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39 J. Sup. Ct. Hist. v (2014)

handle is hein.journals/jspcth39 and id is 1 raw text is: Introduction Melvin I. Urofsky We have a particularly appetizing buffet for our readers in this issue, and as I often say, they illustrate the rich variety of Supreme Court history. Although the traditional cases are at the heart oftwo ofthe articles, the stories told by the authors go far beyond the four corners of the opinions. This well reflects what one is finding in many recent books about the Court, the Justices, and their work, attention not only to the written opinion, but what Louis D. Brandeis used to call all the facts that surround. Williamjames Hoffer's article on the landmark case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) is not the first, nor will it be the last, historical word on that subject. But Plessy, decided more than a century ago, continues to fascinate scholars as we learn more about the people involved inthe case. Hoffertakes a close look at the lawyering involved, and the strategy that brought the case to the high court. Since the Court does not issue advisory opinions, there must be a real case or controversy involved, and the people who objected to the Louisiana law segregating railroad cars chose carefully, not just Homer Plessy, but the lawyers and the tactics they would follow. Thomas Healy, a colleague of Hoffer's at Seton Hall University, also revisits another landmark decision, Abrams v. United States (1919). The article is adopted from Healy's recent book, and focuses on why Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., changed his mind regard- ing the meaning ofthe First Amendment Speech Clause from his decision only a few months earlier in Schenck v. United States. Again, much has been written on the Holmes dissent, but Healy unearths new information that led Holmes to write what has been considered one of the great defenses of free speech. There is much debate over the process by which men and women are nominated to the federal judiciary. One school of thought takes a rather purist view that if the person is qualified (and what that means is the subject of another book), then the Senate ought to confirm. History, however, teaches us that as great-perhaps even a greater-a consideration is politics, not only the political debates over hot button issues, but also old-fashioned party politics. This was as true in the days ofthe early Republic as it is now. Lest anyone think that some of the recent fights over nominations are something new, v

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