William O. Douglas was born on October 16, 1898, at Maine, Minnesota. He served on the faculties of Yale and Columbia Universities until mid 1930's when he was appointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 1937, William O. Douglas while Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission, received a threatening letter advising him he would lose his life if the writer of the letter should lose his margin on the stock market. The United States Attorney advised the contents of the letter did not constitute a violation of the Extortion Statute, and advised that it be referred to the Post Office Department as a possible violation of statutes covering use of the mails. He also received another extortion letter in 1973, sent to the United States Supreme Court where he was a Justice of the Supreme Court. The Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) said it appears that the writer had some mental aberration and he saw no reason for any further investigation. In January 1969, Mr. Douglas received another extortion letter and likewise, the AUSA didn't want to prosecute. In April 1969, William O. Douglas, Earl Warren, and Hugo Black, all Supreme Court Justices, received the same extortion letter. In 1970, several Congressmen, Senators, Justice Black and the Budget Director all received extortion threats and again the AUSA declined any prosecution. In March 1973, Justice Douglas, was threatened by a telephone call made to the Washington Post newspaper and once again the AUSA did not want to prosecute. Dr. Jerome Rehman, a Long Beach, California Osteopath, was indicted on charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit acts injurious to public health. The manslaughter charge was dismissed, but he was convicted on the conspiracy charge on August 31, 1963. He was sentenced to serve one to five years in the California State Prison. Rehman's appeal to the California Supreme Court was denied, therefore, he appealed to the United States Supreme Court. He was freed on an appeal bond if he would voluntarily surrender his license to practice medicine. He stated that he was going to get his license reinstated, because he had paid his attorney $ 7,500. His attorney was going to pay Justice Black $ 5,000 of the money to set aside the order to suspend his license. Justice Black did indeed issue an order to set aside the suspension of his license, and Rehman was back practicing medicine. An investigation of the matter did not prove the bribe ever happened. Justice Douglas granted a last minute stay of execution for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg on June 17, 1953. Douglas's order was reversed by the Supreme Court on June 19, 1953. Justice Douglas was married four times.
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