Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark: A Life of Service

by Mimi Clark Gronlund, Ramsey Clark (Introduction)

Overview

An associate justice on the renowned Warren Court whose landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education overturned racial segregation in schools and other public facilities, Tom C. Clark was a crusader for justice throughout his long legal career. Among many tributes Clark received, Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger opined that "no man in the past thirty years has contributed more to the improvement of justice than Tom Clark."

Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark is the first biography of this important American jurist. Written by his daughter, Mimi Clark Gronlund, and based on interviews with many of Clark's judicial associates, friends, and family, as well as archival research, it offers a well-rounded portrait of a lawyer and judge who dealt with issues that remain in contention today—civil rights, the rights of the accused, school prayer, and censorship/pornography, among them. Gronlund explores the factors in her father's upbringing and education that helped form his judicial philosophy, then describes how that philosophy shaped his decisions on key issues and cases, including the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the investigation of war fraud, the Truman administration's loyalty program (an anti-communist effort), the Brown decision, Mapp v. Ohio (protections against unreasonable search and seizure), and Abington v. Schempp (which overturned a state law that required reading from the Bible each day in public schools).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292719910
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	01/15/2010
Series:	Texas Legal Studies Series
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mimi Clark Gronlund, the daughter of Tom C. Clark, was a reference librarian at the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College for twenty-two years. Her research into her father's career spanned more than thirty years, and her master's thesis, "Tom Clark, the Early Years," earned her an M.A. in English from George Mason University. She has lived in McLean, Virginia, since 1976.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Ramsey Clark
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• Part One. The Early Years, 1899-1936
  • Chapter 1. Early Influences
  • Chapter 2. Emerging into Manhood
  • Chapter 3. Forging the Steel
  • Chapter 4. Turning Points
• Part Two. The Department of Justice Years, 1937-1949
  • Chapter 5. Some Disruptive Years
  • Chapter 6. His Greatest Mistake
  • Chapter 7. Beyond the Goal
  • Chapter 8. The President's Lawyer
  • Chapter 9. Juvenile Delinquency and the Freedom Train
  • Chapter 10. Civil Rights: Opening a New Era
  • Chapter 11. Cold War Fever: National Security versus Individual Freedom
  • Chapter 12. The 1948 Presidential Election
• Part Three. The Supreme Court Years, 1949-1967
  • Chapter 13. A Controversial Appointment
  • Chapter 14. A Period of Adjustment
  • Chapter 15. Investigation Mania
  • Chapter 16. A Delicate Balance
  • Chapter 17. The Brown Decision and Civil Rights
  • Chapter 18. Some Troublesome Issues
  • Chapter 19. He Made a Difference
  • Chapter 20. An Ending and a Beginning
• Part Four. Retirement, 1967-1977
  • Chapter 21. The Great Adventure
  • Chapter 22. The Federal Judicial Center
  • Chapter 23. Riding the Circuits, Championing Reforms
  • Chapter 24. Some Personal Observations
  • Chapter 25. A Life Well Lived
• Epilogue
• Appendix: Law Clerks of Justice Clark
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index