IN THE PROFESSION
The Life And Times Of Justice William O . Douglas
RYAN JONES Environmental Law Society , Georgia State University of Law rjones159 @ gsu . edu
" G et out in the stream of history and swim
as fast as you can .” This was one last piece of advice Justice William O . Douglas gave his law clerks when he retired from the Supreme Court . It reflects both his legacy and the work of the Honorable M . Margaret McKeown of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals , who preserved it in her book Citizen Justice : The Environmental Legacy of William O . Douglas – Public Advocate and Conservation Champion , swimming herself through the stream of history , cobbling together the rich yet complicated legacy and environmental advocacy of Justice Douglas , who Judge McKeown calls the “ Supreme Conservation Advocate .”
On Thursday , March 28 , 2024 , Judge McKeown came to the Georgia State University College of Law to discuss her book . She described how she came across the Murie Ranch , a conglomerate of cabins located in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming , where she was first introduced to the advocacy efforts of Justice Douglas through the letters and messages he exchanged with ranch owners Olaus and Margaret Murie , accomplished scientists and conservationists in their own right . “ It was the tip of the iceberg in terms of [ Justice Douglas ’] prodigious letters , books , articles and campaigns to save the wild ,” writes Judge McKeown in the preface to Citizen Justice . Having grown up a small child that regularly battled illness ( either infantile paralysis
14 March / April 2024