He wrote not only for his fellow jurists and lawyers, but also for the larger society. Not only was Brandeis a strong advocate for what we would today call a “liberal” vision of constitutional law, but he was also a natural educator from the bench. What struck me most in reading this work is how much we today need – and sorely lack - a Supreme Court Justice like Louis Brandeis. In Urofsky’s deft hands, Brandeis comes alive in these pages as a passionate progressive who dedicated his life and career to improving the lives of others and preserving the most fundamental American values. Urofsky covers everything from Brandeis’s youth in Louisville to his remarkable career as “The People’s Lawyer,” from his lifelong devotion to the Zionist cause to the bitter controversy over his confirmation as the first Jew ever appointed to the United States Supreme Court, from the many fierce battles he fought within the Court during his more than two decades of service to his countless extrajudicial activities. Professor Melvin Urofsky’s comprehensive and highly readable biography of Louis Brandeis conveys the vast scope of Brandeis’s fascinating life with energy, verve and immediacy.
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