Fortas, << FAWR tuhs, >> Abe (1910-1982), served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He was appointed to the court by President Lyndon B. Johnson. During his time on the court, Fortas became one of its most liberal members. He supported civil rights, free speech, and personal privacy. He also worked to expand the rights of criminal defendants.
In 1968, President Johnson nominated Fortas for the position of chief justice to replace the retiring Earl Warren. Johnson withdrew the nomination at Fortas’s request after a Senate filibuster (extended debate) prevented a vote on the nomination. Many legal scholars attributed the filibuster to election-year politics and opposition from conservatives (see Filibustering ).
In 1969, Fortas resigned from the court after receiving widespread criticism for his association with the Wolfson Family Foundation. Financier Louis E. Wolfson had been convicted of stock manipulation in 1967. At a time when Wolfson was under federal investigation, Fortas had agreed to consult on developing Wolfson Family Foundation programs involving juvenile civil rights in Florida. The foundation was to pay $20,000 a year for life to Fortas and, if she outlived him, to his wife. But Fortas soon canceled the agreement.
Fortas was born on June 19, 1910, in Memphis. He graduated from Southwestern College and Yale Law School. From 1933 to 1937, he was an assistant professor of law at Yale. Fortas also held a number of government posts. He became undersecretary of the interior in 1942. He entered private law practice in Washington, D.C., in 1947. He became known as one of the city’s most powerful political attorneys before his appointment to the Supreme Court. After his resignation from the court, he returned to private practice in Washington, but not with the visibility of his earlier career. Fortas died on April 5, 1982.
