Justice Potter Stewart

In “1879, Senator Carlos Smith of New Haven introduced able to the Connecticut state legislature entitled, An Act to Amend an Act Concerning Offenses against Decency, Morality and Humanity. While most states regulated the sale and advertisement of contraceptives, Connecticut banned them altogether” ( Connecticut and the Comstock Law). The 1879 law further provided that “ any person who assists, abets, counsels,causes, hires or commands another to commit any offense may be prosecuted and punished as if he were the principal offender” . This “led to the arrest of the executive director of Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, Estelle Griswold and Dr. C. Lee Buxton, a doctor and professor at Yale Medical School. Both were found guilty as
The President appointed Justice Stewart on the bases that his “high profile in the Ohio bar made him an attractive candidate for the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, where he served for the next four years. He was widely respected for his confidence and efficiency as an appellate judge, and Eisenhower returned to him in 1958 when a seat opened on the Supreme Court” (“Potter Stewart -Further Readings”). The Senate vote on the appointment of Justice Stewart was a 70- 17 vote The ideology was seen embracing was judicial restraint . He stated when asked about his judicial philosophy, “ I'd like to be thought of as a lawyer” . By this he meant that he saw the proper function of a judge as interpreting the law as it applies to a particular case and not attempting to assert judicial influence over matters he saw the best left to the legislature . In turn this led to him being the swing vote on many cases” (Oyez). However, Stewart was very unpredictable in his ruling depending on the case since played the role of a lawyer. Justice Stewart appeared to change his judicial philosophy while sitting on the US Supreme Court by exercising judicial activism when civil liberty cases were brought to the court. “During his tenure, landmark decisions were handed down on press freedom, and without assuming an absolutist stance, Stewart indicated and judicial opinions and extrajudicial commentary that he believed that the press deserves a special place among American institutions” As a “journalist and chairman of the Yale Daily News”, he “advocated a preferred position for the organized press, which he understood the framers of the Constitution to have intended in order to assure the press’ autonomy” (Oyez); (Comegys 159). Stewart supported cases in favor of civil liberties, and despite his pragmatism, or