Interview with Gordon B. Davidson, March 4, 1981
Project: Stanley F. Reed Oral History Project
Interview Summary
Gordon B. Davidson clerked for Justice Reed from 1954 to 1955. He begins his interview by describing Reed's personality and comparing it to those of the other Justices. Next, he explains the duties of Reed's clerks, which included writing briefs and reviewing and making recommendations on petitions of certiorari. Davidson also discusses the cases that came before the court during his clerkship. Specifically, he mentions Opper v. United States (which dealt with the uniform code of military justice); Tee-Hit-Ton Indians v. United States; Peters v. Hobby (which involved a professor who refused to take a loyalty oath); and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. Other topics mentioned include the Justices' relationships with Chief Justice Earl Warren; Reed's relationships with Justices Felix Frankfurter, Harold Burton, Hugo Black, and William Douglas; Reed's work during the New Deal; his political slant; and his views on the role of the Supreme Court.Interview Accession
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Charles Whittaker's Harold Burton Joseph McCarthy Oliver Holmes Ab Russell Apartments Ben Williams Brethern theory Charles Evans Hughes Colleagues Communists Washington, D.C. Dasvid Schwartz Earl Warren English law First Amendment Health conscious Jack (John D.) Fassett John Frank Judge Advocate General Reserve Kentucky. Klingit tribe Louisville (Ky.) Mayflower N.R.A. (National Recovery Act) Napoleonic code Sherman Minton Sterling Fellow Thurman Arnold Wesley Sturgis Yale Law School Justices Chief Justice Diets Drafts DecisionsInterview Rights
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.Interview Usage
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.Restriction
Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.
All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.
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Davidson, Gordon B. Interview by Edward Gilson. 04 Mar. 1981. Lexington, KY: Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
Davidson, G.B. (1981, March 04). Interview by E. Gilson. Stanley F. Reed Oral History Project. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, Lexington.
Davidson, Gordon B., interview by Edward Gilson. March 04, 1981, Stanley F. Reed Oral History Project, Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries.
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