Presbyterian Mission Agency the great dissenter Archives

the great dissenter

‘The Great Dissenter,’ Justice John Marshall Harlan, was a longtime ruling elder at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.

Posted September 26th, 2022

Justice John Marshall Harlan, known as “The Great Dissenter,” wrote memorable U.S. Supreme Court minority opinions that today are in the mainstream of American jurisprudence as well as public opinion, especially on racial equity — despite being a slaveholder who opposed the Emancipation Proclamation.