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{{Short description|US Supreme Court justice from 1958 to 1981}}
{{Infobox Judge
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2011}}
| name = Potter Stewart
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart - 1976 official portrait.jpg
| imagesize honorific-prefix =
| captionname = Potter Stewart
| honorific-suffix =
| office = [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court]]
| image = US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart - 1976 official portrait.jpg
| termstart = [[October 14]] [[1958]]
| termendalt = [[July 3]] [[1981]] =
| caption = Official portrait, 1976
| nominator = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| office = [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
| appointer =
| term_start = October 14, 1958<!--Term start date as per www.supremecourt.gov, reflects date oath taken-->
| predecessor = [[Harold Hitz Burton]]
| successorterm_end = [[SandraJuly Day3, O'Connor]]1981
| office2nominator = [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
| predecessor = [[Harold Hitz Burton]]
| termstart2 =
| termend2successor = [[Sandra Day O'Connor]]
| office1 = Judge of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]
| nominator2 =
| appointer2term_start1 = April 27, 1954
| term_end1 = October 13, 1958<!--Termination date per FJC Bio.-->
| predecessor2 =
| nominator1 = Dwight D. Eisenhower
| successor2 =
| birthdatepredecessor1 = [[January 23]] = [[1915Xenophon Hicks]]
| birthplacesuccessor1 = [[Jackson,Lester Michigan|Jackson]],LeFevre [[MichiganCecil]]
| deathdatebirth_name = [[December 7]] [[1985]] =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1915|01|23}}
| deathplace = [[Hanover, New Hampshire]]
| spousebirth_place = [[Jackson, Michigan]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1985|12|07|1915|01|23}}
| death_place = [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| death_cause =
| resting_place = [[Arlington National Cemetery]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| residence =
| spouse = {{marriage|Mary Ann Bertles|1943}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/03/mary_ann_bertles_stewart_widow.html|title=Mary Ann Bertles Stewart dies, was widow of U.S. Supreme Court Justice and born in Grand Rapids|date=March 5, 2013|access-date=January 25, 2019|archive-date=January 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126113754/https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2013/03/mary_ann_bertles_stewart_widow.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
| children = 3
| father = [[James Garfield Stewart]]
| education = [[Yale University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])<br>[[University of Cambridge]]
| allegiance = United States
| branch = {{tree list}}
* [[United States Navy]]
** [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]]
{{tree list/end}}
| serviceyears = 1941–1945
| rank = [[Lieutenant (junior grade)#United States|Lieutenant (junior grade)]]
| battles = [[World War II]]
| module = {{Listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Potter Stewart delivers the opinion of the Court in Dothard v. Rawlinson.ogg|title=Potter Stewart's voice|type=speech|description=Potter Stewart delivers the opinion of the Court in ''[[Dothard v. Rawlinson]]''<br />Recorded June 27, 1977}}
}}
'''Potter Stewart''' ([[January 23]], [[1915]] &ndash; [[December 7]], [[1985]]) was an American lawyer and judge who was an [[Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court|Associateassociate Justicejustice of the United States Supreme Court]] offrom 1958 to 1981. During his tenure, he made major contributions to [[criminal justice reform]], civil rights, access to the courts, and [[Fourth Amendment to the United States SupremeConstitution|Fourth CourtAmendment]] jurisprudence.<ref>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. page 291–292.</ref>
 
After graduating from [[Yale Law School]] in 1941, Stewart served in [[World War II]] as a member of the [[United States Navy Reserve]]. After the war, he practiced law and served on the [[Cincinnati]] city council. In 1954, President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] appointed Stewart to a judgeship on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit|U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]. In 1958, Eisenhower nominated Stewart to succeed retiring Associate Justice [[Harold Hitz Burton]], and Stewart won [[United States Senate|Senate]] confirmation afterwards. He was frequently in the minority during the [[Warren Court]] but emerged as a [[centrist]] swing vote on the [[Burger Court]]. Stewart retired in 1981 and was succeeded by the first female United States Supreme Court justice, [[Sandra Day O'Connor]].
==Education==
Stewart was born in [[Jackson, Michigan|Jackson]], [[Michigan]] while his family was on vacation. His father, [[James G. Stewart]], a prominent Republican from [[Cincinnati, Ohio]], served as Mayor of Cincinnati for seven years and was later a justice on the [[Ohio Supreme Court]].
 
