The Resume

(June 19, 1910-April 5, 1982)
Born in Memphis, Tennessee
Graduate of Yale Law School
Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court (1965-69)

Why he might be annoying:

His appointment to the Supreme Court had more to do with his lifelong friendship with Lyndon B. Johnson than his legal expertise.
He convinced Hugo Black to uphold LBJ's 87 vote victory in the 1948 Democratic primary for the Senate, despite 202 voters for Johnson in one precinct who apparently showed up at the polls in alphabetical order and signed a reigister in identical handwriting.
His nomination by LBJ to Chief Justice was withdrawn following the failure to prevent a filibuster by his opponents (1968).
He resigned from the Court after it was revealed that he had accepted a $20,000 retainer from financier Louis Wolfson, who was being investigated for securities fraud and had allegedly asked Fortas to help secure a pardon from LBJ.

Why he might not be annoying:

He was an amateur violinist and performed with Isaac Stern.
He represented Clarence Earl Gideon in the Gideon v. Wainwright case that established that states were required to provide counsel to defendants unable to afford an attorney.
In Tinker v. Des Moines School District, he extended First Amendment rights to school students, writing 'neither students nor teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.'
He criticized justices, such as Thurgood Marshall, who interupted attorneys' arguments to ask questions.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Born on Juneteenth [June 19] (Ranked: 1910)
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 24]
• Fiddlers
• I am from Tennessee
• I Attended Yale
• I Died in 1982 (Ranked: 71)
• Judges
• Look at Me, I'm with LBJ
• Profiles 27251-27500 (Ranked: 27267)
• Rejected or Withdrawn Supreme Court Nominations

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 93.75% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 22 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 45.45% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 15 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 52 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 20 Votes: 25.00% Annoying