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Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White (June 8, 1917 – April 15, 2002) was an American lawyer and professional American football player who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 to 1993.[1][2] Born and raised in Colorado, he played college football, basketball, and baseball for the University of Colorado, finishing as the runner up for the Heisman Trophy in 1937. He was selected in the first round of the 1938 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and led the National Football League in rushing yards in his rookie season. White was admitted to Yale Law School in 1939 and played for the Detroit Lions in the 1940 and 1941 seasons. During World War II, he served as an intelligence officer with the United States Navy in the Pacific. After the war, he graduated from Yale and clerked for Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson.
White entered private practice in Denver, Colorado, working primarily as a transactional attorney. He served as the Colorado state chair of John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and accepted appointment as the United States Deputy Attorney General in 1961. In 1962, President Kennedy successfully nominated White to the Supreme Court, making White the first Supreme Court Justice from Colorado.[3] He retired in 1993 and was succeeded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. White is the twelfth longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history.
White viewed his own court decisions as based on the facts of each case rather than as representative of a specific legal philosophy. He wrote the majority opinion in cases including Coker v. Georgia, Washington v. Davis and Bowers v. Hardwick. He wrote dissenting opinions in notable cases such as Miranda v. Arizona, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, and Roe v. Wade.
White entered private practice in Denver, Colorado, working primarily as a transactional attorney. He served as the Colorado state chair of John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign and accepted appointment as the United States Deputy Attorney General in 1961. In 1962, President Kennedy successfully nominated White to the Supreme Court, making White the first Supreme Court Justice from Colorado.[3] He retired in 1993 and was succeeded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. White is the twelfth longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history.
White viewed his own court decisions as based on the facts of each case rather than as representative of a specific legal philosophy. He wrote the majority opinion in cases including Coker v. Georgia, Washington v. Davis and Bowers v. Hardwick. He wrote dissenting opinions in notable cases such as Miranda v. Arizona, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, and Roe v. Wade.
Byron White - Wikipedia
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Byron White and the Supreme Court
Byron White served on the Supreme Court for 31 years, but before his appointment in 1962 he was a college and professional football player earning a great de...
Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that June 8 is the anniversary of the birth of American lawyer and professional American football player Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 to 1993.
I am thankful that hewrote dissenting opinions in notable cases such as Miranda v. Arizona, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, and especially Roe v. Wade.
Rest in peace Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White
Byron White and the Supreme Court
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKGOpRDuWM
Image: Byron_R_White - The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States (Artist - Chris Owen).jpg
Background from oyez.org/justices/byron_r_white
Byron Raymond White—a nondoctrinaire pragmatist—will be remembered primarily for his individualistic approach to law and secondarily for his early career as a professional athlete. Hailing from the small town of Fort Collins, Colorado, White was born on June 8, 1917 to Alpha Albert White and Maude Elizabeth Burger. While his beginnings were modest and his parents did not complete high school, White nevertheless excelled as a scholar and athlete. He graduated valedictorian of his high school and earned an athletic scholarship for football to the University of Colorado at Boulder.
At Colorado, White played collegiate football as a halfback. He earned All-American decorations and received the nickname “Whizzer,” which followed him for the rest of his life. White won a Rhodes Scholarship to study medicine the University of Oxford upon graduating, but deferred for a year in order to play professional football. He was selected in Round 1 of the 1938 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates (now the Pittsburgh Steelers). He played only one season, but led the entire league in rushing yards as a rookie and earned the highest salary in the sport at the time. After leaving the NFL, White traveled to England to complete his Rhodes scholarship at Oxford’s Hertford College in 1939, but soon returned to the States when World War II began. Upon his return, White entered Yale Law School, obtaining the highest grades in his class the first year. In a move unthinkable by today’s standards, White took a leave of absence from law school to play the 1940-1941 football seasons with the Detroit Lions. His legal education remained unfinished when he entered the U.S. Navy in 1942. While there, White served as an intelligence officer, where he met future president John F. Kennedy and befriended future justice John Paul Stevens. After the war ended, White finally earned his law degree from Yale in 1946.
White’s legal career began when he moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a law clerk. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson until 1947, when he joined a Denver law firm and worked in private practice for the next fourteen years. In 1960, John F. Kennedy, now running for president, asked White for help in promoting his campaign. White used his celebrity clout to demonstrably publicize Kennedy in Colorado before Robert Kennedy gave him the reins of the national Citizens of Kennedy organization. Upon election, John F. Kennedy named White as the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, the second-highest position in the Justice Department under Robert Kennedy. In this capacity, White managed the daily administration of the department, took an active role in representing departmental initiatives to Congress, and was integral to the selection process for federal judiciary nominees. President Kennedy then selected White as his nominee to replace the retiring Associate Justice Charles E. Whittaker in March 1962. Although initially apprehensive, he agreed and was quickly confirmed by the Senate. White took his seat as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 16, 1962.
