There’s not a lot of excitement in my Legal and Constitutional History class. Sometimes, in order to keep myself amused, I make up little games concerning the chief figures of the Supreme Court. Today, we’ll take two very important justices and decide which one is better. Feel free to play along at home.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. v. Felix Frankfurter
Name: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. certainly is a great name. In fact, I’m trying to convince my wife to name our next child after him (boy or girl). On the other hand, Felix Frankfurter is absolutely hilarious, in a Mad Magazine/Looney Tunes kind of way.
Winner: Felix Frankfurter.
Facial Hair: According to Dr. F. Thornton Miller, Holmes has “the greatest moustache in American history.” While there are plenty of worthy contenders, I tend to agree. Frankfurter, on the other hand, sported no facial hair, a big no-no if you expect to be well remembered.
Winner: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Famous Book: Holmes’s most famous book is “The Common Law”. Not a very good title, if you ask me. Frankfurter’s books include “Cases Under the Interstate Commerce Act”, “The Business of the Supreme Court”, “Justice Holmes and the Supreme Court”, “The Case of Sacco and Vanzetti”, and “Felix Frankfurter Reminisces.”
Winner: Felix Frankfurter, for the last title.
Famous Quote: Holmes, “Civilization is the process of reducing the infinite to the finite.” He’s also the guy who came up with the idea that you can’t yell “Fire!” in a movie house (or is it “Movie!” in a fire house?), in a case that had nothing to do with a) speaking b) movies or c) fires, thus giving Tom Clancy a title to one of his novels (Clear and Present Danger). Frankfurter: “As a member of this court I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.” Too bad that didn’t take.
Winner: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Looks Like: A young Holmes looks a lot like Christian Bale. Frankfurter is pretty non-descript.
Winner: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Trivia: Holmes was the subject of a play, a feature film, and a TV movie. The film garnered an Oscar nomination for Louis Calhern. Holmes was also a character in an Isaac Asimov novel (The Sensuous Dirty Old Man). Frankfurter is one of two Supreme Court Justices who share a name with a food item (the other, of course, being Warren E. Burger). He has also been mentioned in an episode of The Simpsons.
Winner: Felix Frankfurter. The Simpsons trumps everything.
Wild Card: Holmes is a folksy guy, and perhaps the greatest jurist in American history (at least second, behind Marshall). Frankfurter is kind of stuffy, probably because he has such a funny name. I imagine he got beat up a lot in school.
Winner and Supreme Court Champion: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. by a moustache.
Filed under: This is why I never get things done | Tagged: History, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Felix Frankfurter
