Felix Frankfurter

Details

Birth

November 15, 1882 · Vienna, Austria

Death

February 22, 1965

Law school

harvard university

Prior experience

Professor

Biography

Felix Frankfurter (1882-1965) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1939 to 1962. Born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, he immigrated to the United States with his family at age 12. Frankfurter graduated from City College of New York in 1902 and Harvard Law School in 1906, where he finished first in his class. After brief stints in private practice and as an assistant United States attorney, he joined the Harvard Law School faculty in 1914, where he became a prominent legal scholar and advocate for civil liberties. During the 1920s and 1930s, he served as an informal advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt and played a key role in recruiting talent for New Deal agencies, earning him the nickname "Happy Hot Dogs" for his Harvard protégés. President Roosevelt nominated Frankfurter to the Supreme Court in 1939, where he developed a judicial philosophy centered on judicial restraint and deference to legislative authority. Despite his earlier progressive activism, Frankfurter believed courts should not substitute their judgment for that of elected officials except in cases of clear constitutional violation. His philosophy often put him at odds with more liberal justices on civil rights and civil liberties issues. Among his most significant opinions was his concurrence in Dennis v. United States (1951), upholding restrictions on Communist Party members, and his majority opinion in Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1960), striking down racial gerrymandering. Frankfurter's legacy remains complex; while criticized for excessive deference to government authority, particularly during the McCarthy era, his emphasis on judicial restraint and institutional respect significantly influenced constitutional jurisprudence and continues to resonate in contemporary legal debates about the proper role of courts in American democracy.

Notable opinions

• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette
• Brown v. Board of Education