"Here Come Da Judge" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lance Ito

In 1995 Judge Lance Ito was to become a household name. Lance was born in Los Angeles, California in 1950. In 1977, he joined the District Attorney's office, and in 1992 he presided over the Charles Keating trial. It was 1995 when he presided over "The Trial of the Century", i.e., the murder trial of O.J. Simpson.

It was a contentious and controversial trial, with the judge allowing television coverage. Simpson was acquitted in that trial.

Answer: Joseph Welch

In trying to protect the nation against Communism in the 1950s, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy (1908-1957) almost destroyed the very foundation of democracy and free speech. Beginning in June 1954, the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations and Army counsel Joseph Welch presided over the Army-McCarthy Hearings. Judge Welch (1890-1960) is responsible for asking McCarthy "have you no sense of decency?", effectively ending the McCarthy era. Welch also played a judge in "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959).

Answer: John Jay

John Jay (1745-1829) was a statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist and Founding Father. He was born into a well-to-do family who emigrated to America to escape the religious persecution of the Huguenots by the French. He was an influential member of the Federalist Party, having co-authored the "Federalist Papers" with Hamilton and Madison. Jay was the second governor of New York, and the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

He served in that capacity from 1789 to 1795.

Answer: Earl Warren

Earl Warren was born in Los Angeles, California in 1891 and died in Georgetown University Hospital in 1974. He served as the Governor of California from 1943 to 1953, before being appointed to the Supreme Court by Dwight Eisenhower. Warren served as Chief Justice from 1953 to 1969, including the turbulent 1960s and the assassination of President Kennedy. Warren wrote the majority opinion on "Brown v Board of Ed" in 1954, and led the Warren Commission's investigation into JFK's death.

Answer: Thurgood Marshall

Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall (1908-1993) was born and died in the state of Maryland. He graduated from Howard University in 1953, and was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Lyndon Johnson. Marshall was the first African-American justice, serving from 1967 to 1991. Prior to that, he argued "Brown v Board of Ed", that racial segregation in schools violates the "Equal Protection Clause".

Answer: Byron White

Byron "Whizzer" White (1917-2002) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, appointed by John Kennedy, and serving from 1962 to 1993. Prior to his Supreme Court tenure, he played basketball, football and baseball for the University of Colorado. He was a runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1937, and played professional football for the Detroit Lions in 1940 and 1941. White was succeeded by Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Answer: William Howard Taft

You may remember William Howard Taft (1857-1930) as the last president of the 20th century to have a mustache, or the last occupant of the White House to get stuck in a bathtub. But you'd be forgetting one of Taft's most memorable firsts, i.e., being the first U.S. president to also serve on the United States Supreme Court. Taft was president from 1909 to 1913, and the tenth Chief Justice of the U.S. from 1921 to 1930.

Answer: Joseph Wapner

In "The Rain Man" (1988), fictional autistic savant Raymond Babbitt finds comfort in his routines which include going to bed at eleven P.M., and "'Course it's 10 minutes to Wapner". What Raymond was referring and couldn't miss was "The People's Court", presided over by Judge Joseph Wapner (1919-2017). Wapner was the first judge on the show, and 'held court' from 1981 to 1993.

Answer: Louis Brandeis

You might not think someone who was born in Kentucky to Jewish immigrant parents from Bohemia would aspire to a position on the highest court in the land. However, that's exactly what Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) did. Brandeis graduated from Harvard Law School having received the highest grade average at the time.

He helped establish "right to privacy laws", and has been called "The People's Lawyer". Brandeis was appointed by Woodrow Wilson and served as Associate Justice from 1916 to 1939.

Answer: Oliver Wendell Holmes

Harvard educated Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841-1935) served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court from 1902 to 1932. Holmes was nominated by Theodore Roosevelt, and he was succeeded by Benjamin Cardozo. Holmes fought in the American Civil War, and is one of the most quoted Supreme Court justices in the nation's history, e.g., the "clear and present danger" opinion.

When he retired at 90, he was the oldest justice in the Supreme Court's history.