Stanley Forman Reed

Stanley Forman Reed
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Name	Stanley Forman Reed
Caption	Reed in 1941
Office	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Nominator	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Term start	January 31, 1938
Term end	February 25, 1957
Predecessor	George Sutherland
Successor	Charles Evans Whittaker
Office1	Solicitor General of the United States
President1	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Term start1	March 1935
Term end1	January 1938
Predecessor1	James Crawford Biggs
Successor1	Robert H. Jackson
Birth date	31 December 1884
Birth place	Maysville, Kentucky, U.S.
Death date	2 April 1980
Death place	Huntington, New York, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Education	Kentucky Wesleyan College, Yale University (BA), University of Virginia School of Law, Columbia Law School, University of Paris
Spouse	Winifred Elgin, 1908

Stanley Forman Reed was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who served from 1938 to 1957. Appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, he was a key figure during the New Deal era and the early years of the modern Civil Rights Movement. His jurisprudence, particularly in cases concerning economic regulation and racial equality, helped shape the legal framework for the federal government's role in protecting civil rights.

Early Life and Legal Career

Stanley Forman Reed was born in Maysville, Kentucky, into a prominent family. He attended Kentucky Wesleyan College before earning a bachelor's degree from Yale University. He studied law at the University of Virginia School of Law and Columbia Law School, and also spent time at the University of Paris. Admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1910, he practiced law in Maysville and served in the Kentucky General Assembly from 1912 to 1916. During World War I, he served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army. His legal career advanced when he moved to Washington, D.C., serving as general counsel for the Federal Farm Board and later for the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. In 1935, President Roosevelt appointed him as the Solicitor General of the United States, where he successfully defended several major New Deal programs before the Supreme Court.

Appointment to the Supreme Court

Reed's effective advocacy as Solicitor General made him a natural choice for the Supreme Court. In January 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated him to fill the seat vacated by the retiring conservative Justice George Sutherland. His nomination was part of Roosevelt's effort to appoint justices sympathetic to the New Deal and the expansion of federal power. Reed was easily confirmed by the United States Senate and took his judicial oath on January 31, 1938. He joined a Court that was undergoing a significant ideological shift, often referred to as "The switch in time that saved nine," which saw the Court begin to uphold New Deal legislation.

Civil Rights Jurisprudence

Justice Reed's approach to civil rights was complex and evolved over time. Initially, he was not a consistent liberal voice on racial issues, often siding with the Court's more conservative members in early cases. However, he became a crucial vote in several landmark decisions that advanced racial justice. He generally supported a broad interpretation of federal power under the Commerce Clause and the Fourteenth Amendment, which provided a constitutional basis for challenging Jim Crow segregation and discrimination. His jurisprudence reflected a belief in judicial restraint in economic matters but a growing recognition of the federal government's responsibility to ensure equal protection under the law.

Key Opinions and Dissents

Reed authored several significant opinions. In Smith v. Allwright (1944), he wrote for the majority, ruling that white primaries were unconstitutional, a major blow to disfranchisement in the South. In Morgan v. Virginia (1946), he wrote the opinion banning segregation in interstate bus travel. He joined the unanimous opinion in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which declared state-mandated public school segregation unconstitutional. However, he also wrote dissents that limited civil rights advancements. In Betts v. Brady (1942), he dissented from the majority's refusal to extend the right to counsel to indigent defendants in state courts. His most notable dissent came in Adamson v. California (1947), where he argued against the full incorporation of the Bill of Rights against the states, a position that temporarily slowed the expansion of federal civil rights protections.

Impact on Desegregation

Justice Reed's votes and opinions were instrumental in laying the legal groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement. His opinion in *Smith v. Allwright* helped open the political process to African Americans. His majority opinion in *Morgan v. Virginia* provided a legal precedent used by the Freedom Riders in the 1960s. Most importantly, his vote in *Brown v. Board of Education* was essential to achieving the historic unanimous decision, which provided the movement with its most powerful legal and moral weapon. While he privately harbored doubts about the pace of desegregation, his judicial actions, particularly in his later years on the Court, consistently supported the principle of ending state-sponsored racial discrimination.

Later Life and Kingdom

Stanley Forman Reed retired from the Supreme Court on February 5, .Category:American legal scholars Category:American legal scholars Category:Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court Category:American civil rights lawyers Category:American civil rights activists Category:American civil rights activists