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William O. Douglas

William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898January 19, 1980) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 to 1975. Douglas was known for his strong progressive and civil libertarian views and is often cited as the most liberal justice in the U.S. Supreme Court’s history. Nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939, Douglas was confirmed at the age of 40, becoming one of the youngest justices appointed to the court. In 1975, ''Time'' called Douglas "the most doctrinaire and committed civil libertarian ever to sit on the court." He is the longest-serving justice in history, having served for 36 years and 209 days.

After an itinerant childhood, Douglas attended Whitman College on a scholarship. He graduated from Columbia Law School in 1925 and joined the Yale Law School faculty. After serving as the third chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Douglas was successfully nominated to the Supreme Court in 1939, succeeding Justice Louis Brandeis. He was among those seriously considered for the 1944 Democratic vice presidential nomination and was subject to an unsuccessful draft movement prior to the 1948 U.S. presidential election. Douglas served on the Court until his retirement in 1975 and was succeeded by John Paul Stevens. Douglas holds a number of records as a Supreme Court justice, including the most opinions.

One of Douglas's most notable opinions was ''Griswold v. Connecticut'' (1965), which established the constitutional right to privacy and was foundational to later cases such as ''Eisenstadt v. Baird'', ''Roe v. Wade'', ''Lawrence v. Texas'' and ''Obergefell v. Hodges''. His other notable opinions included ''Skinner v. Oklahoma'' (1942), ''United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc.'' (1948), ''Terminiello v. City of Chicago'' (1949), ''Brady v. Maryland'' (1963), and ''Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections'' (1966). Douglas joined the unanimous opinion in ''Brown v. Board of Education'' (1954), which outlawed segregation in American public schools. He wrote notable concurring or dissenting opinions in ''Dennis v. United States'' (1951), ''United States v. O’Brien'' (1968), ''Terry v. Ohio'' (1968), and ''Brandenburg v. Ohio'' (1969). He was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War and an ardent advocate of environmentalism. Provided by Wikipedia