Professors Differ On Motivation of Brennan's Choice

Four Law School professors differed sharply yesterday concerning Saturday's appointment of Justice William Brennan to fill Sherman Minton's place on the U.S. Supreme Court, with three praising the choice and the fourth accusing the President of "playing politics."

Brennan's religion was the only reason for his appointment, the fourth professor, who wished to remain anonymous, declared. He called the choice of Brennan, who is a Catholic, "a manifest attempt to solve the religious question, since there are no Catholics on the Court." There are "so many political possibilities in this," he added.

The professor also opposed Eisenhower's appointing Brennan while Congress is in recess, claiming that this would hamper the justice's independence in his first few months on the Court.

A strongly contrasting view was expressed by Robert Braucher, professor of Law, who felt that the appointment fitted in with his views as expressed last Wednesday that the new justice should "represent different segments" of the population. He felt that Brennan was not chosen "to make election capital."

Since Braucher felt that Brennan would not arouse "much, if any controversy" and would be approved by Congress, he believed that this recess appointment was better than leaving one Supreme Court seat empty until January.

Benjamin Kaplan, professor of Law, referred to Brennan as "very affable and very able," Paul A. Freund, Charles Stebbins Fairchild professor of Law and a classmate of Brennan's at the Law School from 1929 to 1931, stated he was confident that "he'll make a great justice."

Brennan is presently an Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, a post he has held since 1952. Two years previous to that, he served as a justice in the New Jersey Supreme Court. During World War II, he worked in the procurement office of the War Department