On September 25, 1987 three justices from the US Supreme Court (Blackmun, Brennan and Stevens) sat in judgement as the case for Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, vs. Will Shaksper of Stratford was argued in a Moot Court Debate at American University. The event had been arranged by Oxfordian David Lloyd Kreeger, and was held in conjunction with the Annual Conference of the Shakespeare Oxford Society. Among the Oxfordians in attendance was Charlton Ogburn, Jr.
Although the verdict that day was 3-0 for Shaksper, events since have proved that it takes more than a day to grapple with this issue. If the vote were taken today, in 1995, it would be at the very least 1-1-1, or perhaps 2-1 for Oxford. Justice Harry Blackmun is quoted in the introduction to the 1992 second edition of The Mysterious William Shakespeare as saying "If I had to rule [today] on the evidence presented, it would be in favor of the Oxfordians".
Justice John Paul Stevens' The Shakespeare Canon of Statutory Construction was published in 1992, revealing his continuing fascination (and sympathies) with the Shakespeare authorship question. While Justice Stevens has not made as clear a statement on his current feelings about Oxford vs. Shaksper as Justice Blackmun, the Shakespeare Canon article drops some strong hints.
For a comparison with Justices Blackmun's and Stevens' more recent views, we are also providing an excerpt from the opinion read by Justice William Brennan on September 25th in ruling for Shaksper of Stratford.