author
Louis Dembitz Brandeis
1856–1941
A fierce advocate for reform, civil liberties, and honest government, this Supreme Court justice helped shape modern American law. His writing on privacy and free speech still feels strikingly current.
2 Audiobooks
The Right to Privacy
by Samuel D. (Samuel Dennis) Warren, Louis Dembitz Brandeis
Other People's Money, and How the Bankers Use It
by Louis Dembitz Brandeis
About the author
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1856, Louis Dembitz Brandeis became one of the most influential lawyers and judges in American history. He studied at Harvard Law School, where he graduated with the highest record in his class, then built a major legal career in Boston.
Before joining the Supreme Court, he became nationally known for taking on powerful corporations and defending Progressive Era reforms. He argued that lawyers should serve the public as well as private clients, earning the nickname "the people's lawyer." In 1916, Woodrow Wilson nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and he became the first Jewish justice to serve on the Court.
Brandeis served until 1939 and is remembered for clear, forceful opinions on free speech, privacy, government power, and the dangers of concentrated wealth. His ideas helped define modern thinking about the right to privacy and the role of the Court in protecting democratic freedom. He died in Washington, D.C., in 1941.