NYTimes
WC
22 Jun 68
Critics of the Warren Court
tinder his leadership the
and the Chief Justice often fo- Court strengthened the legal
cased on the Court's style, safeguards of civil rights and
rather than on the results.
civil liberties with apparent
Justice John M. Harlan, the secondary concern for federal...Times
York
:
Hite
The
dissenter
consistent
most
Silittal to
ism.
, WASHINGTON, .hme 21— race generates a feeling , of in against the Warren majority,
The Court's method of proShortly after Earl Warren J. feriority as to their status in the frequently summed up the ma- tecting the rights of criminal
came Chief Justice of the community that may affect jority's process of opinion writ- suspects usually took the form
Ueited States in 1953, the their hearts and minds in a ing as "ipse dixit"— "It's so be- of applying to the states the
term "Warren Court" began way unlikely ever to be un- cause I say it's so."
major provisions of the Bill of
Chief Justice Warren was not Rights. This gave defendants
done.
to, be used to describe the
"vie conclude that in the so frequently faulted on this such protections as the Fourth
bold, liberal look that the 1field of public education the score as some of his liberal col- Amendment's guarantee against
I doctrine of 'separate but equal' leagues, but on a few notable unreasonable searches and
Supreme Court acquired.
place. Separate educa- occasions the charge was made seizures, the Fifth Amendment's
That look inspired praise has nofacilities
are inherently with some foundation.
tional
privilege against self-incriminafrom liberals and hate from unequal."
In his opinion in 1964 in the tion and the Sixth Amendthe right, even , billboards
Last week, when Chief Jus- Colorado reapportionment case,' ment's guarantee of counsel
that read, "Impeach Earl tice Warren announced a major he laid down the one-man, one-I and a speedy trial.
idecision, there was a poignant vote doctrine in its most defini- But it also had the effect of
Warren."
The basic premise of the hint that the Warren Court tive terms. Critics charged that forcing the states to conform
he had brushed aside the dissi-' to a national standard of crimend.
new spirit on the Court was was near its
re?ity was denters' historical and factual inal procedure. Local procecepIaiNnrw
tJousteix
that enlightened constitution- writing to
ted arguments without facing up to dures had to conform in most
decisions from the top Supreme Court felt compelled them.
instances to the procedures
Later, when he wrote the that had been developed in. the
could make the wheels turn to approve the power of the
in the United States, that police to "stop and frisk" dan- Court's opinion in Miranda v. Federal system.
progressive rulings could re- fibrous-looking persons on sus- Arizona, the Chief Justice gave
ons, without evidence of the Fifth Amendment's self-in- The Court also refused to
lease liberal social forces and guilt
crimination clause a drastically 'permit meaningful local fle]d-:
improve the lot of the ordidifferent meaning from the in- bility in apportionment, and it
Pragmatism the Key
terpretation the last 175 years. upheld Congress in passing a
nary man.
He conceded and deplored
series of civil rights statutes
A National Standard
This theme was symbolized the fact that the power might
that scooped huge areas• of
by Chief Justice Warren's be used to harass Negroes. But The opinion said that volun- power from the states. Despite
first major opinion, in Brown he explained that this grave tanners would no longer be the the controversies and dissents
v. Board of Education, May and complex problem — the test for the admissibility of con- within the Court, federalism
relation- fessions and that the police and states rights were rarely
17, 1954, which declared frequently acrimonious
the policeman must warn suspects of their mentioned and almost never
bet
shipthe
segregation in. the public and
zen ine the streets rights before questioning them. determined the outcome.
e
schools unconstitutional.
— could not be solved by It was one of the longest opin- Chief Justice Warren had the
It was the force of the constitutional rules of conduct ions in recent years, but dis- ability to run a happy Court
in advance by senting Justices complained as with a firm hand. There were
nevi Chief Justice's personal- handed down
the Supreme Court.
recently as two weeks ago that strong differences, some of
.
ity that welded together the
"When an officer is justified they still did not know upon them personal—especially when
what
on
unanimous decision
in believing that the individual what principle it was based.
peppery Felix Frankfurter,
was then a radical legal de- whose suspicious behavior he This pragmatism of approach who retired in 1962, Was
is investigating at close range was apparent in Chief Justice aboard.
parture.
