Portal:University of Oxford/Selected biography/16

John Marshall Harlan (1899–1971) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1955 to 1971. Harlan was a student at Upper Canada College, Appleby College, Princeton University, and Balliol College, Oxford. He served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and as Special Assistant Attorney General of New York. In 1954 Harlan was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and a year later president Dwight Eisenhower nominated Harlan to the Supreme Court. Harlan is often characterized as a member of the conservative wing of the Warren Court. He advocated a limited role for the judiciary, remarking that the Supreme Court should not be considered "a general haven for reform movements". In general, Harlan adhered more closely to precedent, and was more reluctant to overturn legislation, than many of his colleagues on the Court. Harlan is sometimes called the "great dissenter" of the Warren Court, and has been described as one of the most influential Supreme Court justices in the 20th century. (more...)