Stewart wrote the majority opinion in cases such as ''[[Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.]]'', ''[[Katz v. United States]]'', ''[[Chimel v. California]]'', and ''[[Sierra Club v. Morton]]''. He wrote dissenting opinions in cases such as ''[[Engel v. Vitale]]'', ''[[In re Gault]]'' and ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]''. He popularized the phrase "[[I know it when I see it]]" with a concurring opinion in ''[[Jacobellis v. Ohio]]'', in which a theater owner had been fined for showing a supposedly obscene film.
Stewart attended the [[Hotchkiss School]], graduating in [[1933]]. Then, he went on to [[Yale University]], where he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] and [[Skull and Bones]] graduating class of [[1937]]. He was awarded [[Phi Beta Kappa]] and served as chairman of the student newspaper, The [[Yale Daily News]]. He graduated from [[Yale Law School]] in [[1941]], where he was an editor of the ''[[Yale Law Journal]]'' and a member of [[Phi Delta Phi]]. Other members of that era included [[Gerald R. Ford]], [[Peter H. Dominick]], [[Walter Lord]], [[William Scranton]], [[R. Sargent Shriver]], [[Cyrus R. Vance]], and [[Byron R. White]]. The last would later become his colleague on the [[United States Supreme Court|Supreme Court]].
 
==Early life and education==
==Life experience==
Stewart was born in [[Jackson, Michigan|Jackson]], Michigan in 1915, while his family was on vacation. He was the son of Harriett L. (Potter) and [[James Garfield Stewart]]. His father, a prominent [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] from [[Cincinnati]], [[Ohio]], served as [[mayor of Cincinnati]] for nine years and was later a justice of the [[Ohio Supreme Court]].<ref name="Cushman2012">{{cite book|author=Clare Cushman|title=The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKN2AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA418|date=11 December 2012|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-3534-9|pages=418}}</ref>
He served in [[World War II]] as a member of the [[United States Navy Reserve|US Navy Reserve]] aboard oil tankers.
 
Stewart earned an academic scholarship to attend the prestigious [[Hotchkiss School]], where he graduated in 1933. He then went on to [[Yale University]], where he was a member of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] (Phi chapter) and [[Skull and Bones]],<ref name="Tap Day 1936">{{cite news | title=Six Yale Societies Elect 90 Members: Book and Snake and Berzilius Again Fill Their Ranks as University Groups. Quotas Chosen in an Hour: Tapping Is Done in the Traditional and Picturesque Harkness Court Ceremony. | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=May 8, 1936 | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E3DE123AE33BBC4053DFB366838D629EDE | access-date=January 2, 2015 | page=18 | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305083425/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A05E3DE123AE33BBC4053DFB366838D629EDE | url-status=live }}</ref> graduating [[Phi Beta Kappa]] in 1937 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree ''[[cum laude]]''. He served as chairman of the ''[[Yale Daily News]]''. After studying international law at the [[University of Cambridge]] in England for a year, Stewart enrolled at [[Yale Law School]] where he graduated ''[[cum laude]]'' in 1941 with a [[Bachelor of Laws]]. While at Yale Law School, he was an editor of the ''[[Yale Law Journal]]'' and a member of [[Phi Delta Phi]]. Other members of that era included [[Gerald R. Ford]], [[Peter H. Dominick]], [[Walter Lord]], [[William Scranton]], [[R.&nbsp;Sargent Shriver]], [[Cyrus R. Vance]], and [[Byron R. White]]. The last would later become his colleague on the [[United States Supreme Court]].
In [[1943]], he married Mary Ann Bertles in a ceremony at Bruton Episcopal Church in [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]. His brother, Zeph Stewart (also an initiate of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] and [[Skull and Bones]]), was the best man. They eventually had a daughter, Harriet (Virkstis), and two sons, Potter, Jr. and David.
 
