[The Urban Sombrero]

Justice Brennan was Catholic, and said as a private individual he opposed abortion, and often when reading of some crime would think to himself "that b#&%@" ought to hang. However, he said, in his official duty as a judge, he had to balance the reach and power of the state against the rights of the individual as he interpreted the principles of the Constitution. This tension between personal belief and public function is interesting to me.