What Is Earl Warren's Legacy

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Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891-1974)

Background: Earl Warren was raised in a Conservative Californian household and attended Berkley Law School. In his early years he worked at the firm Robinson and Robinson, before eventually serving in WWI. After his short lived period of glory during the war, Warren returned to California and began his long career of public service. Warren clerked for the Judiciary Committee beginning in 1919 and eventually became the Deputy District Attorney of Alameda County. In 1925, he was appointed District Attorney of California. In his time as DA, Warren greatly cracked down on the corrupt political processes in California and encouraged the prosecution of crimes involving gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. By taking on the hotbed issues of the prohibition era, Warren garnered enough
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By departing from his old prosecutorial views and district attorney mindset, Warren was able to be more merciful in his Judicial Policymaking. During his term, Warren was cognizant of the existent correlation between crime and social conditions. Thus, he advocated for the creation of meaningful bottom-up policy in touch with societal needs rather than the top down policy of the legislative branch. The more he served on the court, the more Warren came to realize the importance the court’s duty to protect the people and provide checks on the often unethical legislative policy making of the time. At the time of his appointment the court, although consistently democratic was divided over the issues of judicial activism and judicial restraint. These personal divisions amongst the justices played important roles in the interpretation and decision making of the court. After Warrens addition the judicial activists took the majority and thus the Supreme Court was able to tackle more progressive issues by pushing the boundaries of legislative