Louis Dembitz Brandeis, first Jew to be appointed to the United States Supreme Court, today announced his retirement from the bench. The 82-year-old liberal jurist gave no reason for his retirement in a brief letter to President Roosevelt which stated: “Pursuant to the act of March 1, 1937, I retire this day from active service on the bench.” He had been in poor health for some time, having only last week returned to the bench after an attack of the grip.
Justice Brandeis’s retirement recalled reports aroused by two unusual visits to President Roosevelt, on Oct. 14 and Nov. 19, that Mr. Brandeis was considering the possibility of retiring from the bench to take the active leadership of the Zionist movement in view of the tragic world Jewish situation. Before his election to the court, he had been an outstanding leader of Zionism in America.
His nomination to the Supreme Court by President Woodrow Wilson on Jan. 28, 1916, aroused a stormy controversy in which all the forces of bigotry in the United States united to oppose his confirmation. Despite this struggle, which formed a bitter chapter in Mr. Brandeis’s life, his appointment was confirmed by the Senate on June 1, 1916.
Before his election to the court, Mr. Brandeis had made a nation-wide reputation in private practice as “the people’s counsel because of his activities in important litigations involving the construction of labor laws and big business practices. He was born in Louisville on Nov. 13, 1856, and was educated in Louisville, in Germany and at Harvard Law School. He is the author of several books on law and numerous articles on Zionism.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
