Sherman Minton

Details

Birth

October 20, 1890 · Georgetown, Indiana

Death

April 9, 1965

Law school

indiana university

Prior experience

U.s. court of appeals judge

Biography

Sherman Minton (1890-1965) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1949 to 1956. Born in Georgetown, Indiana, to a working-class family, Minton earned his law degree from Indiana University in 1915 and later studied at Yale Law School. After serving as a captain in World War I, he practiced law in New Albany, Indiana, and became active in Democratic politics. He served in the United States Senate from 1935 to 1941, where he was a strong supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs and court-packing plan. Following his Senate defeat in 1940, Roosevelt appointed him to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 1941. President Harry S. Truman nominated Minton to the Supreme Court in 1949, citing their friendship from their Senate days together. Despite some Senate opposition due to his liberal voting record and past support for court reform, Minton was confirmed. On the Court, he generally supported government authority and was deferential to legislative and executive decisions, particularly in matters of national security and civil rights. His most notable opinion came in *Barsky v. Board of Regents* (1954), where he upheld professional licensing restrictions on suspected communists. Minton consistently voted to uphold government loyalty programs during the McCarthy era but also supported the Court's unanimous decision in *Brown v. Board of Education* (1954). Poor health forced his retirement in 1956 after only seven years of service. Though his tenure was relatively brief, Minton is remembered as a justice who balanced his earlier progressive politics with judicial restraint and deference to democratic institutions.

Notable opinions

• Dennis v. United States
• Joint Anti-Fascist Refugee Committee v. McGrath