Stewart served in [[World War II]] as a member of the [[United States Navy Reserve|U.S. Naval Reserve]] aboard oil tankers from 1941 to 1945, attaining the rank of [[Lieutenant (junior grade)|lieutenant junior grade]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Potter Stewart (Jan. 23, 1915 - Dec. 7, 1985) » Supreme Court of Ohio |url=https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/courts/judicial-system/supreme-court-of-ohio/mjc/interest/grand-concourse/potter-stewart/ |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.supremecourt.ohio.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Stewart, Potter {{!}} Federal Judicial Center |url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/stewart-potter |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.fjc.gov}}</ref> In 1943, he married Mary Ann Bertles in a ceremony at [[Bruton Parish Church|Bruton Episcopal Church]] in [[Williamsburg, Virginia]] (at which his brother Zeph{{mdash}}also an initiate of [[Delta Kappa Epsilon]] and [[Skull and Bones]], and eventually a professor of classics at Harvard{{mdash}}was the best man). They eventually had a daughter: Harriet (Virkstis), and two sons: Potter Jr. and David. He was in private practice with [[Dinsmore & Shohl]] in Cincinnati. During the early 1950s, he was elected to the Cincinnati City Council.
He was employed in private practice at the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP in Cincinnati and at the age of 39, in [[1954]], he was appointed to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]].
 
==SupremeSixth CourtCircuit service==
In [[1958]], [[President Eisenhower]] nominated Stewart to the Supreme Court to replace Justice [[Harold Hitz Burton]], who was retiring.
 
Stewart was nominated by President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] on April 6, 1954, to a seat on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]] vacated by Judge [[Xenophon Hicks]]. He was confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] on April 23, 1954, and received his commission on April 27, 1954. His service terminated on October 13, 1958, due to his elevation to the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].<ref name="fjc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/stewart-potter|title=Stewart, Potter - Federal Judicial Center|website=www.fjc.gov|access-date=November 5, 2018|archive-date=October 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026110707/https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/stewart-potter|url-status=live}}</ref>
Stewart was tempermentally inclined to moderate positions, but was often in a dissenting posture during his time on the [[Warren Court|Earl Warren]]. Stewart believed that the majority on the Warren Court had adopted readings of the First Amendment Establishment Clause (''[[Abington Township v. Schempp]]'' (1963)), the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination (''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]'' (1965)), and Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of Equal Protection with regard to voting rights (''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' (1964)) which went beyond the intention of the framers. Stewart dissented in ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' (1965) on the ground that, while the Connecticut statute barring the use of contraceptives seemed to him an "uncommonly silly law," he could not find a general "Right of Privacy" in the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.
 
==Supreme Court==
Prior to the appointment of [[Warren Burger]] as [[Chief Justice]], many speculated that President [[Richard Nixon]] would elevate Stewart to the post, some going so far as to call him the front-runner. Stewart, though flattered by the suggestion, did not want again to appear before--and expose his family to--the Senate confirmation process. Nor did he relish the prospect of taking on the administrative responsibilities delegated to the Chief Justice. Accordingly, he met privately with the president to ask that his name be removed from consideration.
 
Stewart received a [[recess appointment]] from President Eisenhower as an [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|associate justice]] on the U.S. Supreme Court on October 14, 1958,<ref name=RL33225>{{cite report| last=McMillion| first=Barry J.| date= January 28, 2022| title=Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2020: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President| url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RL33225.pdf| publisher=Congressional Research Service| ___location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> to succeed [[Harold Hitz Burton]]. He took the [[Oath of office#Federal judiciary oaths|judicial oath of office]] that same day.<ref name=SCOTUSjustices>{{cite web| url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/members_text.aspx| title= Justices 1789 to Present| publisher=Supreme Court of the United States| ___location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> He was formally nominated to the same position by President Eisenhower on January 17, 1959.<ref name="CRS2018BJMDSR">{{cite web| last1=McMillion| first1=Barry J.| last2=Rutkus| first2=Denis Steven| date=July 6, 2018| title=Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2017: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President| url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/RL33225.pdf| publisher=Congressional Research Service| ___location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=March 9, 2022}}</ref> Public hearings were held before the [[Senate Judiciary Committee]] on April 9 and 14, 1959, and the Committee voted on May 5, 1959 to forward his nomination with a favorable report.<ref name="CRS2018BJMDSR"/> He was confirmed by the Senate in a 70–17 vote on May 5, 1959.<ref>{{cite web| title=Supreme Court Nominations (1789-Present)| url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/nominations/SupremeCourtNominations1789present.htm| publisher=United States Senate| ___location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=February 18, 2022}}</ref> All 17 votes against his confirmation came from [[Southern Democrat]]s (both senators from [[Alabama]], [[Arkansas]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Louisiana]], [[Mississippi]], [[North Carolina]], [[South Carolina]] and [[Virginia]], plus [[Spessard Holland]] of [[Florida]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1959/s58 |title=Nomination of Potter Stewart as Assoc. Justice of Supreme Court |date=May 5, 1959 |publisher=govtrack.us |access-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006195443/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/86-1959/s58 |url-status=live }}</ref> He served as Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit from October 14, 1958 to July 3, 1981, and as Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit from October 12, 1971 to January 6, 1972.<ref name="fjc.gov"/>
On the Burger Court, Stewart was seen as a centrist justice and was often influential, joining the decision in ''[[Furman v. Georgia]]'' ([[1972]]) which invalidated all [[capital punishment in the United States|death penalty laws]] then in force, and then joining in the Court's decision four years later, ''Gregg v. Georgia'', which upheld the revised capital punishment legislation adopted in a majority of the states. Despite his earlier dissent in ''Griswold'', Stewart changed his views on the "Right of Privacy" and was a key mover behind the Court's decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' ([[1973]]), which recognized the right to abortion under the "Right of Privacy." Though Stewart was a lifelong Republican, he opposed the [[Vietnam War]] and on a number of occasions urged the Supreme Court to grant [[certiorari]] on cases challenging the constitutionality of the war.
 
