Estelle Griswold
Estelle Griswold (June 8, 1900 – August 13, 1981) was the executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. A Connecticut statute from 1879 outlawed the use of contraceptives or assisting someone in using them. Griswold was accused of giving medical advice to married persons about contraception. She claimed the Connecticut statute was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Griswold v. Connecticut paved the way for the later
Roe v. Wade decision.Dr. C. Lee Buxton
Dr. C. Lee Buxton (October 14, 1904 - July 7, 1969) was chair of the Yale Medical School's department of gynecology and obstetrics control and a birth control advocate. He joined forces with Estelle Griswold to challenge the Connecticut legislation prohibiting the use of contraceptives.
Image courtesy of Cushing/Whitney Medical Library/Yale University
Justice William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas (October 16, 1898 - January 19, 1980) was a lawyer and the second-youngest Supreme Court appointee in history. Justice Douglas delivered the opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut stating that “specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanation from those guarantees that help give them life and substance.” He was a pioneer of civil liberties and individual rights.
Image courtesy of Library of Congress
Justice Hugo Black
Hugo Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was a politician and former Ku Klux Klan member eventually known for his civil rights rulings. He was a Supreme Court justice (1937 – 1971) and an advocate for the Fourteenth Amendment. Black was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first appointment to the Court. Justice Black, joined by Justice Stewart, both gave dissenting opinions in
Griswold v. Connecticut.Justice Potter Stewart
Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 - December 7, 1985) was a lawyer and politician with a powerful Republican family background. He was known as an influential swing vote on the Court who helped shape American law. Justice Stewart was one of the two dissenters in
Griswold v. Connecticut.Image courtesy of Library of Congress