Abe Fortas

On July 9, 1935, he married Carolyn Eugenia Agger, whom he had met while studying at Yale. She later became a successful tax lawyer. The couple had no children.

He was also an amateur musician and played the violin in a quartet, called the "N Street Strictly-no-refunds String Quartet" on Sundays.

He died on April 5, 1982, at the age of 71, in Washington D.C. from a ruptured aorta.

He was born on June 19, 1910 in Memphis, Tennessee to William Fortas, a cabinetmaker, and his wife, Ray Berson. He was the youngest of the couple’s five children. His parents were Orthodox Jews of British origin.

He received his early education from the public schools in Memphis and did his high school graduation from the South Side High School in 1926.

After high school, he was enrolled at the Southwestern College, Memphis and graduated in 1930. Then he attended the Yale Law School and obtained his law degree in 1933. While studying, he also served as the editor in chief of the ‘Yale Law Journal’.

After completing law, he was appointed an assistant professor of law at the Yale Law School. He also started work as an adviser at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C.

In 1939, he worked as the General Counsel of the Public Works Administration and later, in 1941, became the Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In 1946, after the World War II ended, he co-founded and became partner in a law firm, Arnold & Fortas, along with his former Yale Professor, Thurman Arnold. At the same time, he struck a lifelong friendship with Lyndon Johnson.

In 1948, he defended Johnson in a challenge to his Texas Democratic senatorial primary victory. There were serious allegations of corruption against Johnson regarding the voting process but he helped in proving Johnson innocent and become a Senator.

In 1950s, he was appointed the defense attorney for Owen Lattimore, an American author.

In 1966, he was one of the judges who supported the landmark decision in Miranda v. Arizona case which made it mandatory for the police to inform suspects of their rights when being placed under arrest.

After becoming the associate justice, he became a supporter of children’s and student’s rights during his tenure. In 1967, he ruled in favor of upholding the rights of due process for juveniles in the famous Gault case.