Byron White is not easily categorized by ideology. Scholars continue to debate his ideological posture because his demeanor during oral arguments, prose in written opinions, and voting record are each driven by the individual circumstances of the case. Rather than make sweeping legal conclusions about constitutional doctrine, he approached cases by examining their facts and implementing a pragmatic approach towards interpreting the law. White wrote a total of nearly one thousand opinions during his 31 years of service and is remembered for his stern interrogation of attorneys during arguments. What is known for certain is that he believed in a strong federal government, a U.S. Supreme Court deferential to the other branches, and government accountability. These ideas are perhaps best illustrated in his ardent support of expansion of governmental powers, writing several majority opinions to desegregate public schools, such as U.S. v. Fordice in 1992, and uphold affirmative action policies, as in Fullilove v. Klutznick in 1980. Nevertheless, his voting record fell more in line with the conservative bloc as the years passed. He wrote majority opinions to reduce the power of federal civil rights laws, to uphold state laws prohibiting homosexual sex between consenting adults, and opposed state and local affirmative action plans. He similarly dissented from the majority in Miranda v. Arizona and Roe v. Wade. A vocal critic of the substantive due process doctrine for the entirety of his career, White retired from the Court on June 28, 1993 and was succeeded by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He served on the Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals while occasionally sitting on lower federal courts in Colorado until his passing at age 84.
FYI Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord SP5 Jeannie Carle SPC Margaret Higgins
I am thankful that hewrote dissenting opinions in notable cases such as Miranda v. Arizona, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, and especially Roe v. Wade.
Rest in peace Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White
Byron White and the Supreme Court
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlKGOpRDuWM
Image: Byron_R_White - The Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States (Artist - Chris Owen).jpg
Background from oyez.org/justices/byron_r_white
Byron Raymond White—a nondoctrinaire pragmatist—will be remembered primarily for his individualistic approach to law and secondarily for his early career as a professional athlete. Hailing from the small town of Fort Collins, Colorado, White was born on June 8, 1917 to Alpha Albert White and Maude Elizabeth Burger. While his beginnings were modest and his parents did not complete high school, White nevertheless excelled as a scholar and athlete. He graduated valedictorian of his high school and earned an athletic scholarship for football to the University of Colorado at Boulder.
At Colorado, White played collegiate football as a halfback. He earned All-American decorations and received the nickname “Whizzer,” which followed him for the rest of his life. White won a Rhodes Scholarship to study medicine the University of Oxford upon graduating, but deferred for a year in order to play professional football. He was selected in Round 1 of the 1938 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates (now the Pittsburgh Steelers). He played only one season, but led the entire league in rushing yards as a rookie and earned the highest salary in the sport at the time. After leaving the NFL, White traveled to England to complete his Rhodes scholarship at Oxford’s Hertford College in 1939, but soon returned to the States when World War II began. Upon his return, White entered Yale Law School, obtaining the highest grades in his class the first year. In a move unthinkable by today’s standards, White took a leave of absence from law school to play the 1940-1941 football seasons with the Detroit Lions. His legal education remained unfinished when he entered the U.S. Navy in 1942. While there, White served as an intelligence officer, where he met future president John F. Kennedy and befriended future justice John Paul Stevens. After the war ended, White finally earned his law degree from Yale in 1946.
White’s legal career began when he moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a law clerk. He clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson until 1947, when he joined a Denver law firm and worked in private practice for the next fourteen years. In 1960, John F. Kennedy, now running for president, asked White for help in promoting his campaign. White used his celebrity clout to demonstrably publicize Kennedy in Colorado before Robert Kennedy gave him the reins of the national Citizens of Kennedy organization. Upon election, John F. Kennedy named White as the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, the second-highest position in the Justice Department under Robert Kennedy. In this capacity, White managed the daily administration of the department, took an active role in representing departmental initiatives to Congress, and was integral to the selection process for federal judiciary nominees. President Kennedy then selected White as his nominee to replace the retiring Associate Justice Charles E. Whittaker in March 1962. Although initially apprehensive, he agreed and was quickly confirmed by the Senate. White took his seat as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 16, 1962.
Byron White is not easily categorized by ideology. Scholars continue to debate his ideological posture because his demeanor during oral arguments, prose in written opinions, and voting record are each driven by the individual circumstances of the case. Rather than make sweeping legal conclusions about constitutional doctrine, he approached cases by examining their facts and implementing a pragmatic approach towards interpreting the law. White wrote a total of nearly one thousand opinions during his 31 years of service and is remembered for his stern interrogation of attorneys during arguments. What is known for certain is that he believed in a strong federal government, a U.S. Supreme Court deferential to the other branches, and government accountability. These ideas are perhaps best illustrated in his ardent support of expansion of governmental powers, writing several majority opinions to desegregate public schools, such as U.S. v. Fordice in 1992, and uphold affirmative action policies, as in Fullilove v. Klutznick in 1980. Nevertheless, his voting record fell more in line with the conservative bloc as the years passed. He wrote majority opinions to reduce the power of federal civil rights laws, to uphold state laws prohibiting homosexual sex between consenting adults, and opposed state and local affirmative action plans. He similarly dissented from the majority in Miranda v. Arizona and Roe v. Wade. A vocal critic of the substantive due process doctrine for the entirety of his career, White retired from the Court on June 28, 1993 and was succeeded by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He served on the Commission on Structural Alternatives for the Federal Courts of Appeals while occasionally sitting on lower federal courts in Colorado until his passing at age 84.
FYI Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price Maj Marty Hogan CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SGT John " Mac " McConnell SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord SP5 Jeannie Carle SPC Margaret Higgins
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