The Court Diary of Justice William O. Douglas: Preface

Abstract

The Court Diary of Justice William O. Douglas Preface Sheldon S. Cohen I first met William 0. Douglas in 1957. I was working as a tax attorney in the Washing­ ton office of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Carol Agger (Mrs. Abe Fortas), who was a partner, asked me to go to the Supreme Court to meet Justice Douglas to discuss his income tax planning. Justice Douglas had sev­ eral books in progress at the time and was a regu­ lar speaker atuniversities and other forums. The Justice was sitting at his desk in an open-neck sport shirt and trousers when I met him. We discussed his financial and tax situation, and I went off to do his planning. From that time until his death in 1975, we were close friends. In fact, we were almost like family. He came to our home often, always for our Passover Seder and for the children’s birth­ days, and other occasions. We were at his home for New Year’s Eve and many other occasions. Ifthe Justice received a first day cover ofa new stamp, he often sent it to one ofmy children as a gift. His will was drafted by Betty Fletcher, now Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Justice named Betty, Dr. Tom Connolly (his personal physician), and me as his executors. Betty, however, was unable to serve as she was appointed to the Court ofAppeals by President Carter. The Justice’s will instructed us to leave his Court papers to the Library of Congress. His gift of the pre-Court papers to the Library was made in 1957 and it was one ofthe early items I handled for him. We delivered 1,784 boxes of papers, which comprise one of the prize collec­ tions of materials regarding the thirty-five years during which the Justice served. He took careful notes of every conference of the Court and tried to write in his log his impression of what every Justice thought about every impor­ tant point on the case. It is a remarkable histori­ cal log of his Court years. Justice Douglas had the longest Court service of anyone yet to serve. One of the items the Justice left was a hand­ written diary, which starts March 19, 1939; the day President Roosevelt informed him he was to be appointed to fill Justice Brandeis’ vacancy. The diary covers the first year and one half of his service on the Court and runs through Octo­ ber 19, 1940. We all think that this remarkable log of a vital period of our history, just before World War II, is a great addition to the history of the Court. ...