(Re)Introducing Wiley Rutledge
![handle is hein.journals/jspcth29 and id is 361 raw text is:
(Re)introducing Wiley Rutledge
L. A. POWE, JR.
With the rarest of exceptions, when Supreme Court Justices leave the Court, they are soon
all but forgotten.' Constitutional law is unrelentingly presentist, so closely intertwined with
politics and society that sitting (or recently departed) Justices necessarily speak to the issues
more directly than those from another era. If that were not enough, being forgotten is virtually
inevitable for those whose careers are short. One of those men was Wiley Rutledge who served
from February 1943 until his death at age 55 from a cerebral hemorrhage, six and a half years
later. Until John M. Ferren's recently published and marvelously researched Salt of the Earth,
Conscience of the Court,2 Rutledge even lacked a true biography.3 That has been a shame,
because the two dominant themes of Ferren's book show that Rutledge is worth knowing: He
was a good man and a good judge. Indeed, on what probably was the most fractious Court
in American history,4 Rutledge was the sole member both personally liked and intellectually
respected by every other member.5
Religion and kindness were important fac-
tors in Rutledge's life. His father was a loving
man who instilled a strong sense of security
in his son. Rutledge grew up to be friendly,
empathetic, unpretentious, honest, with a good
sense of humor-a man who loved being with
people.
His father was a Southern Baptist min-
ister who took the Bible literally, but by col-
lege Rutledge was moving toward a faith in a
kind God who revealed himselfthrough nature.
As this view matured he believed in an ulti-
mate, creative force in the universe [that was]
benevolent, inspiring human aspiration and
yearning [for] freedom, community, justice.6
Eventually Rutledge's Christian humanism
caused him to cease going to church, but in
Washington, D.C. he found his religious home
in All Souls Unitarian Church, where the min-
ister, A. Powell Davis, preached against witch-
hunting and in favor of civilian control of
atomic energy. Those were positions Rutledge
believed in.
On his nomination of Rutledge to the
Court, Franklin D. Roosevelt noted that you
have a lot of geography.7 How true: Rutledge
went to college in Tennessee and Wisconsin
and taught high school in Indiana, New
Mexico, and Colorado. He spent time in the
state sanitarium in North Carolina getting over](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jspcth29&div=30&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
(Re)Introducing Wiley Rutledge
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most