Stewart came to a Supreme Court controlled by two warring ideological camps and sat firmly in its center.<ref>Eisler, Kim Isaac (1993). ''A Justice for All: William J. Brennan, Jr., and the decisions that transformed America''. page 159. New York: Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|0-671-76787-9}}</ref><ref name=Dowd>{{cite web |url=https://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1960/1960_41/ideology/#opinions |title=''Irvin v. Dowd'' 366 US 717 (1961) |date=June 5, 1961 |publisher=U.S. Supreme Court |access-date=July 18, 2018 |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924064036/http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1960/1960_41/ideology/#opinions |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name = MacKenzie>John P. MacKenzie (December 8, 1985). "Potter Stewart is Dead at 70; Was on High Court 23 Years," [https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/us/potter-stewart-is-dead-at-70-was-on-high-court-23-years.html?pagewanted=all ''NY Times''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202234110/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/us/potter-stewart-is-dead-at-70-was-on-high-court-23-years.html?pagewanted=all |date=December 2, 2016 }}("The Court that Justice Stewart joined was closely divided on many of its most important questions, which often gave the junior member the deciding vote in his first few years.")</ref> A case early in his Supreme Court career showing his role as the swing vote during that time is ''[[Irvin v. Dowd]]''.
He was the lone dissenter in the landmark juvenile law case ''[[In Re Gault]]'' (1967). That case extended to [[minor (law)|minor]]s the right to be informed of rights and the right to an attorney, which had been granted to adults in ''[[Gideon v. Wainwright]]'' (1963) and ''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]'' (1966), respectively.
 
Stewart was temperamentally inclined to moderate, pragmatic positions,<ref>Stern, Seth (2010) ''Justice Brennan, Liberal Champion'', page 357, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt. {{ISBN|0-547-14925-5}}</ref> but was often in a dissenting posture during his time on the [[Warren Court]]. Stewart believed that the majority on the Warren Court had adopted readings of the First Amendment Establishment Clause (''[[Engel v. Vitale]]'' (1962), ''[[Abington School District v. Schempp]]'' (1963)), the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination (''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]'' (1966)), and the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of Equal Protection with regard to voting rights (''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' (1964)) that went beyond the framers' intention. In ''Engel'', Stewart found no precedent to remove school sponsored prayer, and in ''Abington'', Stewart refused to strike down the practice of school sponsored Bible reading in public schools; he was the only justice who took this position in both cases.<ref>Eisler, 182</ref> Stewart dissented in ''[[Griswold v. Connecticut]]'' (1965) on the ground that, while the Connecticut statute barring the use of contraceptives seemed to him an "uncommonly silly law", he could not find a general "Right of Privacy" in the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause.
To the lay public, Stewart may be best known for a quotation, or a fragment thereof, from his opinion in the [[obscenity]] case of ''[[Jacobellis v. Ohio]]'' (1964). Stewart wrote in his short concurrence that "hard-core pornography" was hard to define, but that "[[I know it when I see it]]." Usually dropped from the quote is the remainder of that sentence, "and the motion picture involved in this case is not that." He later recanted this view in ''[[Miller v. California]]'', in which he accepted that his prior view was simply untenable.
 
