segregation.
But what both Marshall and Johnson understood was that that struggle was never only about blacks but about the soul and future of our country.
During his quarter-century on the court, Marshall advanced a jurisprudence of freedom, opportunity and justice that improved the lives of all Americans. He understood that our Constitution was intended to unite us through a common set of rights and responsibilities. His opinions on criminal justice and education - as well as civil rights - illustrate his vision of the Constitution as a unifying force.
In Benton v. Maryland, for example, his decision for the court held that the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution - which outlaws prosecuting the same person twice for the same crime - applies to the 50 states. "The double jeopardy prohibition," he said, "represents a fundamental ideal in our constitutional heritage, and ... it should apply to the states through the 14th Amendment."...
Read entire article at The Hartford Courant
"I shall send to the Senate this afternoon," Johnson said, "the nomination of Mr. Thurgood Marshall to the position of associate justice of the Supreme Court. ... He is best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country. I believe it is the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place." Marshall was then best known for his role as an architect of Brown v. Board of Education and the effort to overturn legal segregation.
But what both Marshall and Johnson understood was that that struggle was never only about blacks but about the soul and future of our country.
During his quarter-century on the court, Marshall advanced a jurisprudence of freedom, opportunity and justice that improved the lives of all Americans. He understood that our Constitution was intended to unite us through a common set of rights and responsibilities. His opinions on criminal justice and education - as well as civil rights - illustrate his vision of the Constitution as a unifying force.
In Benton v. Maryland, for example, his decision for the court held that the double jeopardy clause of the Constitution - which outlaws prosecuting the same person twice for the same crime - applies to the 50 states. "The double jeopardy prohibition," he said, "represents a fundamental ideal in our constitutional heritage, and ... it should apply to the states through the 14th Amendment."...