Warren, Earl (1891–1974)

Chief Justice Earl Warren served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969. Many legal analysts consider him to be the greatest chief justice of the 20th century. Warren's friend and colleague, Justice William Brennan, referred to him as “Super Chief.” His influence on American jurisprudence was monumental, especially in the areas of civil rights and liberties. Warren will be forever known as the author of the Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), in which it struck down the doctrine of “separate but equal” in public education. His admirers praise him for his commitment to the goals of protecting individual rights and liberties and promoting racial and political equality, while his critics assert that he was an unbridled ...