Before the appointment of [[Warren Burger]] as [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]], many speculated that President [[Richard Nixon]] would elevate Stewart to the post, some going so far as to call him the front-runner. Stewart, though flattered by the suggestion, did not want again to appear before and expose his family to the Senate confirmation process. He also did not relish the prospect of taking on the administrative responsibilities that were delegated to the Chief Justice. Accordingly, he met privately with the President to ask that his name be removed from consideration.<ref>{{cite book |last= Woodward |first= Bob |author2=Scott Armstrong |title= [[The Brethren (non-fiction)|The Brethren]] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |date=September 1979 |isbn= 0-671-24110-9}}</ref>
Stewart remained on the Court until his retirement in July 1981 at the age of 66. He was succeeded by [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.
 
On the Burger Court, Stewart was seen as a centrist justice and was often influential. He joined the decision in ''[[Furman v. Georgia]]'' (1972), which invalidated all [[capital punishment in the United States|death penalty laws]] then in force, and he then joined in the Court's decision four years later, ''[[Gregg v. Georgia]]'', which upheld the revised capital punishment legislation adopted in a majority of the states. Despite his earlier dissent in ''Griswold'', Stewart changed his views on the [[right of privacy]] and was a key mover behind the Court's decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1973), which recognized the right to abortion under that right.<ref>Eisler, 232</ref> Stewart opposed the [[Vietnam War]]<ref>Strassfeld, Robert M. "The Vietnam War On Trial: The Court-Martial of Dr. Howard Levy," 1994 [http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1550&context=faculty_publications ''Wisc. L. Rev.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624041324/http://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1550&context=faculty_publications |date=June 24, 2016 }} 839, 840 ("On June 19, 1974, the United States Supreme Court upheld the court-martial conviction of Dr. Howard B. Levy, and with it, the constitutional validity of Uniform Code of Military Justice ("UCMJ") Articles 1332 and 134.3 The Court's announcement of its decision in Parker v. Levy prompted an unusual display of ire; Justice Potter Stewart angrily read his dissenting opinion from the bench." [citations omitted])</ref> and on a number of occasions urged the Supreme Court to grant [[certiorari]] on cases challenging the constitutionality of the war.<ref>Lamb, Charles M., Stephen C. Halpern, eds. (1991). ''The Burger Court: Political and Judicial Profiles''. Champaign-Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. Chapter 6 by Phillip J. Cooper, "Justice William O. Douglas: Conscience of the Court," p. 169 ("The cases presenting challenges to the validity of the war in Vietnam came in many forms, often in litigation concerning the draft, but most of them also contained a foundation assertion that the legitimacy of the war itself was in question. Recalling this period, Douglas asserted: 'I wrote numerous opinions stating why we should take these cases and decide them. Once or twice, Potter Stewart or Bill Brennan joined me. But there was never a fourth vote.'") {{ISBN|0252061357}}, {{ISBN|9780252061356}}.</ref>
After his retirement, he appeared in a series of public television specials about the [[United States Constitution]] with [[Fred W. Friendly]].
 
Stewart consistently voted against claims of criminal defendants in the area of federal habeas corpus and collateral review.<ref>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Page 296.</ref> He was concerned about broad interpretations of the Due Process and the Equal Protection Clauses.<ref name=Friedman_Pg304>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Page 304.</ref>
Stewart's personal and official papers are archived at the manuscript library of Yale University in [[New Haven, Connecticut]]. However, all files concerning Stewart's service are closed to researchers until all the justices with whom Stewart served have left the court. Thus, the files are expected to be made public following the departure from the court of Justice [[John Paul Stevens]], who is the last sitting justice who served with Stewart.
 
