Harry A. Blackmun

Harry A. Blackmun (1908–1999) was an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from 1970 to 1994. Appointed by President Richard Nixon, he became widely known as the author of the Court’s majority opinion in *Roe v. Wade* (1973), which recognized a constitutional right to choose abortion. Over his tenure, Blackmun participated in major decisions involving civil liberties, criminal procedure, and the death penalty, and he later expressed strong opposition to capital punishment. Before joining the Court, he practiced law and served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.