Blackmun, Harry Andrew

Blackmun, Harry Andrew
▪ 2000

      U.S. Supreme Court justice (b. Nov. 12, 1908, Nashville, Ill.—d. March 4, 1999, Arlington, Va.), became one of the tribunal's most controversial justices during his tenure (1970–94) and was best identified as the author of the Roe v. Wade (1973) decision, which established a woman's right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Blackmun, who grew up in St. Paul, Minn., graduated (1932) from Harvard Law School. After a brief clerkship, he joined a Minneapolis, Minn., law firm in 1934 and a year later began teaching at St. Paul College of Law, where he remained until 1941. In 1950 he was named resident counsel for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., a position he held until 1959, when Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In 1970 Pres. Richard M. Nixon was searching for a conservative “law and order” judge to fill a Supreme Court vacancy created by the resignation of Abe Fortas. With two previous candidates already rejected by the Senate, Nixon selected Blackmun. Relatively unknown and noncontroversial, he was unanimously confirmed and on June 9, 1970, took his seat. He quickly became one of the most visible and outspoken justices. In the furor that ensued after the court's decision on Roe v. Wade, Blackmun received thousands of hate letters and was placed under federal protection. A champion of the poor and oppressed, he became increasingly liberal, often finding himself in the court's minority on civil rights cases. He supported affirmative action in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), and in Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) defended gay rights, arguing in the dissent that the right to privacy extended to homosexual behaviour. Shortly before his retirement, Blackmun expressed his opposition to the death penalty, criticizing the random and arbitrary manner in which it was applied.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Blackmun,Harry Andrew — Black·mun (blăkʹmən), Harry Andrew. 1908 1999. American jurist who was an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1970 1994). * * * …   Universalium

  • Harry Andrew Blackmun — Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (* 12. November 1908 in Nashville, Illinois; † 4. März 1999) war Richter am obersten Gerichtshof der USA. Leben und Wirken Er war von 1970 bis 1994 ein anfänglich konservativer, später eher liberaler Richter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Blackmun, Harry A. — ▪ United States jurist in full  Harry Andrew Blackmun  born Nov. 12, 1908, Nashville, Ill., U.S. died March 4, 1999, Arlington, Va.  associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1970 to 1994.       Blackmun graduated in mathematics… …   Universalium

  • Harry A. Blackmun — Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (* 12. November 1908 in Nashville, Illinois; † 4. März 1999 in Arlington, Virginia) war ein US amerikanischer Jurist und Richter am Obersten Gerichtshof der Vereinigte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Harry Blackmun — Harry Andrew Blackmun (* 12. November 1908 in Nashville, Illinois; † 4. März 1999) war Richter am obersten Gerichtshof der USA. Leben und Wirken Er war von 1970 bis 1994 ein anfänglich konservativer, später eher liberaler Richter am Obersten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Blackmun — Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (* 12. November 1908 in Nashville, Illinois; † 4. März 1999) war Richter am obersten Gerichtshof der USA. Leben und Wirken Er war von 1970 bis 1994 ein anfänglich konservativer, später eher liberaler Richter… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Harry Blackmun — Infobox Judge name = Harry Andrew Blackmun imagesize = caption = office = Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court termstart = June 9 1970 termend = August 4 1994 nominator = Richard Nixon appointer = predecessor = Abe Fortas… …   Wikipedia

  • Blackmun — [blak′mən] Harry Andrew 1908 99; associate justice, U.S. Supreme Court (1970 94) …   English World dictionary

  • Blackmun — biographical name Harry Andrew 1908 1999 American jurist …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Liste der Biografien/Bla — Biografien: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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