He was the lone dissenter in the landmark juvenile law case ''[[In re Gault]]'' (1967). That case extended to [[minor (law)|minors]] the right to be informed of their rights and the right to an attorney, which had been granted to adults in ''[[Miranda v. Arizona]]'' (1966) and ''[[Gideon v. Wainwright]]'' (1963), respectively.
{{start box}}
 
{{succession box| title=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit|Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]|
In the [[obscenity]] case of ''[[Jacobellis v. Ohio]]'' (1964), Stewart wrote in his short concurrence that "hard-core pornography" was hard to define, but "[[I know it when I see it]], and the motion picture involved in this case is not that."<ref name=oyez_stewart>{{cite web|url=https://www.oyez.org/justices/potter_stewart/|title=Potter Stewart|website=[[Oyez Project|Oyez]]|publisher=[[Chicago-Kent College of Law]]|access-date=June 27, 2017|archive-date=July 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710170636/https://www.oyez.org/justices/potter_stewart|url-status=live}}</ref> Justice Stewart went on to defend the movie in question ([[Louis Malle]]'s ''[[The Lovers (1958 film)|The Lovers]]'') against further censorship. One commentator opined, "This observation summarizes Stewart's judicial philosophy: particularistic, intuitive, and pragmatic."<ref name=oyez_stewart/>
before=[[Xenophon Hicks]] |
 
after=[[Lester LeFevre Cecil]] |
Justice Stewart commented about his second thoughts about that quotation in 1981. "In a way I regret having said what I said about obscenity—that's going to be on my tombstone. When I remember all of the other solid words I've written," he said, "I regret a little bit that if I'll be remembered at all I'll be remembered for that particular phrase."<ref name=PostObit>{{cite news |author=Al Kamen |date=December 8, 1985 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-high-court-justice-potter-stewart-dies-at-70/2011/12/03/gIQA9mhjPO_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |title=Retired High Court Justice Potter Stewart Dies at 70 |access-date=January 2, 2015 |archive-date=October 18, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018031023/http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-high-court-justice-potter-stewart-dies-at-70/2011/12/03/gIQA9mhjPO_story.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
years=1954–1958|
 
}}
===Fourth Amendment===
{{succession box|title=[[List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States|Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States]]|before=[[Harold Hitz Burton]]|after=[[Sandra Day O'Connor]]|years=[[October 14]], [[1958]] &ndash; [[July 3]], [[1981]]}}
Before 1967, Fourth Amendment protections were mostly limited to notions of property: possessory geographical locations such as apartments or physical objects.<ref name=Friedman_Pg292>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Page 292.</ref>
{{end box}}
 
Stewart's opinion in ''[[Katz v. United States]]'' established that the Fourth Amendment "protects people, not places."<ref name=Friedman_Pg292/> Stewart wrote that the government's installation of a recording device in a public phone booth violated the reasonable expectation of privacy since the government was committing the "seizure" of callers' words.<ref name=Friedman_Pg292/> ''Katz'' therefore extended the reach of the Fourth Amendment beyond just physical intrusions and would also protect against the seizure of incorporeal words.<ref name=Friedman_Pg292/> In addition, the reach of the Amendment was no longer defined solely by property limits but now went as far as a person's reasonable privacy expectation.<ref name=Friedman_Pg292/> The ''Katz'' case made government wiretapping by both state and federal authorities subject to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirements.<ref name=Friedman_Pg292/>
 
In ''[[Chimel v. California]]'' (1969), Stewart wrote an opinion stating that arresting a suspect in his house does not give the police the right to perform a warrantless search of the entire house, only the area surrounding the arrestee.<ref>Chimel v. California, 395 U.S. 752 (1969)</ref>
 
In ''[[Almeida-Sanchez v. United States]]'' (1973), Stewart wrote that roving patrols of the [[United States Border Patrol]] must have some justifiable reason before stopping a car. They could not stop and search automobiles without probable cause merely because a stop was made within {{convert|100|nmi|km}} from the international border.<ref>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Page 294.</ref>
 
In ''[[Whalen v. Roe]]'' (1977), Stewart, in his concurrence,<ref>Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589 (1977)</ref> objected to any broad establishment of a right to privacy. He said that prior Court decisions did not "recognize a general interest in freedom from disclosure of private information."<ref name=Friedman_Pg304/>
 
===Access to courts===
Justice Stewart was a leader in trying to maintain access to federal courts in civil rights cases.<ref name=Friedman_Pg297>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Page 297.</ref> Stewart was one of the strongest dissenters in the trend of denying litigants access to the federal courts.<ref name=Friedman_Pg297/>
 
Stewart wrote the Court's opinions in ''[[Sierra Club v. Morton]]'' (1972) and ''[[United States v. SCRAP]]'' (1973), broadly laying out the requirements of standing in federal actions.<ref name=Friedman_Pg297/>
 
