Talk:Felix Frankfurter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page.
Biography Portal
Start This article has been rated as start-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ]
This article is supported by the Politics and government work group.

Contents

[edit] Possible Error

I'm not sure but I think there may be an error on this page.

In the External Links section there is a Supreme Court section.

The "The Hughes Court" section marks Earl Warren as the Chief Justice ("Chief Justice: Earl Warren (1953–1969)").

Skipping down to the "Warren Court" section we see it marks Earl Warren as the Chief Justice ("Chief Justice: Earl Warren (1953–1969)")

Is this correct? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Greppyrun (talk • contribs) 01:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] comment

He seems to be first modern judical conservative.

I had previously asked, but then deleted, why you would call Frankfurter a judicial conservative, thinking you were referring to his politics, but then it occured to me that you are referring to his belief in judicial restraint. If that is true, I still say he should not be referred to as a "judicial conservative." It is such a misleading and loaded word, now associated with Scalia, et al. Many of the liberals of the 30's and 40's argued for Judicial restraint, that's why FDR wanted them on the court. He wanted new life in there that would find New Deal legislation constitutional and not strictly scrutinize legislative and executive actions on economic matters. While that sounds similar to what Bush is after today with his court appointments, I think the term "judicial conservative" is too loaded and too aligned with conservative laisez faire politics to be fitting for Frankfurter. This is particularly so, as modern judicial conservativism now incorporates originalists/textualists who argue that we should look no further than the beliefs and knowledge of 1789 when deciding Constitutional issues. Clearly Frankfurter would have nothing to do with arguments of that sort. Though he believed in Judicial Restraint, Frankfurter was no Judicial Conservative.Nepal Tree 05:59, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure if at Harvard Law School he had the second best record ever, the best since Louis Brandeis, or just a very excellent one. I've kept it a bit vague in the article. Ryanluck 17:09, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I've seen records of Frankfurter's cases on Cornell's website that give his initial as being J, not F. Is this a spelling mistake on their part, or did he go by a different name at some point.

perfectblue97

When judges are cited in court cases or briefs it looks like this "Franfurter, J." The "J" is not their first initial. It indicates "judge" or "justice" depending on which court they sit. Nepal Tree 04:59, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wife of a Jewish merchant

I don't know anything about the life of Frankfurter, but I will say that the first line seems a bit odd. If he was born to the wife of a Jewish merchant, then why not just say he was born to a jewish merchant in Vienna. Better still, why not just name his parents. Save the jewish reference for his appointment to the Supreme Court, because that is really when it is significant.Nepal Tree 04:59, 17 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Judicial Restraint

I had commented on this above, but wanted to give it its own section. I was just rereading the article and came across this:

"Despite his liberal political leanings, Frankfurter became the court's most outspoken advocate of judicial restraint, the view that courts should not interpret the fundamental law, the constitution, in such a way as to impose sharp limits upon the authority of the legislative and executive branches."

This section highlights the problem with terms like "judicial conservative." Frankfurter, and most of the New Deal Court, were concerned, as was their predecessor, Holmes, that the Supreme Court for too long had thwarted the economic innovations of Federal and State Legislatures. In time when economic upheaval and industrialization were changing the nature of American life, these progressive men felt that the Court, relying on antiquated maxims of the common law and predispositions to not allow the government to interfere in the internal workings of commerce, was stopping legislation essential to solving the new crisises of the industrial era. The Judicial Restraint of Frankfurter was not in spite of his liberal politics, it was because of his liberal politics. It is also arguable that his restraint was limited to economic issues. You'll notice that he joined the majority in Brown, which had the Courts geting very involved in the local state and municipal laws. The thing to remember about judicial policies is that they are not political views, but a means to a political end. Liberal and Conservative justices will argue judicial restraint when it is needed to make a case turn out the way they want it. But even a conservative like Judge Scalia, will not hesitate to interpret and even redefine a law when he doesn't like it. Look what he just tried to do to the Army Corps of Engineers definition of the "waters of the United States" in that Michigan land use case that came down this past June. Nepal Tree 15:35, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

"Frankfurter is one of two Supreme Court justices to share a name with a food item (the other is Warren E. Burger)." Is this really relevant? It doesn't even seem true (for example Salmon P. Chase). Makgraf 09:44, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Oh course it isn't. wikipedia is not a collection of every piece of trivia wp:not. Use your common sense that was telling you to delete this and nuke it. also, is it sourced? If not, nuke it! If not, I have no problem doing it. Cheers! --Tom 13:20, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Selfcontradictory Source ?

  • [1] on the site it is said: Birth: Nov. 15, 1882, Death: Feb. 22, 1965, the gravestone shown shows the same year of death.

wikipedia main article says that Felix Frankfurter died in the 80'ies. -- 88.72.19.122 14:08, 27 May 2007 (UTC) Sorry, it has been my fault, I confused the date of death with his age when dying. (Felix Frankfurter died from congestive heart failure at the age of 83.) -- 88.72.19.122 14:10, 27 May 2007 (UTC)