Stanley Forman Reed

Details

Birth

December 31, 1884 · Minerva, Kentucky

Death

April 2, 1980

Law school

paris, university of

Prior experience

Various legal and public service prior to appointment

Biography

Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957. Born in Maysville, Kentucky, Reed graduated from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1902 and Yale University in 1906, later studying law at the University of Virginia and Columbia Law School. After practicing law in Kentucky, he served in the Kentucky General Assembly before moving to Washington, D.C., where he held various government positions during the New Deal era, including General Counsel of the Federal Farm Board and Solicitor General of the United States from 1935 to 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Reed to the Supreme Court in 1938 to replace Justice George Sutherland. As a justice, Reed generally supported the expansion of federal power and New Deal legislation, though he was more moderate than some of his liberal colleagues. His judicial philosophy emphasized judicial restraint and deference to legislative authority. Reed authored several significant opinions, including Smith v. Allwright (1944), which struck down white primaries as unconstitutional, and Adamson v. California (1947), where he joined the majority in rejecting total incorporation of the Bill of Rights against state governments. He also wrote the majority opinion in McCollum v. Board of Education (1948), prohibiting religious instruction in public schools. Reed was the last Supreme Court justice without a law degree and the last to have been born in the 19th century when he retired in 1957. His legacy reflects a pragmatic approach to constitutional interpretation during a transformative period in American law.

Notable opinions

• United States v. Carolene Products Co.
• Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority