Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun
1909 - 1999
Justice Blackmun was a magna cum laude mathematics
Justice Blackmun was considered a staunch conservative
Justice Blackmun is best known for his authorship of the
Justice Blackmun's legacy goes far beyond that decision.
When the court in 1993 ruled that U.S. authorities need
Months before his retirement, Blackmun repudiated his
Justice Harry A. Blackmun retired in 1994, after serving
Retired Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, died
Thursday, March 4th, 1999, at age 90. He was in a
hospital in suburban Arlington, Virginia, and died
from complications following hip-replacement surgery
performed nine days earlier. He had fallen and broken
his hip at home a day before the operation.
graduate of Harvard who considered becoming a doctor
and for years served as general counsel to the Mayo
Clinic. had been a member of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals since 1959 and was confirmed as an Associate
Justice of the Supreme Court by a unanimous Senate vote
after his 1970 nomination by President Richard Nixon.
Having been recommended to Nixon by his childhood friend,
then-Chief Justice Warren Burger, he was Nixon's 3rd
choice, the first two having been denied by the Senate.
Justice Blackmun said years later that his No. 3 status
"always kept me a little on the humble side."
in his early days on the court. President Nixon referred
to him as a "strict constructionist," which Nixon aides
defined as a judge who tended to interpret existing law
rather than make new law; and in his early years on the
Court, he almost always voted on the conservative side
of cases. But by the end of his first decade on the Court,
he had established himself as an independent thinker, often
voting in favor of individual liberties against government
authority. But he generally voted against expanding the
rights of criminal suspects. He was a champion of strict
separation between church and state. As a result, he became
known as its most liberal justice.
1973 "Roe vs. Wade" decision, which gave women across the
country the right to have an abortion. He reasoned that
reproductive decisions are a highly personal matter, and
that therefore the government has no compelling interest
in legislating one way or the other. A majority of the
Court agreed with him. But as a result of writing this
decision, his life was repeatedly threatened, and he
received more than 60,000 pieces of "hate mail" calling
him a murderer and comparing him to the Nazi overseers
of genocide, which he insisted on reading himself. "I
want to know what the people who wrote are thinking,"
he said.
As he became known as a liberal, he adopted a new role:
the justice most intent on forcing the court to deal with
the realities of the problems it was asked to resolve and
with the real-world effects of those resolutions. His
opinions often portrayed those realities passionately.
not give hearings before seizing and returning Haitians
who had fled their homeland by boats, Blackmun was the
lone dissenter. "They demand only that the United States,
land of refugees and guardian of freedom, cease forcibly
driving them back to detention, abuse and death," he
wrote. "That is a modest plea. ... We should not close
our ears to it."
career-long support of capital punishment and declared
himself against the death penalty in all circumstances.
"The death-penalty experiment has failed. I no longer
shall tinker with the machinery of death," Blackmun wrote.
24 years on the nation's highest court. He is survived by
his wife, Dorothy, three daughters and five grandchildren.
Words of Praise
Justice Blackmun was someone with "passion for the
welfare of the American people, for defending our
liberties and our institutions, for moving us
forward together." He served "with compassion,
distinction and honor."
President William Jefferson Clinton
"He will be missed by his friends throughout the building,
from his breakfast gatherings in the cafeteria every
morning to his continuing association with his colleagues
after he had retired."
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
"Intelligence, kindness, diligence, warmth, scholarship,
grace and an unusual concern about the impact of judicial
decisions on real people are among the fine qualities
that shaped his important contributions to the work
of the Court."
Justice John Paul Stevens
"He was a brilliant, meticulous and thoughtful man."
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
"No one was more dedicated to the rule of law, or more
painstaking in the execution of his responsibilities
on this court. He was a good man and a good justice,
deserving of the respect of all Americans."
Justice Antonin Scalia
"He gave unyielding devotion to the court, to its
scholarly work and to the rule of law."
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy
"He was a forceful judge, a good man
and an affectionate friend."
Justice David H. Souter
"I was fortunate to sit with (him) during my first years
on the court. He was always the consummate professional
who conducted himself with great dignity."
Justice Clarence Thomas
"We did not always agree and we approached oral
argument differently, but he was to me a model of
the caring justice for his integrity, his high
sense of justice, his exemplification of decency,
modesty and civility."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"Harry Blackmun's continuous concern for ordinary
citizens and for the law's impact upon their lives
made him a great and human justice. We will miss him
enormously."
Justice Stephen G. Breyer
Harry A. Blackmun:
In His Own Words
On the "Roe vs. Wade" decision:
"Author of the abortion decision," he said slowly
and softly. "We all pick up tabs. I'll carry this
one to my grave."
On being called a liberal:
"One has to develop his attitude toward the great
phrases (in the U. S. Constitution). What does equal
protection mean? What is cruel and unusual punishment?
I would hope that I have grown in that respect over
the years. But as far as shifting from conservatism to
liberalism, I don't believe I have done that."
On his place in history:
"I hope I would be remembered as a person of judicial
integrity who wrote acceptably well and contributed
in more than one field. I'd like to be known just as
a good worker in the vineyard who held his own and
contributed generally to the advancement of the law."
King Hussein of Jordan
