Why did the Patrick Henry Caucus choose Patrick Henry for the name of their organization? For his quote, "Give me liberty or give me death," I suppose. During his lifetime, Patrick Henry was the greatest living speaker. People said that he could convince anyone of anything. He teamed with John Marshall for a short period. It is the opinion of some that Marshall and Henry made the greatest legal team of all teams anywhere in the world for all time. Marshall wrote the legal arguments and Henry delivered them. As much as I respect Patrick Henry, there were two members of the Supreme Court who I regard more highly, John Marshall and Louis Brandeis.
John Marshall served with Washington during the Revolutionary War and later wrote a long biography of Washington. He served as John Adams secretary of state at a time when the Secretary of State assumed the duties of the Presidency when the President was out of town. This was before the Vice President assumed those duties. Adams was out of town a lot. At the end of his Presidency, Adams appointed Marshall Chief Justice of the Supreme Court where he served for many years. Marshall was the third Chief Justice but it was during his tenure that the form and substance of our federal court system took shape. Marshall was related to Jefferson but they were on opposite sides politically.
Louis Brandeis was an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939. Before went on the Court, he did a lot of pro bono work for the disadvantaged. He actually defeated the insurance companies of his day in New England when they tried to overcharge workers for term life insurance. Before he went on the Court, he defended an Oregon law that limited the daily work of women in factories. He won that case using vast amounts of economic data gathered by volunteers. With this case he changed how cases were argued before the Supreme Court and later as a member, he changed how cases were decided. At first, he and Holmes were on the minority side of 7-2 decisions, but over time his decisions carried the majority.
I think that the country would be better off with more citizens like Louis Brandeis. They have been too rare in our history. Now if we return to strict construction of the Constitution as the Patrick Henry Caucus and others advocate, we will be overturning the good work of Brandeis and others to protect the weak. Do we really want to strike down laws that protect the weak, such as hours worked by women in factories? I think not.
