ASSOCIATE JUSTICE FELIX FRANKFURTER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 87653

FELIX FRANKFURTER
Frankfurter handwrote and signed his letter to a Lewis on stationery from the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, about the idyllic day he had.
Autograph letter signed: "Felix F", 1 page, 5x7 (folded), on stationery from the Hotel Plaza Athénée, Paris, France. Dated: "Monday".In full: "Dear Lewis Maybe you know, and maybe you don't, what a very happy day I had yesterday - but even if I told you you wouldn't know. Of course the Lord did shine upon us - I liked these happy fields and the buddies and the quiet woods and just lying on my back, but I liked it all. I could live it and forget what a [illegible] place this is now because you made me feel it's a good & hopeful place. Thank you". A renowned legal scholar, Frankfurter (1882-1965, born in Vienna, Austria) influenced Supreme Court decisions for more than 20 years (1939-1962). A former advisor to the NAACP and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Frankfurter had affirmed that any form of discrimination against Blacks violated the 15th Amendment (Lane vs. Wilson,1939). Believing that the Court should not interfere with laws established by the people's elected officials, he upheld President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. In the realm of civil liberties, Frankfurter would play a pivotal role in deciding the famous school desegregation case Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954), ensuring its historic importance by securing a unanimous decision. He dissented when the Court overturned Minersville West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette(1943) and when it ruled in favor of legislative reapportionment (Baker vs. Carr, 1962), which he felt was strictly a political problem to be solved by the legislature, not the judiciary. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the staunch advocate of judicial self-restraint stabilized the liberal Earl Warren Court and promoted "procedural fairness" in criminal cases. Frankfurter was presented the Medal of Freedom by John F. Kennedy in 1963. Lightly toned and creased. Paper clip impressions and rust stains at top edge. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise, fine condition.