 The Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders renamed the courthouse in 1984 in honor of Associate Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan , who had served in the building as Hudson County Assignment Judge from 1947 through 1951 . Following the 1989 Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson , which Brennan authored , veterans groups petitioned unsuccessfully to have the name removed , but the Freeholders unanimously voted to retain the name . 
