Nation’s Leading Jurists Honor Brandeis at Supreme Court Memorial Meeting

The nation’s foremost jurists joined today in a memorial service for the late Justice Louis D. Brandcis of the Supreme Court. Sen. George W. Norris, Nebraska Independent who formulated many of Brandeis’ ideas into legislation, delivered the key speech at the ceremony. Attorney General Francis Biddle also spoke, hailing the late Justice as a “great American” who “believed, never doubting, in Democracy.”

“The life of Justice Louis D. Brandeis will always be a shining star in the broad firmament of American jurisprudence,” Senator Norris said. “He left his mark upon the history of our country. The work he did, and the life he lived, will be an inspiration to those who have never seen his face nor heard his voice. His dissenting opinions have become the law of the land.”

Mr. Biddle stressed the fact that Brandeis early saw “the threat to this way of life (Democracy) from the opposing view that one race was superior to another,” citing an address by the Justice delivered in Boston 27 years ago, loss than a year after the first World War had begun. “Today.” Mr. Biddle concluded, “Brandeis takes his place in the moving stream of history as a great American whose life work brought nearer to fulfillment the essentially American belief in equality of opportunity and individual freedom.”

Dean Lloyd Garison, dean of the Wisconsin University Law School, praised Brandeis’ devotion to his work as chairman of the Provisional Committee for General Zionist Affairs during the critical years 1914-16. Dean Garison presented resolutions to the meeting testifying to the regret of the bar at the loss of Justice Brandeis, acknowledging its debt to his wisdom and recognizing his outstanding qualities of leadership. These resolutions were presented later in the day to the Supreme Court by Mr. Biddle and accepted by Chief Justice Harlan F. Stone as a part of the courts permanent record.