Why is Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan known as “The Great Dissenter”? In this episode of Dissed, podcast hosts Anastasia Boden and Elizabeth Slattery delve into the story of Justice Harlan: From 1877-1911, Justice Harlan wrote 316 dissents—many of them defending black Americans’ rights on key civil rights cases. Justice Harlan’s best-known dissent came in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), in which Justice Harlan wrote: “Our Constitution is colorblind and neither knows nor tolerates classes…The law regards man as man and takes no account…of his color.” Learn how Justice Harlan came to understand equal rights before his colleagues and how his dissents laid the groundwork for changes that would come a century later.

Thanks to our guests Peter Canellos, Christopher Green, and Melvin Urofsky. Special thanks to Judge Benjamin Beaton for embodying the substance & spirit of Justice Harlan.

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About Pacific Legal Foundation:

Pacific Legal Foundation is a nonprofit legal organization that defends Americans’ liberties when threatened by government overreach and abuse. We sue the government when it violates Americans’ constitutional rights—and win!

Website: pacificlegal.org
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Twitter: @PacificLegal

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