Scope and Content Note
The papers of William J. Brennan (1906-1997), span the years 1945-1998, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1956-1990. The collection represents his public service as associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from his appointment in 1956 to his retirement in 1990. Part I contains most of Brennan's Case File and a small Miscellany series. Part II is organized in the following series: Case File, Case Histories, Correspondence File, Members of the Court, Law Clerks, Administrative File, Speeches, Writings, and Events, and Miscellany.
Part I
The Case File constitutes the bulk of Part I and forms an extensive record of Brennan's jurisprudence on the Supreme Court for more than thirty years. His judicial philosophy emerged soon after his appointment, and he subsequently proved to be a key member of Chief Justice Earl Warren's court. After Warren's retirement, Brennan continued as a leading exponent of liberal jurisprudence on the courts of Warren E. Burger and William H. Rehnquist. While the Case File evinces Brennan's judicial philosophy through his numerous written opinions, it also reveals his participation and influence in the Court's deliberations. The Case File is arranged chronologically by the Court's annual October terms, 1956-1989. Material is arranged in an administrative file and opinion file within each term.
The administrative files include docket sheets with conference notes, memoranda to the conference, conference lists, motions, order lists, and background material. Notable in this file are the docket sheets which contain the name and docket number of each case, votes by the justices regarding the disposition of the case, and Brennan's handwritten notes recording the positions of other justices during Court conferences in which the justices decided which cases were to be heard, debated and determined the outcome of individual cases, and assigned the writing of opinions to specific justices. Background material is filed under topical headings pertaining to such issues as capital punishment, reapportionment, and obscenity. Beginning in the 1970s, the files expand to include motions, assignment lists, circulation records, and other material. Certiorari memoranda, bench memoranda, and other writings and analyses by Brennan's clerks are generally absent from the case file except for those included in the 1986-1989 terms.
Opinion files for individual cases constitute a large and substantive portion of the Case File and are arranged numerically by docket number within each term. Composed primarily of opinions, dissents, and concurrences in various stages of preparation, the files illustrate the opinion-writing process from initial handwritten drafts and emended circulating copies to the final printed opinion. Memoranda, informal notes from justices, certiorari memoranda and briefs by clerks, correspondence, printed matter, and related background material are also included. The opinion files document the disparate personalities and philosophies on the Court, legal debates, and the consensus-building process. Numerous applications for stays of execution during the 1980s depict the Court's struggle with the constitutionality of capital punishment. Prominent cases in the opinion files include Roth v. United States, Baker v. Carr, New York Times v. Sullivan, Griswold v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade, United States v. Nixon, and Buckley v. Valeo.
The Court's expanding caseload in the late 1960s and 1970s is reflected in the increasing number of opinion files carried over from one term to the next. In general, opinion files are located within the term in which the Court issued its final decision. A few cases, however, have related material located in previous terms. In many instances, when opinion files were carried over to the next term, corresponding docket sheets were also moved forward. Two digit prefix numbers indicating the term in which the opinion file is located, similar to the docket numbering system implemented by the Court during the 1971 term, have been added to docket numbers for opinion files created during the 1956-1970 terms.
The Miscellany series includes a speech by Brennan and related matter regarding capital punishment, background material concerning the use of advertising in the legal profession, and correspondence and other items relating to the Judicial Conference of United States Bicentennial Committee.
Part II
The Case File in Part II is a small supplement to the Case File in Part I and is similarly arranged in an administrative file and opinion file. The administrative file includes bench memoranda for the 1956 term and material relating to capital punishment and obscenity cases. The opinion file contains additional material pertaining to United States v. Nixon and Buckley v. Valeo.
The Case Histories for the 1958-1989 terms complement the Case File. These annual reviews of the Court's work by Brennan and his clerks provide personal perspectives on the deliberations and decisions in prominent cases before the Court. The narratives describe in detail the discussions in conference, the evolution of opinions as they were circulated among the chambers, the role of clerks in the deliberative process, and how the Court conducted its business in general.
The Correspondence File is extensive and spans Brennan's entire career on the Court as well as his retirement. Correspondence with state and federal judges, law school administrators and faculty, attorneys in private practice, and journalists reflect the depth of Brennan's interest in legal matters. Though much of the correspondence is routine, many letters discuss issues in the law and the administration of the courts. Few pursuits outside the law are manifest in these letters, though correspondence with professional organizations, friends, and family is also contained in the series. The file is arranged in two groups: Set I spans primarily the era of the Warren and Burger courts; Set II covers chiefly the Rehnquist court. Many correspondents are represented in both sets.
Notable in the correspondence are letters exchanged with Arthur T. Vanderbilt early in Brennan's career on the Supreme Court. Vanderbilt was chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court while Brennan served on that court and both worked to secure judicial reform in that state. There is also correspondence with the legal scholar Paul A. Freund, who supplied Brennan with many law clerks from Harvard Law School. Other prominent and frequent correspondents include David L. Bazelon, Edmond N. Cahn, Daniel Crystal, Alfred Di Lascia, George Edwards, Morris L. Ernst, Robert C. Finley, Arthur J. Freund, Frank T. Gallagher, Donald B. Kipp, Alfred A. Knopf, Anthony Lewis, Daniel P. Moynihan, Walter F. Murphy, Joseph O'Meara, John W. Oliver, Louis H. Pollak, Curtis R. Reitz, Walter V. Schaefer, Bernard Schwartz, Bernard G. Segal, Francis L. Van Dusen, Brian Walsh, Stanley A. Weigel, Charles Alan Wright, and J. Skelly Wright.
The Members of the Court series is generally personal and social in nature and reflects the relations Brennan developed with his fellow justices. All the justices he served with are represented in the files, which include correspondence, handwritten notes, copies of speeches and writings by the justices, tributes, memorials, and printed matter.
Material in the Law Clerks series is chiefly personal and illustrates Brennan's continuing relations with former clerks, who apprise him of personal milestones and career developments. The files include correspondence, copies of speeches and writings by the clerks, photographs, and printed matter, most of which postdates the clerk's work on the Court. Paul A. Freund's correspondence recommending students to Brennan is contained in the miscellaneous files. The series is arranged in two groups: Set I relates to clerks who served with Brennan on the Warren and Burger courts; clerks represented in Set II are from the period of the Rehnquist court.
The Administrative File contains material regarding the functions of the Court's support staff, including the offices of the clerk, marshal, librarian, reporter of decisions, legal office, and curator, supplemented by memoranda to the conference from various justices. The series also includes files pertaining to rules for the Supreme Court and other units of the federal judiciary.
The Speeches, Writings, and Events series documents the development of Brennan's jurisprudence through his public speaking and published articles. His early interest in judicial reform is revealed in speeches delivered in 1955 concerning pretrial demonstrations. Remarks before appellate judges in July 1965 pertain to increased application of the Bill of Rights in state criminal trials. The speech files include drafts from various stages of preparation to the final printed copy supplemented with related correspondence, scheduling material, and background matter. Also included are files pertaining to interviews, conferences, seminars, awards, moot courts, and other public engagements.
The Miscellany series includes biographical material, financial records, retirement messages, material relating to the American Bar Association and other organizations, photographs, newspaper clippings, and printed matter.