Eamon de Valera
Irish politician (1882-1975)
Byron White
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
Byron White was an American lawyer, jurist, and professional football player who served on the Supreme Court from 1962 to 1993. He had a diverse career, excelling as a student-athlete, Rhodes Scholar, naval officer, and advocate for the federal government and civil rights before his appointment to the nation’s highest court.
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About the Byron White
Byron Raymond “Whizzer” Whitewas an American lawyer, jurist, and professional football player who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 until 1993. By his retirement, he was its only sitting Democrat and the last-living member of the progressive Warren Court.
Born and raised in a small homestead in Wellington, Colorado, White distinguished himself as a student athlete who came from a background of poor farmhands to become a consensus All-American halfback for the Colorado Buffaloes. After being the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1937, he was selected in the 1938 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates for the National Football Leagueand dissented in Runyon v. McCraryand Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Due to his unwillingness to align with either the liberal or conservative blocs, White was largely oriented with the Court’s center.
Frequently Asked Questions
Byron White was an American lawyer, jurist, and professional football player who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1962 until 1993.
Byron White was born and raised in a small homestead in Wellington, Colorado, and came from a background of poor farmhands. He distinguished himself as a student-athlete, becoming a consensus All-American halfback for the Colorado Buffaloes.
Before joining the Supreme Court, Byron White was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1937, played in the NFL, earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, and served as an officer in the United States Navy during World War II.
Byron White espoused a pragmatic and non-doctrinaire judicial approach, strengthening the powers of the federal government, advocating for desegregation of public schools, and upholding the use of affirmative action. However, he was a vociferous opponent of substantive due process, dissenting in cases like Miranda v. Arizona and Roe v. Wade.
By the time of his retirement, Byron White was the only sitting Democrat and the last-living member of the progressive Warren Court. His unwillingness to align with either the liberal or conservative blocs on the Court made him largely oriented with the Court’s center.
8 Quotes by Byron White
- 1.
The law is constantly based on notions of morality, and if all laws representing essentially moral choices are to be invalidated under the due process clause, the courts will be very busy indeed.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 2.
We’re the only branch of government that explains itself in writing every time it makes a decision.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 3.
Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the harm resulting from the failing to apprehend him does not justify the use of deadly force to do so.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 4.
The risk of racial prejudice infecting a capital sentencing proceeding is especially serious in light of the complete finality of the death sentence.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 5.
The Court is most vulnerable and comes nearest to illegitimacy when it deals with judge-made constitutional law having little or no cognizable roots in the language or design of the Constitution.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 6.
The 1st Amendment protects the right to speak, not the right to spend.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 7.
Maintaining order in the classrooms has never been easy and it is evident that the school setting requires some easing of the restrictions to which searches by public authorities are ordinarily subject.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)
- 8.
To exclude all jurors who would be in the slightest way affected by the prospect of the death penalty would be to deprive the defendant of the impartial jury to which he or she is entitled under the law.
Byron WhiteAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and American football player (1917-2002)