ABSTRACT
Frankfurter, a Jewish immigrant, was one of the most psychologically marginal justices ever to sit on the high bench, as he never stopped trying to compensate for his background. Although consistently ranked among the twelve great justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, Felix Frankfurter rates more toward the bottom than the top of the "greats" list. Frankfurter graduated first in the class of 1906 and in 1912 joined the Harvard Law School faculty, continuing to serve as a law professor until 1939 at what he considered the ideal institution as long as he was among its philosopher kings. Frankfurter became an "intellectual bigot," trying repeatedly to turn the Court into an idealized Harvard graduate seminar. Frankfurter's contribution to the law was greater before his Supreme Court service. His prima donna personality caused self-inflicted damage to his legacy, and his ideal of equality regressed into patriotic paternalism.
