Warren, Earl (1891-1974)

US jurist and chief justice of the US Supreme Court 1953-69. He served as governor of California 1943-53. As chief justice, he presided over a moderately liberal court, taking a stand against racial discrimination and ruling that segregation in schools was unconstitutional. From 1963 to 1964 he headed the commission that investigated President Kennedy's assassination.

Born in Los Angeles, Warren graduated from the University of California at Berkeley 1914 and practiced law in the San Francisco area. He became active in the Republican party and in 1938 was appointed California's attorney general, which paved the way for the governorship. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Eisenhower. His most important ruling was in Brown v. Board of Education 1954, in which the Court unanimously ruled against segregation in public schools and made it illegal to classify races for discrimination purposes. The Warren Court oversaw the reapportionment by population of many election districts in cases such as Reynolds v. Sims 1964. Other rulings involved individual rights, especially in criminal procedures, as in Miranda v. Arizona 1966, which ruled in favor of a defendant being informed of his or her rights at the time of arrest. The Warren Commission 1963-64, appointed by President Johnson, reached the controversial conclusion that no conspiracy was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. Warren retired from the Court 1969 and was succeeded by Warren Burger.