The Law

Sam Reich and Dean Packer

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

● 1883- Becomes a Supreme Judicial Court Judge for the state of Massachusetts○ Became Chief Justice

● 1902- Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court○ Roosevelt thought that Holmes supported him

■ Holmes later struck down many of Roosevelt's ideas

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr’s Ideas

● When in the Supreme Court he opposed many of his fellow judges

● Believed that all judges shouldn’t make decisions to benefit their own religion○ Separation of Church and State

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr’s Book

● 1881- Published his book Common Law○ Included 12 of his lectures○ Talked about new ideas of liability,

trespassing, and possession

● “The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.”○ Means that judges should never lose touch

with ordinary people

Louis Brandeis

● 1890- Developed his own profitable practice and was able to serve without pay in many public causes

● 1913- Was offered a position in President Woodrow Wilson’s cabinet but he declined

● In 37 years of law practice he became known as “the peoples lawyer” for representing family business and small stockholders to fight greedy monopolies

Brandeis’ Book

1914- Published Other People’s Money and How the Bankers Use it

● It attacked monopolies and the ways bankers controlled American Industry

Views on Business and Government

● The need for citizens to achieve their potential in small communities and defend the idea of private businesses and commonwealth

● Leader of a traditional that doesn't exist on the Supreme Court which was a progressive idea of states’ rights and federalism

● First to characterize the states as “laboratories of democracy” which is a major idea of conservative defenders of federalism today

Court Cases

● Lochner v. New York (1905)- Holmes won by 5-4 along with other judges that didn’t approve the hours a baker could work per week and per day

● Muller v. Oregon (1908)- In which Louis Brandeis served as an additional counsel to Oregon (also a future Supreme Court Justice). He wrote a legal document that supported Oregon law collecting verifiable data from a large number of sources.

Court Cases Continued

● Hammer v. Dagenhart- The court said that the previously approved Keating-Owen Act, which made stricter child labor laws and made it harder to buy goods made by children, was unconstitutional. Gave states the power to decide child labor laws.

● Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. protected the rights of the first amendment in Schenck vs. United States in 1919 for when an antiwar activist distributed pamphlets and the man was charged with violating the Espionage Act.

Modern Lawyer

● John Roberts● 17th Supreme Court Chief Justice

Why?

● Lawyers protect the people of America● Without laws and lawyers groups of

people wouldn’t have definite rights like women and African Americans

Work Cited

● "Hammer V. Dagenhart." Bill Of Rights Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

<http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/lessons-plans/landmark-cases-and-the-constitution/hammer-v-

dagenhart-1918/>.

● "Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr." American History. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

<http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/biographies/oliver-wendell-holmes/>.

● "The Life Of Law: What Holmes Meant." Social Science Research network. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.

<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1753389>.

● "Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr." Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <

http://www.biography.com/people/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-9342405?page=2>.

● "Louis Brandeis Biography." Biography.com. http://www.biography.com/people/louis-brandeis-39048?page=2, n.d. Web. 9

Oct. 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/louis-brandeis-39048?page=1>.

● Urofsky, Melvin I. "Why Brandeis Matters." Newrepublic.com. NEW REPUBLIC, n.d Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.newrepublic.com/article/75902/

why-brandeis-matters>.