In the Supreme Court’s voting law decision Thursday, Justice Elena Kagan dissented and said the majority undermined the voting rights act by upholding Arizona’s laws. John Yang looks at another justice who delivered historic dissents during the Jim Crow era, John Harlan, whose career is documented in Peter Canellos’ “The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial
In Plessy v. Ferguson and other landmark cases, Harlan stood fast and, often, alone. When the law finally moved in his direction, he stood vindicated. Read More
Anurima Bhargava interviewed Peter Canellos for a National Archives chat. See the full program here
The Great Dissenter review: a superb life of John Marshall Harlan, champion of equality The Great Dissenter review: a superb life of John Marshall Harlan, champion of equality. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is not the only great supreme court justice to have made her name with dissent in the name of progress. Read in full.
See Peter Canellos discuss – The Great Justices: Founders, Dissenters, and Prophets with the National Constitution Center. Full program recording can be viewed here.