The Jurisprudence of Justice Jackson: Why National Security Trumped Individualism During the McCarthy Era
Abstract:
The progress made at the International Military Tribunal of 1945-46 for international standards of civil liberties did not translate into reality within the United States. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, who also served as the United States chief prosecutor at the IMT, would have been the ideal figure to ensure that these standards were upheld. But as Justice Jackson’s later career is examined, it is evident that the majority of his Supreme Court decisions demonstrate a jurisprudential shift away from an advocacy of individual rights. It is plausible that Jackson’s knowledge of minority subversive groups gained through his participation at the IMT functioned as a shift factor. This knowledge, in culmination with Cold War anxieties, created an environment where Jackson allowed national security to take precedence over the rights of the individual.