But in recent years there
But once announced lel? Is armed and presently danger- Warren's demeanor during
ous to the officer or to others, courtroom arguments.
were fewer signs that the diCourt, the pr`' it would appear to be clearly With his robed bulk and visions had flared into hurt
the Supremeequality
sere d unreasonable to deny the of- horn-rimmed glasses creatint feelings behind the scenes, and
ciple of racial
and eventually transfonnierl- ficer the power to take neces- the impression of a great black in the recent Court there was
the relationship of the ralces, nary measures to determine owl, the Chief Justice would a norticeable falloff in the
whether the person is in fact Peer over the bench down to- number of 5-to-4 rulings.
.
at all levels.
Despite his easy manner, the
attorneys and ask a
' The Chief Justice, writing carrying a weapon and to ,ward the
Chef Justice was known to
neutralize the threat of physical barrage of questions.
in
Court
the
of
the opinion
harm," he wrote.
His questioning often set the want things done his way, and
that the discussion of they were. For a former politidirection
ourselves
blind
5 "We cannot
Continued on Page 16, Column
, to the need for law enforce- cases would take, yet there are cian he was astoundingly weak
ment officers to protect them- courtroom regulars who cannot on names and faces, and he
the Brown Case, said:
F
"Today, education is perhaps selves and other prospective remember the Chief Justice seemed to want to confine the
1 the most important function of victims of violence in situa- ever citing a case. He was net Supreme Court safely within its
'state t and local governments. tions where they may lack concerned that a lawyer could familiar confines.
He gave the press a wide
net connect his client's conduct
Compulsory school attendance probable cause for arrest."
No judicial opinion can with some Supreme Court deci- berth, and his clerks and other
laws and the great expenditures for education both deni- comprehend the protean va- sion, but he frequently inter- Court personnel understood
onstrate our recognition of the riety of the street encounter," rupted a lawyer's explanation J that they were to do the same,
The Warren Court remained:la;
to demand:
importance of education to our he sadly concluded.
"Yes, yes — but were you tight Court that spoke almostt
democratic society. It is re- But between the school dequired in the performance of segregation ruling and the cur- fair?"
exclusively through its opin-:
our most basic public respon- rent shift toward great nationThis concentration on fair- ions, and newsmen who pressed
sibilities, even service in the al issues that do not lend ness revolutionized the func- for freer communication be
armed forces. It is the very themselves to resolution by tion of the Supreme Court. tween the Court and the outfoundation of good citizenship. judges, the Warren Court Thirty years ago, about 2 per side world were told that $
"Today it is the principal in- served as the focal point of cent of the cases in any term
strument in awakening the 1:frogressive reform. Earl War-- concerned an issue of civil changes would not be fo
ing so long as Chief: Juste
child to cultural values, in pre- ren's personality was always rights or civil liberties. Now, Warren was there.
about one-half of the Court's
paring him for later profession- dominant.
The touchstone of the War- cases are of this type.
Gauge of Effectiveness
al training, and in helping him
In deciding them with a coinThe
pragmatism.
was
Court
ren
to adjust normally to his enobvious gauge of the et;
An
earlier
oh- passion for the individual in his fectiveness of the Warren Court
someprecewith what
dencesoverruled
vironment. In these day, it is Court
brushes with the state, the is the docket of cases for the
doubtful that any child may
decisions next term, which begins in Ocreasonably be expected to suc- servers viewed as cavalier Warren Court issued
ceed in life if he is denied the abandon. Uusually conoentrat- that prompted some observers tober.
Mg more on the effects of the
call this "the Warren Revoopportunity of an education.
There is a remarkable dearth
3
.
lution."
"To separate them from law in practice than on legal, U
of the type of towering law
reasoning.
others of similar age and quali-e
fications solely because of their
e'
The Warren' Court' Era
reform issue that the Warren
Court took as its responsibi
l As past terms ended, th
would always be crucial quegr
tions looming in the neatr
future that the closely divided
Court would soon have to re,
solve.
Many observers of the Court
felt that this was why resignations from the Warren Court
were unlikely, despite the advanced age of several members,
Always there was a 5-to•4 decision of great importance soon
to be faced, and the shift of
one vote could mean too much.
But for the time being, at
least, the major decisions' hall%
been made. The innovations of
the Warren Court are secure,
and Chief Justice Earl Warrent
for one, has decided to call.tt
a day.