One hundred seven years ago, World War I began on July 28, 1914, and did not end until November 11, 1918. The United States did not enter the war until April 1917.
The Supreme Court’s connections to the war, through the military service of its future members and through cases that wended their way to the Court as a result of the war are rich and complex.
Future Supreme Court Justices who served in the Armed Forces during World War I were:
Hugo Black, Captain, US Army
Harold Burton, Captain, US Army
Tom Clark, Sergeant, Texas National Guard
William O. Douglas, Private, US Army
Felix Frankfurter, Major, US Army
Sherman Minton, Captain, US Army
Frank Murphy, First Lieutenant, US Army
Stanley Reed, First Lieutenant, US Army
Fred Vinson, Private U.S. Army
Earl Warren, First Lieutenant, US Army
To commemorate the Centennial of World War I, the Society hosted a four-part Leon Silverman Lecture series focused on the Supreme Court and World War I.
The articles from that series are collected in the 2018, Vol 43, No 3 issue of the Journal of Supreme Court History: Order your copy today.
Three of the lectures were recorded by C-SPAN:
Melvin Urofsky’s Supreme Court in World War I
Christopher Capozolla’s World War I and the 1917 Selective Service Act
Laura Weinrib’s Supreme Court and Free Speech During World War I
Signed copies of Professor Capozolla and Professor Weinrib’s books are available from the Gift Shop:
The Taming of Free Speech: America’s Civil Liberties Compromise
Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen