Goldberg, Arthur Joseph (b. Chicago, Ill., 8 Aug. 1908; d. Washington, D.C., 19 Jan. 1990; interred Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.), associate justice, 1962–1965. Born of Russian immigrant parents, the youngest of eight children, Goldberg was reared and educated in Chicago and graduated from Northwestern University Law School in 1929 at the head of his class. He married Dorothy Kurgans in 1931. Except for army service (1942–1944), Goldberg practiced labor law in Chicago until 1948, when he became general counsel of the United Steelworkers and the Congress of Industrial Relations. Goldberg was largely responsible for the AFL‐CIO merger of 1955 and was recognized as one of the foremost labor mediators of the 1950s. President John F. Kennedy appointed him secretary of labor in 1961, and when Justice Felix
Frankfurter resigned from the Court in 1962, Kennedy appointed Goldberg to the “Jewish seat” because he knew what to expect from him.
Goldberg's tenure on the Court was significant, particularly considering its brevity. There was a marked contrast between Frankfurter's adherence to judicial restraint (see
Judicial Self‐Restraint) and Goldberg's belief that the Court should protect a “permanent minority” that had been excluded from the political process. Thus, a four‐justice minority was transformed into a five‐member majority, and Goldberg's negotiating skills often held it together. In this capacity, his formula called for balancing state interest against individual rights and liberties, with close scrutiny applied to the state.
Goldberg's best‐known opinions are that for the Court in
Escobedo v. Illinois (1964), and his concurrence in
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965).
Escobedo was an important step toward adoption of the doctrine of
Miranda v. Arizona (1966), by ruling a defendant had a right to remain silent in the absence of his or her attorney. In
Griswold, the Court invalidated a Connecticut anti‐birth‐control law, and in the absence of a violation of a specific constitutional provision, Goldberg maintained that the right to marital
privacy was a
“fundamental right” protected by the
Ninth Amendment. While
Escobedo was largely abandoned by the Court in
Kirby v. Illinois (1972),
Griswold was followed by the Court in
Roe v. Wade (1973), including Goldberg's concurring opinion.
Also important were Goldberg's rulings in
Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee (1963) that the right of association (see
Assembly and Association, Citizenship, Freedom of) could be infringed only if Florida “convincingly” showed a “compelling state interest,” and in
Aptheker v. Secretary of State (1964) that legislation revoking passports had to be precisely drawn, since traveling abroad was a liberty protected by the
Fifth Amendment. At least two of his dissents had important results. His dissent in
United States v. Barnett (1964) helped reduce the use of criminal contempt for punishment by federal judges; and his protest in
Rudolph v. Alabama (1963) against denial of
certiorari in a case of
capital punishment for rape signaled the constitutional war over capital punishment.
In the summer of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson maneuvered Goldberg off the bench to create a vacancy for Abe
Fortas. Appointed United Nations representative, Goldberg found the position unsatisfactory, and resigned in 1968. He also made an ignominious run for governor of New York in 1970, but should be best remembered for his continuing advocacy of human rights during his twenty‐four‐year post‐Court career.
Bibliography
Stephen J. Friedman , Arthur J. Goldberg, in The Justices of the United States Supreme Court 1789–1969, edited by Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, vol. 4 (1969), pp. 2977–3011.
David L. Stebenne , Arthur J. Goldberg, New Deal Liberal (1991).
Donald M. Roper