===Civil rights===
In ''[[Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.]]'' (1968), Stewart extended the [[1866 Civil Rights Act]] to outlaw private refusals to buy, sell, or lease real or personal property for racially-discriminatory reasons.<ref>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'', Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers. 1978. Pages 298–299.</ref> In 1976, Stewart extended the Act again in ''[[Runyon v. McCrary]]'', which states that private schools open to all white students could no longer exclude black children, and all other offers to contract made to the general public were also made subject to the 1866 Act.<ref name=Friedman_Pg299>Friedman, Leon. ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions, Volume V. Chelsea House Publishers''. 1978. Page 299.</ref>
 
In ''[[Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham]]'' (1965), Stewart held for the Court that police could not use an anti-loitering law to keep civil rights workers from standing or demonstrating on a sidewalk.<ref name=Friedman_Pg299/>
 
In a dissenting opinion in ''[[Ginzburg v. United States]]'', {{ussc|383|463|1966}}, Stewart stated, "Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080531003151/http://alternativereel.com/includes/top-ten/display_review.php?id=00100 Alternative Reel Logo – Quietly Redefining the ''Internet Top 10 Quotes Against Censorship''.]</ref>
 
==Retirement and death==
Stewart announced his retirement from the Court on June 18, 1981,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1981-06-18 |title=Justice Potter Stewart announced Thursday he is retiring |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/18/Justice-Potter-Stewart-announced-Thursday-he-is-retiring-after/3604361684800/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |work=UPI |language=en}}</ref> and stepped down on July 3.<ref name=SCOTUSjustices/> President [[Ronald Reagan]] nominated [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] to succeed Stewart; she would become the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Reagan's Nomination of O'Connor|url = https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/oconnor.html|publisher = archives.gov|access-date = November 7, 2015|archive-date = July 13, 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140713172246/http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/oconnor.html|url-status = live}}</ref>
 
He assumed [[senior status]] upon retirement, serving in that status until his death on December 7, 1985.<ref name="fjc.gov"/> After his retirement, he appeared in ''[[The Constitution: That Delicate Balance]]'', a 13-episode learning course series broadcast in 1984 about the [[United States Constitution]] with [[Fred W. Friendly]].
[[File:Vice President George H. W. Bush Taking His Oath of Office with Justice Potter Stewart with Barbara Bush Looking on in The Us Capitol.jpg|thumb|350x350px|Stewart (right) delivers the Vice Presidential Oath of Office to George H. W. Bush. 1985]]
On January 20 and 21, 1985, Stewart [[Second inauguration of Ronald Reagan|administered the oath of office]] for Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]]. On December 7, 1985, he died from a stroke at a hospital in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]], at the age of 70.<ref name = MacKenzie/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/07/us/stewart-an-ex-justice-hospitalized-by-stroke.html|title=Stewart, an Ex-Justice, Hospitalized by Stroke|last=AP|newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 7, 1985|access-date=August 20, 2018|archive-date=August 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820172944/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/07/us/stewart-an-ex-justice-hospitalized-by-stroke.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was buried in [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianhill.org/History/Ppl011.htm |title=Indian Hill Historical Society, Potter Stewart |date=January 1, 2001 |access-date=January 2, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011191432/http://www.indianhill.org/History/Ppl011.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2007 |df=mdy }}</ref>
 
===Archives===
Most of Stewart's personal and official papers are archived at the manuscript [[Yale University Library]] in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], where they are now available for research. The files concerning Stewart's service were closed to researchers until all the justices with whom Stewart served had left the court; the last of these was Justice [[John Paul Stevens]], who considered Stewart his judicial hero.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/magazine/23stevens-t.html | newspaper=The New York Times | title=The Dissenter, Justice John Paul Stevens | first=Jeffrey | last=Rosen | date=September 23, 2007 | access-date=May 22, 2010 | archive-date=November 24, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124133243/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/magazine/23stevens-t.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Additional papers also exist in other collections.<ref>[http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/Courts/supreme/judges/stewart/stewart.html Biography, bibliography, ___location of papers on Potter Stewart] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218152325/http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/Courts/supreme/judges/stewart/stewart.html |date=February 18, 2012 }} at Sixth Circuit [[U.S. Court of Appeals]].</ref>
 
