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Paul Moke Writing Book on Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren

Biography to Present Focus on Social Justice and Warren Commission

11/23/09

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. (BELOW) Paul Moke spoke earlier in November as part of the Faculty Instructional Development and Resources Committee's 2009-10 Lecture Series.

Like many great figures in American history, Earl Warren’s personal evolution made him a man whose contributions to public life — specifically politics and law — helped to define the times."

Wilmington College’s Paul Moke is writing a biography of the former Supreme Court Chief Justice (1891-1974), who many consider as the most important chief justice of the 20th Century.

In a recent presentation at the College, Moke introduced some of his preliminary research and themes for the upcoming book, In the People’s Court: Earl Warren and the Search for Social Justice.

Moke, who holds a Ph.D. and Juris Doctorate, is a professor of social and political studies at the College.
He has completed the first three chapters of a seven-chapter biography of Warren, whose life offers a “fascinating glimpse” into a number of controversial events of the last century.

As attorney general and California’s only three-term governor, Warren helped to shape public policy toward the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Later as the 14th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969, he wrote several leading decisions desegregating public schools and reforming criminal procedures. He also headed the Warren Commission’s investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

“Earl Warren transformed the legal landscape,” Moke said.

Moke noted that his book will differ from previous biographies of Warren in that it will rely on oral histories from Warren’s family, friends and colleagues. The University of California, Berkeley conducted these interviews during the 1970s and has recently made them available online to a broader audience.

“My book also focuses more fully on Warren’s service on the Warren Commission than other biographies have done,” he added. “There is an extensive amount of recently released material in the National Archives that sheds new light on this difficult chapter in Warren’s life.”

Social justice will be another focus of the book, an area that offers compelling insight into Warren and his personal transformation.

The Warren Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education that made public school segregation illegal had roots in a personal relationship between Warren and his long-time African American chauffeur in California, Edwin “Pat” Patterson. During their many car trips to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Patterson shared with Warren what it was like to grow up in the segregated public schools of New Orleans.

“Warren often used his personal relationships with people to teach himself and grow,” Moke said. “This really played a large role in shaping the views he would later adopt in his Brown v. Board of Education decision.”

The Warren Court made great strides in providing legal rights for “the outsider” — those considered as outside mainstream America by virtue of their race, gender, ethnicity and unpopular political or religious views.

However, as Attorney General and Governor of California, Warren perceived a threat to the West Coast following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and he played a “leading role” in the internment of 120,000 Japanese Americans during the war.

“I discuss how the internment happened and the role of Quakers in reaching out to Japanese-Americans,” he said. “In this somewhat sad chapter of his life, Earl Warren never apologized for his decisions.”

Another example of his personal growth and transformation finds district attorney Warren endorsing interrogation methods outside the law in a highly publicized murder case known as the Point Lobos Trial. Shortly thereafter, when his own father was murdered, Warren refused to use those same methods in exacting a confession or gathering evidence.

“He took the high road,” Moke said.

In addition to three completed chapters, Moke has finished much of the research for the balance of the book, and he expects to present a final manuscript to the publisher by late 2011.

“The research for this book has been challenging, but I’ve loved doing it,” he said. “The subject matter and history are especially compelling.”