Abe Fortas

Abe Fortas
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office October 4, 1965 – May 14, 1969[1]
Nominated by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Arthur Goldberg
Succeeded by	Harry Blackmun
United States Under Secretary of the Interior
In office January 1, 1944 – January 12, 1946
President	Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Oscar L. Chapman
In office June 23, 1942 – November 16, 1943
Preceded by	John J. Dempsey
Succeeded by	None (position vacant)
Personal details
Born	Abraham Fortas (1910-06-19)June 19, 1910 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	April 5, 1982(1982-04-05) (aged 71) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Carolyn Agger ​ (m. 1935)​
Education	Rhodes College (BA) Yale University (LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1943
Rank	Seaman Apprentice
Unit	Naval Training Station Sampson, New York

Abraham Fortas (June 19, 1910 – April 5, 1982) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1965 to 1969. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Fortas graduated from Rhodes College and Yale Law School. He later became a law professor at Yale Law School and then an advisor for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Fortas worked at the Department of the Interior under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was appointed by President Harry S. Truman to delegations that helped set up the United Nations in 1945.

In 1948, Fortas represented Lyndon B. Johnson in the dispute over the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination, and he formed close ties with Johnson. Fortas also represented Clarence Earl Gideon before the U.S. Supreme Court, in a landmark case involving the right to counsel. Nominated by Johnson to the Supreme Court in 1965, Fortas was confirmed by the Senate, and maintained a close working relationship with the president. As a justice, Fortas wrote several notable majority opinions including Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.

In 1968, Johnson tried to elevate Fortas to the position of Chief Justice of the United States, but that nomination faced a filibuster and was withdrawn. Fortas later resigned from the Court after a controversy involving his acceptance of $20,000 from financier Louis Wolfson while Wolfson was being investigated for insider trading. The Justice Department investigated Fortas at the behest of President Richard Nixon, who saw replacing Fortas as a chance to move the Court in a more conservative direction. Attorney General John N. Mitchell pressured Fortas into resigning.^[2] Following his resignation, Fortas returned to private practice, occasionally appearing before the justices with whom he had served.