Closing Remarks for Symposium on Justice Brennan and the Living Constitution

Burt Neuborne is very best of lawyers and law teachers. I appreciate spirit-lifting introduction, also Brennan clerks' invitation, conveyed by Geoff Stone, to take part in this symposium. We are gathered here to celebrate work and spirit of William J. Brennan, Jr., a jurist Barbara Jordan rightly called the lightning rod for individual rights and individual freedom in our time. You have had a stimulating morning, with an engaging roster of speakers addressing topics of special concern to Justice Brennan. My remarks, in contrast, will spark no controversy. I simply seek to convey our shared admiration and affection for a Justice who contributed monumentally to advancement of liberty and justice, equal and accessible, for all. In 1956, when Justice Sherman Minton retired from U.S. Supreme Court, President Eisenhower nominated then New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Brennan to fill vacancy. Brennan's Chief Justice on New Jersey court, Arthur Vanderbilt, gave junior colleague a ringing endorsement. Vanderbilt wrote of striking things about Bill Brennanhis [genuine] fondness for people, industry[,] knowledge and wisdom, capacity constantly to grow, his crowning trait[s] courage and forthrightness.2 Those traits were evident when Justice Brennan, while still a member of New Jersey Supreme Court, spoke out against Senator Joseph McCarthy. If we violate individual rights out of fear, Brennan warned, we come perilously