Today in Supreme Court History: January 19, 1990

1/19/1990: Justice Arthur Goldberg dies.

Justice Arthur Goldberg

Comments

[Frank Drackman]

Never got what Marilyn saw in him.

[Jett's Pop]

I think you have the wrong Arthur. Are you thinking of Arthur Miller?

[JoeFromtheBronx]

Justice Goldberg resigned after a few years, setting in motion a range of events. The usual "what ifs" can be formulated.

Okay. Dan put today's entry up early. The website is back up and running. As usual, there are some interesting cases.

https://www.captcrisis.com/post/today-in-supreme-court-history-january-19-2

Oyama v. California involves issues that fits the spirit of the holiday. As Dan notes, the majority opinion rests on technical grounds to provide a narrow decision.

Four justices (Black/Douglas, Murphy/Rutledge) concur to more strongly push back against discrimination against Japanese non-citizens. As Murphy noted:

The California Alien Land Law was spawned of the great anti-Oriental virus which, at an early date, infected many persons in that state.

If this blog was around, the usual suspects here would be talking about those "Orientals" and pining for the days of their internment.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Without endorsing all Goldberg's jurisprudence, I don't like the way LBJ tricked him into resigning his Court seat. And I'm shocked that Goldberg, an intelligent man, allowed himself to be persuaded by such nonsense.

"Why be a Supreme Court justice when you could be Ambassador to the United Nations? You could work for world peace!"

John Jay quit the Supreme Court so he could run for Governor of New York. That, I can understand. But UN ambassador? Are you kidding?

[David Nieporent]

"Tricked"? If Goldberg was fooled by LBJ — as opposed to making a conscious choice that you simply disagree with — then he wasn't really mentally capable of being a justice.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

I think the promise that he would have special influence in peacemaking was a trick.

"Goldberg was promised by Johnson that he would be a member of the president's cabinet and would be involved in all decisions involving ending the Vietnam War. Bruce Allen Murphy, a professor at Lafayette College, wrote in one of his books that Johnson also told Goldberg that he would consider putting him on his ticket as vice president in the 1968 United States presidential election."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Goldberg

Of course, "consider" isn't much of a promise, but the promise of a peacmaking role was more definite.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

LBJ knew his mark. He knew Goldberg had been a labor-union executive, accustomed to negotiating with management. Maybe Goldberg thought talking to the Communists would be a similar experience.

[The Margrave of Azilia]

Here's an, ah, *interesting* quote from LBJ:

“Goldberg would be able to answer the Russians... very effectively... He’s got a bulldog face on him, and I think this Jew thing would take The New York Times -- all this crowd that gives me hell all the time -- and disarm them.... Goldberg sold bananas, you know.... He’s kind of like I am... He’s shined some shoes in his day and he’s sold newspapers, and he’s had to slug it out...”

https://jewishcurrents.org/august-8-arthur-goldberg-and-lbj

[Syd Henderson]

Even more is understandable is Charles Evan Hughes resigning to run for President. I think he would have been a fine president, though we still would have wound up in World War I.