# Has a Supreme Court judge ever written an autobiography?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 27, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287 "2003-12-27T19:10:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![criminalcatalog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@criminalcatalog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/criminalcatalog)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287/1 "2003-12-27T19:10:52Z")

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I’d like to read it. Something that tells about the duties in a particular judge’s lifetime, what choices were made, and why.

I have a hard time holding onto a book’s contents if it reads like cold syrup, so no suggestions like these please.

Any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287/2 "2003-12-27T19:47:29Z")

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I haven’t read any of these myself, but it would appear that a number of Supreme Court Justices have written books that were largely autobiographical:

> [@](#):
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> **The vast majority of Justices who have written about their personal and professional lives followed a standard model, giving detailed accounts of family, childhood influences, schooling and career. Those who have written in this third style include John Marshall, Joseph Story, Roger Taney, Stephen Field, Henry Brown, Joseph Bradley, Charles Evans Hughes, Felix Frankfurter, James Byrnes, William O. Douglas, Hugo Black, Earl Warren and William Rehnquist. Typically, they prefaced their work by protesting that modesty made them hesitate to write such a self-centered work.**

Quotation taken from a longer article here: [http://www.supremecourthistory.org/04\_library/subs\_volumes/04\_c12\_k.html](http://www.supremecourthistory.org/04_library/subs_volumes/04_c12_k.html)

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287/3 "2003-12-27T19:57:32Z")

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I have read two by William O. Douglas in the last year that I thought were excellent: _Go East Young Man - The Early Years_ and _The Court Years_. Douglas has a lively writing style that I enjoy.

A couple of years ago I read _The Memoirs of Chief Justice Earl Warren_. It wasn’t as enjoyable a read as the Douglas book but very inciteful at the same time.

TV

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287/4 "2003-12-27T20:04:01Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by criminalcatalog \*  
> \*\*I’d like to read it. Something that tells about the duties in a particular judge’s lifetime, what choices were made, and why.
> 
> I have a hard time holding onto a book’s contents if it reads like cold syrup, so no suggestions like these please.\*\*

I might suggest _The Bretheren_ by either Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein (I can never remember which). It came out in the late 1970s (1977 I believe but it could be 78 or even 79).

While not an autobiography, it really captures what you are looking for in a very readable style.

TV

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-supreme-court-judge-ever-written-an-autobiography/221287/5 "2003-12-28T05:14:12Z")

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Justice O’Connor wrote one.