# Stanley Forman Reed *American lawyer and associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1938–1957)* Stanley Forman Reed (December 31, 1884 – April 2, 1980) was an American lawyer and judge. He was U.S. Solicitor General from 1935 to 1938 and an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1938 to 1957.[^1] Reed was a native of Mason County, Kentucky. He built a law practice in Maysville and won a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He studied law but never completed a degree, which makes him the most recent justice to have served without graduating from law school.[^2] After Army service in World War I he became a corporate lawyer. He then held posts with the Federal Farm Board and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. As Solicitor General from 1935, he defended the constitutionality of several New Deal measures.[^2] President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Reed to the seat vacated by the retirement of [[George Sutherland]]. When Reed retired in 1957, [[Charles Evans Whittaker]] succeeded him.[^3] Reed's majority opinions include *Smith v. Allwright*, *Gorin v. United States* and *Adamson v. California*. Among his dissents is *Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education*.[^3] ## Early life and education Reed was born on December 31, 1884, in Minerva, a small town in Mason County, Kentucky. His parents were John Reed, a physician, and Frances (Forman) Reed.[^4] When he was 10, the family moved to Maysville, where his father practiced medicine. The family lived downtown in a house known as Phillips' Folly.[^4] He earned a B.A. at Kentucky Wesleyan College in 1902 and a second B.A. at Yale College in 1906. He then studied law at the University of Virginia and at Columbia University but left both without a law degree.[^5] In May 1908 he married Winifred Elgin. Their two sons, John A. and Stanley Jr., both became attorneys. In 1909 Reed went to France and studied at the Sorbonne as an auditeur bénévole.[^6] ## Career On his return to Kentucky, Reed was admitted to the bar in 1910 and spent nine years in practice in Maysville.[^7] Running as a Democrat, he won a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1911 and kept it in 1913. In 1915 the Republican candidate, Harry P. Purnell, defeated his bid for a third term.[^7] The United States entered World War I in April 1917. Reed then joined the Army and was commissioned a lieutenant in the intelligence division. When the war ended in 1918, he resumed private practice and became a well-known corporate lawyer. His clients included the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the Kentucky Burley Tobacco Growers Association.[^8] He was a partner in the Maysville firm of Worthington, Browning and Reed. He was active in the Sons of the American Revolution and the Society of Colonial Wars, and he raised prize-winning Holstein cattle on a farm near Maysville. His wife held national office in the Daughters of the American Revolution.[^9] ### Federal Farm Board Reed's representation of large Kentucky agricultural clients gave him a national reputation in the law of agricultural cooperatives. That reputation brought him to the notice of federal officials.[^10] Herbert Hoover was elected President in November 1928 and took office in March 1929. In June 1929 Congress passed the Agriculture Marketing Act, which established the Federal Farm Board to administer it.[^10] Reed later held positions with the Federal Farm Board and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. He became Solicitor General in 1935.[^2] ## Death In their last years, Reed and his wife were frail and often ill, and they lived at the Hilaire Nursing Home in Huntington, New York. He died there on April 2, 1980, and was survived by his wife and sons. He was buried in Maysville, Kentucky.[^11] [[William O. Douglas]] retired from the Court eighteen years after Reed did, but Reed outlived him by two months. Reed was therefore the last living justice appointed by Roosevelt. He was also the last living justice to have served on the Hughes, Stone and Vinson Courts.[^12] ## Legacy No Kentuckian has served on the Supreme Court since Reed. His 1957 retirement ended a span of more than 150 years in which at least one justice came from the state.[^13] The University of Kentucky in Lexington holds an extensive collection of his personal and official papers, including his Supreme Court files, and it is open for research.[^13] ## Quotations In *Smith v. Allwright*, 321 U.S. 649 (1944), Reed wrote: "The United States is a constitutional democracy. Its organic law grants to all citizens a right to participate in the choice of elected officials without restriction by any state because of race."[^14] In *Morgan v. Virginia*, 328 U.S. 373 (1946), he wrote that "the state legislation is invalid if it unduly burdens that commerce in matters where uniformity is necessary".[^15] He dissented in *McCollum v. Board of Education*, 333 U.S. 203 (1948). Commenting there on the phrase "wall of separation between church and state", he wrote: "A rule of law should not be drawn from a figure of speech."[^16] ## Law clerks David M. Becker, listed with the title SEC General Counsel, is among Reed's law clerks.[^17] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — birth and death dates; service as Solicitor General 1935–1938 and associate justice 1938–1957. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — Kentucky origins, legislative service, no law degree, World War I service, Federal Farm Board and Reconstruction Finance Corporation posts, New Deal defense as Solicitor General from 1935. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — nomination after Sutherland's retirement, succession by Whittaker, majority and dissenting opinions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — birthplace, parents, move to Maysville, Phillips' Folly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — B.A. degrees of 1902 and 1906; law study at Virginia and Columbia without a degree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Early life and education" — May 1908 marriage, sons, 1909 Sorbonne study. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career" — 1910 bar admission, Kentucky House elections of 1911 and 1913, 1915 defeat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career" — Army commission in 1917, return to practice in 1918, corporate clients. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^9]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career" — law partnership, society memberships, farm. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Career", subsection "Federal Farm Bureau" — cooperative-law reputation, Hoover's election and inauguration, June 1929 Act and Federal Farm Board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Death" — nursing home, death on April 2, 1980, burial in Maysville. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Death" — retirement eighteen years before Douglas; last living Roosevelt appointee and member of the Hughes, Stone and Vinson Courts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Legacy" — most recent Kentuckian on the Court; papers at the University of Kentucky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Quotations" — text quoted from *Smith v. Allwright*, 321 U.S. 649 (1944). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^15]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Quotations" — text quoted from *Morgan v. Virginia*, 328 U.S. 373 (1946). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^16]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Quotations" — text quoted from the dissent in *McCollum v. Board of Education*, 333 U.S. 203 (1948). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed [^17]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stanley Forman Reed* (rev. 1381756046, retrieved 2026-10-26), "Law clerks" — David M. Becker, SEC General Counsel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed