Bruce’s ‘Other’ Supreme Court Case

Abstract

Bruce Jacob, former Dean of the Stetson University College of Law and long-time faculty member of various institutions, is famous for having argued Gideon v. Wainwright before the Supreme Court. What many do not know, however, is that Bruce argued a perhaps equally important case to the Warren Court five years later. And this time he won. The case, Kaufman v. United States, established that inmates, whether federal or state, may use federal habeas corpus to challenge Fourth Amendment violations. Unfortunately, this result was short-lived. Within ten years it had been replaced by another Supreme Court decision, Stone v. Powell, put in place by a new and more conservative Burger Court. This short piece describes Bruce's efforts in the Kaufman case, the Court's holding, its legacy, and the career of the story's deuteragonist (before and after prison), Harold Kaufman.

Keywords: Jacob, Kaufman, Stone v. Powell, Fourth Amendment, habeas