Earl Warren

… was born in Los Angeles on this date in 1891.

Among the decisions the Supreme Court made under Warren as Chief Justice were those that:

• Outlawed school segregation.
• Enunciated the one-man, one-vote doctrine.
• Made most of the Bill of Rights binding on the states.
• Curbed wiretapping.
• Upheld the right to be secure against “unreasonable” searches and seizures.
• Buttressed the right to counsel.
• Underscored the right to a jury trial.
• Barred racial discrimination in voting, in marriage laws, in the use of public parks, airports and bus terminals and in housing sales and rentals.
• Extended the boundaries of free speech.
• Ruled out compulsory religious exercises in public schools.
• Restored freedom of foreign travel.
• Knocked out the application of both the Smith and the McCarran Acts–both designed to curb “subversive” activities.
• Held that Federal prisoners could sue the Government for injuries sustained in jail.
• Said that wages could not be garnished without a hearing.
• Liberalized residency requirements for welfare recipients.
• Sustained the right to disseminate and receive birth control information.

(Source: The New York Times)

Warren’s parents were born in Norway (father) and Sweden (mother). Elected governor of California three times (1942, 1946, 1950), Warren was so popular he won both the Democratic and Republican primaries in 1946. The darkest mark against Warren’s public service was the wartime internment of Japanese Americans.

President Eisenhower appointed Warren chief justice in 1953; he retired from the Court in 1969. NewMexiKen considers Warren the most significant historical figure I’ve ever seen in person (briefly at the 1964 New York World’s Fair) — and I’ve seen five presidents.