Briefing | And Brett makes five

How America’s Supreme Court became so politicised

And what you can expect it to do next

Sep 15th 2018|WASHINGTON, DC

EARL WARREN was the 20th century’s most consequential American jurist. During his nearly 16-year tenure as chief justice, the Supreme Court ruled, in Brown v Board of Education, that segregation was unlawful; in Gideon v Wainwright, that states must provide attorneys to indigent criminal defendants; in Miranda v Arizona, that police must inform suspects that they have the right to an attorney and to remain silent; and, in Reynolds v Sims, that legislative districts within a state must comprise roughly equal populations. All of those positions today seem uncontroversial; all were furiously contested at the time.

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “And Brett makes five”