The Resume

(January 23, 1915-December 7, 1985)
Born in Jackson, Michigan
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1958-81)

Why he might be annoying:

He is remembered mostly for his comment about pornography, 'I know it when I see it.'
In Griswold v. Connecticut (1964) he argued that there was no Constitutional right to privacy, but in Roe v. Wade (1973) he joined the majority opinion that legalized abortion using the right to privacy as grounds.
He joined the majority opinions in the cases that both banned the death penalty (1972) and reinstated the death penalty (1976).
He was reportedly the front runner to replace Earl Warren as Chief Justice, but he refused to go through the confirmation hearings and asked Richard Nixon to remove him from consideration.
He donated his official papers to Yale, but they remain off limits as of 2008, since he requested that they not be made public until all justices he served with have retired from the Supreme Court. (The last one remaining is John Paul Stevens.)

Why he might not be annoying:

He served with the Navy Reserve on oil tankers during World War II.
He was a moderate swing vote on the court.
His opinions were considered well-written and reasoned.
In Katz v. US (1967) he wrote that the Fourth Amendment 'protects people not places' and that the government therefore needed a warrant to engage in wiretapping.

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Burger's Court
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 16]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [January] (Ranked: 1231915)
• Delta Kappa Epsilon
• I Attended Hotchkiss [Lakeville, Connecticut]
• I Attended Yale
• I Died in 1985 (Ranked: 70)
• I Died on Pearl Harbor Day [December 7] (Ranked: 1985)
• I Had a Stroke [Cerebral Vascular Accident]
• I'm Buried at Arlington National Cemetery [Virginia]
• Judges
• Look at Me, My Picture Is Art
• Playboy's 55 Most Important People in Sex [2008] (Ranked: 40)
• Profiles 24251-24500 (Ranked: 24452)
• Served in World War II
• We Died on the Same Day (Ranked: 19851207)
• Yale's Skull and Bones Society

Year In Review:

In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 38.10% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 11 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
In 2010, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
In 2009, Out of 44 Votes: 40.91% Annoying
In 2008, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying