Stories From My Childhood; Living with Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun
Written By: Sally Blackmun, Esq.
Sally Blackmun(right) pictured with her husband(left), Both of which were sworn into the Supreme Court Bar by her father, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
Sally Blackmun was one of three daughters of famed Justice Harry A. Blackmun. She was asked the following question by a group of students: What was your home environment like growing up with a Supreme Court Justice as a father? Here is her answer.
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Dad was a federal judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1959 to 1970. He was elevated to the United States Supreme Court in 1970 when my sisters and I were 27, 23, and 21. So we grew up with a Judge for a father, not a Justice. Given his status, he was asked to be the graduation speaker at my high school, college, and law school graduations, a nice benefit for both of us.
In our adulthood, Dad included my sisters and me in various special events he was invited to. For me, that included space shuttle launches, the investiture of the first female Justice (Sandra Day O’Connor), Friday night parades at the Marine Corp barracks where he was the reviewing officer, and spring musicales at the Court for the Justices and Court staff.
The musicales were an annual event Dad initiated. He spent 19 summers in Aspen co-hosting a Justice and Society seminar, which also gave him the opportunity to attend the Aspen Music Festival where he met many talented musicians. They were the ones he invited to play at the spring musicales, a special honor for those classical musicians. He chose the spring for this event to give the Justices and their staffs a welcomed break from the grind at the end of the Court term.
I was privileged to be in the courtroom on the day Roe v. Wade was argued for the second time and also on January 22, 1973, when Dad, the opinion’s author, announced the 7-2 decision in open court. Most special to my husband and me was the day Dad came off the Supreme Court bench to swear us into the Supreme Court Bar.
The Justice’s last public appearance was playing Justice Story in the final Supreme Court scene in the movie Amistad at the request of director Steven Spielberg. The 1997 historical drama is based on the events aboard the Spanish slave ship La Amistad. Other well-known stars played significant roles in the movie and courtroom scene, including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freemen, and Matthew McConaughey. That scene was filmed in Mystic Seaport, CT.
The set crew had built an exact replica of the U.S. Supreme Court circa 1841.
The Justice was accompanied to Mystic Seaport by my mother, my sisters Nancy and Susie, Nancy’s son Nick, my Dad’s long-time executive assistant, his Court messenger, and his law clerk. Much to everyone’s surprise, the Justice’s “groupies” were asked whether they would like to be extras in the courtroom scene. Nancy, Nick and Dad’s messenger jumped at the opportunity. His messenger played the Clerk of the Court. Nancy and Nick were spectators in the audience. I was privileged to attend the movie premiere in Washington on December 10, 1997, where I met Steven Spielberg, the other Amistad stars and many D.C. dignitaries.
The Court’s Amistad decision freed the slaves on the grounds that they had been illegally seized and transported. Playing Justice Story was, therefore, a fitting end to Dad’s public life. Dad continued to receive periodic nominal movie residuals 25 years after the movie’s release! Mr. Spielberg also arranged a special showing of the movie at the Court for the Justices.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I urge you to do so.