# Potter Stewart *American lawyer and judge; associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1958–1981* Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was a lawyer and judge who sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1958 until 1981.[^1] The Wikipedia account credits his tenure with major contributions to criminal justice reform, civil rights, access to the courts, and Fourth Amendment law.[^1] Stewart graduated from Yale Law School in 1941 and served in the United States Navy Reserve during World War II. After the war he practiced law and sat on the Cincinnati city council.[^2] President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in 1954. In 1958 Eisenhower gave him a recess appointment to the Supreme Court seat of retiring Associate Justice Harold Hitz Burton, and the [[United States Senate]] confirmed him afterward.[^2] The account describes him as often in the minority on the Warren Court and as a centrist swing vote on the Burger Court. On his retirement in 1981 he was succeeded by [[Sandra Day O'Connor]], the first woman to serve on the Court.[^2] Stewart's concurrence in *Jacobellis v. Ohio* popularized the phrase "I know it when I see it." When he announced his retirement in 1981, he was asked whether he had regrets. He replied: "In a way, I regret having once said about obscenity 'I know it when I see it' because I think that's gonna be on my tombstone."[^3] ## Early life and education Stewart was born on January 23, 1915, in Jackson, Michigan, where his family was vacationing at the time. His parents were Harriett L. (Potter) and James Garfield Stewart. His father was a Cincinnati Republican who was mayor of that city for nine years and afterward sat on the Ohio Supreme Court.[^4] On an academic scholarship, Stewart attended the Hotchkiss School and finished there in 1933. At Yale University he belonged to Delta Kappa Epsilon (Phi chapter) and Skull and Bones, and he chaired the *Yale Daily News*. He received a Bachelor of Arts cum laude, with Phi Beta Kappa, in 1937.[^5] He then spent a year studying international law at the University of Cambridge before enrolling at Yale Law School. There he edited the *Yale Law Journal* and joined Phi Delta Phi. He took a Bachelor of Laws cum laude in 1941. The account lists Byron R. White, later his colleague on the Supreme Court, among the members of that era.[^5] From 1941 to 1945 Stewart served in the U.S. Naval Reserve on oil tankers, reaching the rank of lieutenant junior grade. He married Mary Ann Bertles in 1943 at Bruton Episcopal Church in Williamsburg, Virginia.[^6] He later practiced privately with Dinsmore & Shohl in Cincinnati and served on the Cincinnati city council.[^6][^2] ## Sixth Circuit service Eisenhower nominated Stewart to the Sixth Circuit on April 6, 1954, for the seat vacated by Judge Xenophon Hicks. The Senate confirmed the nomination on April 23, 1954, and his commission issued on April 27, 1954. He left that court on October 13, 1958, upon his elevation to the Supreme Court.[^7] ## Supreme Court On October 14, 1958, Eisenhower gave Stewart a recess appointment as associate justice to succeed Burton, and Stewart took the judicial oath that day.[^8] The formal nomination to the seat followed on January 17, 1959. The Senate Judiciary Committee held public hearings on April 9 and 14, 1959. On May 5, 1959, the committee voted to send the nomination forward with a favorable report.[^8] The full Senate confirmed Stewart the same day, May 5, 1959, by a vote of 70–17. Every opposing vote came from a Southern Democrat. They were the two senators from each of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, and Spessard Holland of Florida.[^9] Stewart was Circuit Justice for the Sixth Circuit from October 14, 1958, through July 3, 1981. He was also Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit from October 12, 1971, through January 6, 1972.[^10] The Wikipedia account places Stewart at the center of a Court split between two opposed ideological camps. It cites *Irvin v. Dowd* as an early case showing his role as the swing vote.[^11] The account describes him as disposed toward moderate, pragmatic positions, yet frequently in dissent on the Warren Court. By that account, he considered that the majority had read several provisions beyond the framers' intention: the Establishment Clause in *Engel v. Vitale* (1962) and *Abington School District v. Schempp* (1963); the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination in *Miranda v. Arizona* (1966); and the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection guarantee, as applied to voting rights, in *Reynolds v. Sims* (1964).[^11] Stewart wrote for the majority in *Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.*, *Katz v. United States*, *Chimel v. California*, and *Sierra Club v. Morton*. He wrote dissents in *Engel v. Vitale*, *In re Gault*, and *Griswold v. Connecticut*.[^3] *Jacobellis v. Ohio*, in which he wrote the "I know it when I see it" concurrence, arose from a fine imposed on a theater owner for showing a film said to be obscene.[^3] ## Retirement and death Stewart made his retirement public on June 18, 1981, and left the bench on July 3. President Ronald Reagan nominated Sandra Day O'Connor to succeed him, and she became the first woman on the Court.[^12] Stewart took senior status on retiring and held it until his death. In 1984 he appeared with Fred W. Friendly in *The Constitution: That Delicate Balance*, a 13-episode broadcast course on the U.S. Constitution.[^12] Stewart administered the oath of office to Vice President George H. W. Bush on January 20 and 21, 1985. He died of a stroke on December 7, 1985, at the age of 70, at a hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.[^13] ### Archives Most of Stewart's personal and official papers are at Yale University Library in New Haven, Connecticut, and are open for research. Files on his service were closed to researchers until every justice who had served with him had left the Court. The last of these was [[John Paul Stevens]], who regarded Stewart as his judicial hero. Other collections also hold some of his papers.[^14] In 1989 Bob Woodward disclosed that Stewart had been the primary source for *The Brethren*.[^14] ## See also - [[Supreme Court of the United States]] - [[United States Senate]] - [[Sandra Day O'Connor]] - [[John Paul Stevens]] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26, revid 1380562357), lead — life dates, 1958–1981 tenure as associate justice, and areas of contribution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — 1941 Yale Law degree, Navy Reserve service, postwar practice and city council, 1954 Sixth Circuit appointment, 1958 recess appointment, Warren/Burger Court positions, and succession by O'Connor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), lead — majority opinions and dissents, the *Jacobellis v. Ohio* concurrence, and the 1981 retirement remark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — birth, parents, and his father's offices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — Hotchkiss, Yale College, Cambridge, and Yale Law School. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — naval service 1941–1945, 1943 marriage, and practice with Dinsmore & Shohl. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Sixth Circuit service" — nomination April 6, 1954; confirmation April 23, 1954; commission April 27, 1954; service ended October 13, 1958. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court" — recess appointment and oath October 14, 1958; nomination January 17, 1959; hearings April 9 and 14, 1959; committee vote May 5, 1959. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court" — 70–17 confirmation vote on May 5, 1959, and the composition of the 17 opposing votes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court" — Circuit Justice assignments for the Sixth and Fifth Circuits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Supreme Court" — centrist position, *Irvin v. Dowd*, and Warren Court dissenting posture. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Retirement and death" — retirement June 18 and July 3, 1981; O'Connor nomination; senior status; the 1984 series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Retirement and death" — the 1985 oath to Bush, death on December 7, 1985, and burial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Potter Stewart* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Retirement and death" › "Archives" — location and access of papers, Stevens, and the 1989 Woodward disclosure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potter_Stewart