In 1989, [[Bob Woodward]] disclosed that Stewart had been the primary source for ''[[The Brethren (non-fiction)|The Brethren]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Playboy Interview: Bob Woodward|last=Lukas|first=J. Anthony|date=February 1989|work=Playboy|issue=36|page=62}}</ref>
 
==See also==
{{colbegin}}
*[[List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States]]
*[[List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 8)]]
*[[List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Burger Court|United States Supreme Court cases during the Burger Court]]
*[[List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Warren Court|United States Supreme Court cases during the Warren Court]]
{{colend}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
 
==Further reading==
*Abraham, Henry J., ''Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. 3d. ed.'' (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). {{ISBN|0-19-506557-3}}.
*Barnett, Helaine M., Janice Goldman, and Jeffrey B. Morris. ''A Lawyer's Lawyer, a Judge's Judge: Potter Stewart and the Fourth Amendment''. 51 [[University of Cincinnati]] Law Review 509 (1982).
*Barnett, Helaine M., and Kenneth Levine. ''Mr. Justice Potter Stewart.'' 40 [[New York University]] Law Review 526 (1965).
* Berman, Daniel M. ''Mr. Justice Stewart: A Preliminary Appraisal.'' 28 [[University of Cincinnati]] Law Review 401 (1959).
*Cushman, Clare, ''The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies,1789–1995'' (2nd ed.) (Supreme Court Historical Society), (Congressional Quarterly Books, 2001) {{ISBN|1-56802-126-7}}; {{ISBN|978-1-56802-126-3}}.
*Frank, John P., ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'' (Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, editors) (Chelsea House Publishers, 1995) {{ISBN|0-7910-1377-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7910-1377-9}}.
* Frank, John Paul. ''The Warren Court.'' New York: Macmillan, 1964, 133–148.
* Hall, Kermit L., ed. ''The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992., {{ISBN|0-19-505835-6}}; {{ISBN|978-0-19-505835-2}}.
*Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U., ''The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography'', (Congressional Quarterly Books, 1990). {{ISBN|0-87187-554-3}}.
*Urofsky, Melvin I., ''The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary'' (New York: Garland Publishing 1994). 590 pp.&nbsp;{{ISBN|0-8153-1176-1}}; {{ISBN|978-0-8153-1176-8}}.
* [[Bob Woodward|Woodward, Robert]] and [[Scott Armstrong (journalist)|Armstrong, Scott]]. ''[[The Brethren (non-fiction)|The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court]]'' (1979). {{ISBN|978-0-380-52183-8}}; {{ISBN|0-380-52183-0}}. {{ISBN|978-0-671-24110-0}}; {{ISBN|0-671-24110-9}}; {{ISBN|0-7432-7402-4}}; {{ISBN|978-0-7432-7402-9}}.
*Yarbrough, Tinsley E. Justice ''Potter Stewart: Decisional Patterns in Search of Doctrinal Moorings''. In The Burger Court: Political and Judicial Profiles, eds., Charles M. Lamb and Stephen C. Halpern, 375–406. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1991.
 
==External links==
{{start U.S. Supreme Court composition| CJ=[[Earl Warren|Warren]]| }}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1958-1962}}
*{{FJC Bio|nid=1388346}}
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1962-1965}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120218152325/http://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/lib_hist/Courts/supreme/judges/stewart/stewart.html Biography, bibliography, ___location of papers on Potter Stewart] at the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit]]
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1965-1967}}
* [https://ancexplorer.army.mil/publicwmv/#/arlington-national/search/results/1/CgdzdGV3YXJ0EgZwb3R0ZXI-/ Arlington National Cemetery]
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1967-1969}}
* [https://www.oyez.org/justices/potter_stewart/ U.S. Supreme Court media on Potter Stewart] at the [[Oyez Project]]
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition CJ| CJ=[[Warren E. Burger|Burger]]| }}
* [http://www.supremecourthistory.org/history-of-the-court/associate-justices/potter-stewart-1958-1981 Potter Stewart] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408200158/http://supremecourthistory.org/history-of-the-court/associate-justices/potter-stewart-1958-1981/ |date=April 8, 2016 }} at the [[Supreme Court Historical Society]]
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1969}}
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1970-1971}}
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1972-1975}}
{{U.S. Supreme Court composition 1975-1981}}
{{end U.S. Supreme Court composition}}
 
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