Harry A. Blackmun

Justice Harry A. Blackmun, author of the majority opinion in Roe v. Wade, was the pivotal figure in the one of the most contentious decisions in Supreme Court history and indeed the most divisive issue facing the Court today. All his life, Blackmun considered himself one of society's outsiders, someone who did not "belong." Remarkably, though, that very self-image instilled in the justice, throughout his career, a deep empathy for society's most vulnerable outsiders--women faced with unwanted pregnancies, homosexuals subjected to archaic laws, and ultimately, death-row inmates. Drawing on considerable archival research and a wealth of knowledge of Supreme Court history, Yarbrough has written a nuanced and deeply insightful account of the life and career of one of the court's most intriguing justices.