Journalist Peter Canellos, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Law School, became fascinated with Justice Harlan because of his scathing dissent in Plessy, the infamous Supreme Court decision that ushered in the Jim Crow era.
Canellos discussed his biography, The Great Dissenter: The Story of John Marshall Harlan, America’s Judicial Hero, as part of the 2023 Branstetter Judicial Speaker Series on Feb. 21.
Four takeaways from Peter Canellos’ talk about Justice John Marshall Harlan:
Harlan was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Rutherford B. Hayes and served 34 years, from 1871 to 1911. He wrote 123 of his 891 written opinions in dissent.
Canellos was introduced by Judge Jane Branstetter Stranch ’78 (BA’75) of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program was endowed in 2005 with a $3 million cy pres award from a nationwide consumer class action settlement and named in honor of Judge Stranch’s father, Cecil D. Branstetter ’49.
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