Constitutional Law Reporter
Award
Menu
  • Home
  • US Constitution
  • Supreme Court Cases
  • Justices
    • Chief Supreme Court Justices
    • Current Supreme Court Justices
    • Past US Supreme Court Justices
  • American Biographies
    • General
    • Presidents
    • Vice-Presidents
  • Articles
    • Current Cases
    • Historical Cases
    • Impeachment
  • Videos
  • Links
Hot-Topics

June 5, 2025 | SCOTUS Sides with Military Reservist in Differential Pay Dispute

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
<< Back

Potter Stewart

Potter Stewart (1958-1981)

Lived from 1915 to 1985.

Early Life and Legal Career

Potter Stewart was born in Jackson, Michigan on January 23, 1915. Stewart attended the Hotchkiss School, graduating in 1933. Following high school, he attended Yale University, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon. After graduating from the University in 1937, Stewart decided to remain at Yale for his legal, graduating four years later.

After law school, Stewart served in World War II as a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve aboard an oil tanker. After the war, he entered private practice with Dinsmore & Stohl in Cincinnati. In 1954, at the age of 39, Stewart was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Appointment to the Supreme Court

President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Stewart to the United States Supreme Court in 1958. At a time when the Supreme Court was wholly divided, Stewart sat firmly in its center. As a result, he became a consistent swing vote in several influential cases. During his time on the Warren Court, Stewart was often in a dissenting posture. He dissented in Griswold v. Connecticut, reasoning that, while the Connecticut statute barring the use of contraceptives seemed to him an “uncommonly silly law,” he could not find a general “Right of Privacy” in the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause. Additionally, he was the lone dissenter in the landmark juvenile law case In re Gault, which extended to minors the right to be informed of rights and the right to an attorney.

Stewart consistently voted against claims of criminal defendants in the realm of federal habeas corpus and collateral review. He opposed the Vietnam War, and, on several occasions, urged the Supreme Court to grant certiorari on cases challenging the constitutionality of the war. Desiring to spend more time with his grandchildren and retire from the Court while he was still in good health, Stewart stepped down from his position June 18, 1981.

Death

Potter Stewart died on December 7, 1985 after suffering a stroke near his vacation home in New Hampshire. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Previous Articles

Will US Supreme Court Allow Religious Charter Schools?
by DONALD SCARINCI on June 3, 2025

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in a key First Amendment case involving the se...

Read More
Supreme Court Sides With FDA on Flavored Vape Denials
by DONALD SCARINCI on May 21, 2025

In Food and Drug Administration v. Wages and White Lion Investments, LLC, 604 U.S. ____ (2025), the...

Read More
SCOTUS Agrees to Consider Birthright Citizen Cases
by DONALD SCARINCI on

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider legal challenges to President Donald Trump’s execut...

Read More
All Posts

The Amendments

  • Amendment1
    • Establishment ClauseFree Exercise Clause
    • Freedom of Speech
    • Freedoms of Press
    • Freedom of Assembly, and Petitition
    Read More
  • Amendment2
    • The Right to Bear Arms
    Read More
  • Amendment4
    • Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
    Read More
  • Amendment5
    • Due Process
    • Eminent Domain
    • Rights of Criminal Defendants
    Read More

Preamble to the Bill of Rights

Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

Read More

More Recent Posts

  • SCOTUS Clarifies Bruen in Upholding Federal Gun Law
  • SCOTUS Rules Challenged South Carolina District Is Not a Racial Gerrymander
  • Supreme Court Rejects Strict Criminal Forfeiture Timelines
  • Supreme Court Clarifies “Safety Valve” in Federal Criminal Sentencing Laws

Constitutional Law Reporter Twitter

A Twitter List by S_H_Law

Constitutional Law Reporter RSS

donald scarinci constitutional law attorney

Editor

Donald Scarinci

Managing Partner

Scarinci Hollenbeck

(201) 806-3364

Awards


Follow me

© 2018 Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC. All rights reserved.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney Advertising