Show SUPREME COURT CHANGED 7 1 TIMES But President Roosevelt's Proposed Increase to Fifteen Justices Would Far Exceed Any Such Alteration in IIi History story 9 r e d 4 Y lIl lIly b o oC y ix r C e eia ia 4 4 ko w wd a d Who will be the new members member to join this group should the Presidents President's plan carry through Left Letl to right front row Justices Brandeis eighty Van an seventy-eight seventy Hughes seventy four l sev sev- five enty-five and Sutherland seventy four Back row Roberts sixty one Butler seventy Stone sixty four and Cardozo Cardoso I sixty six Mentioned as possible additions to fill In hi the question marks have been New Dealers Rich Rich- ber berg Wagner Warner Landis Landi Frankfurter and Corcoran By WILLIAM C. C UTLEY President Roosevelt succeed in his proposal to SHOULD S increase the number of justices on the bench of the United States Supreme court such changes would by no means be without precedent except in their scope The number number num num- ber of justices has been changed by act of congress no less than seven times during the years of its existence but never by lv more than three justices There have been numerous Instances In In- stances of clashes between a PresIdent President dent and the Supreme court Originally Origl- Origl nally the court was composed of ot six lx members but during the time of the clash between Adams and Jefferson in 1801 the number was reduced to six Ix Under pressure of heavily loaded dockets as the young I country was growing the number I w was as Increased to seven In to 1807 and 30 90 years yeara later was Increased again to nine Further expansion resulted in the addition of ot still another justice justice jus jus- tice rice and In n 1863 1883 the Supreme court reached It Us its I p peak ak of ten justices In 1860 the number was reduced again to seven leven but In 1889 it went back beck to nine again President Grant was at that time popularly accused of having packed the court to uphold legislation in which he was Interested but the majority of ot historians his his- t absolve him from any such intention Now comes President Roosevelt with his proposal to appoint to each federal court Including the Supreme Su SUo preme court a new judge for lor each present one who is over the retirement retirement retire retire- ment maul age of seventy but has bras not retired re re- tired Apparently it t is beyond the power of congress to require justices jus Jus- tices tice to retire at seventy for lor the Constitution expressly provides that they shall shaU serve servo during good be be- beI I havior Appointments Permanent There are now nine Supreme court justices of whom six are past pas t the retirement age It IS follows then that at the present time the membership mem memo on the Supreme court bench could not be Increased to more than n 1 15 5 under the Presidents President's proposal New judgeships on that and all other federal court benches wool would d be permanent I To the observer In Washington i It I teems seems immediately apparent theone that the t one of 01 the Presidents President's purposes in 1 n securing the proposed legislation is la isto Isto I to nullify possible adverse rulings on New Deal acts by older justices who have been in the habit of voting vot ing ins to declare New D Deal legislation unconstitutional Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes seventy five has voted s sometimes to uphold sometimes to nullity nullify New Deal acts he once ran tan ranas ranas tanas as the Republican candidate for lor the Presidency Louis Dembitz Drandell Bran Bran- dell dais eighty eight has voted to sustain sustains all ail New Deal legislation except In Inthe Inthe inthe the case of 01 the In which the vote was unanimously against But Dut Justices Willis Van Deventer sev sev- eight enty-eight James Jamel Clarke Mc Mc- Reynolds levent seventy five ave George Sutherland seventy five and Pierce Butler Dutler seventy one have voted in invariably In variably against the New Deal The New Deal has suffered defeat de de- feat In 9 or 01 t of 11 major decisIon decisions I of the cour court cour I. I In at least leut four tour cases case casesa a change of tour four votes could have reversed reverie the decision Up to June 1933 1935 the Supreme court had held a total of 73 13 acts of congress unconstitutional five Fifty of these thele were In the period from 1789 1189 to June 1924 1921 Then in 11 years eara the court held unconstitutional 18 ado acts Decisions Make History The court has hardly ever ceas ceased to be the subject of much political speculation and controversy In the hot dot stove league lea Perhaps this is II because the court snarl as a. an lion tion Is t unique amon among governments government In its It function of Interpreting and halting encroachments encroachment upon the basic bulc law of the country Every decision becomes a page of history wrote tote Charles Warren in his its noted work on the Supreme court The history of the United States has been written not merely in the halls of congress in n the executive exec exec- ut ive offices and on the battlefields I but to a great extent in n the chambers chambers' chambers chambers' cham sham hers bers' bers of the Supreme court of the United States Historians outline the career of ot the court by la a the period of nationalism na na- from 1789 1780 to 1835 Cb b the era of states' states rights from 1835 to 1801 1861 c the period of broad Interpretation Interpretation interpretation in In- from 1861 to 1930 and Cd d the present period The Supreme court met and organized organized or or- g for the first lust time in the Royal Exchange at the foot of Broad Broadstreet Broadstreet street in New York on February 1 I 1790 The number of its justices five lve had been set by the judiciary act of September 24 1789 Edicts Free of Politics The present chief justice Mr H Hughes once said of the court a aall at atall all times it has had the most severe severe se se- severe vere critics Tradition has it that a all ll decisions are rendered without t i c consideration of political partisanship partisanship partisan ship and indeed there are more e than a 1 few incidents to uphold th the e tradition Justices appointed b by ey y President Jefferson helped to develop de develop the nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution which he deplored deplored de de- d o- o played justices appointed by President Pres ident dent Jackson differed with his antra opinion ion and wishes in important inter interpretation Inter and his own appointees appointee s held President Lincoln's legal tender tender ten ten- der policy unconstitutional Nothing is more striking In the th e history of the court wrote Warren than the manner In which th the e hopes of those who expected a judge e to follow the political views of ot the th e President who appointed him have been disappointed Changes in membership of ot fl the e court began early In the election of 1100 the Federalists suffered an overwhelming defeat deleat The lame duck congress between the time of 01 Jeffersons Jefferson's election and his inauguration inauguration to prevent the new President dent from filling a vacancy on the bench with one of 01 his own appointees appoint appoint- ees reduced the number of justices justice to five fi It also relieved Supreme court Justices from circuit court duties established six new circuits with sixteen new judges and attaches at and filled all the vacancies with staunch Federalists Adams' Adams appointments were confirmed by the senate the da day before belore Jeffersons Jefferson's inauguration The next congress controlled b by Jefferson abolished two terms o ocourt of 01 j court repealed the judiciary act of the Adams congress abolished th the e new circuits and restored the Supreme Supreme Supreme Su Su- preme court to its original membership membership member ship of 01 six Ironically enough f it t was the Federalist appointed Supreme Supreme Su Suo preme court which in 1803 upheld d ds the constitutionality of Jefferson s repeal act This was in the case of Marbut Marbury vs VI Madison The former had been bee appointed to a judgeship of 01 the peace in the District of Columbia a by President Adams AdamI but his commission com corn minion mission had not been delivered t to o him at the time of Jeffersons Jefferson's inauguration Inauguration in in- He sought a writ o of y mandamus to compel the secretary of ot state to deliver his commission n The court ruled that the mandamus manda mandamus mus was the proper procedure bu but t that congress ress in delegating to th the e Supreme court ourt the power to issue e such a writ by the Judiciary act of 1789 had acted In n excess of the powers granted to it under the Con Con- This was as the first Instance in which the court had acted upon the constitutionality of an act of ot congress and established its right to do so Jackson Battles Court The first time that any complete act of congress was actually d declared declared de de- e dared unconstitutional was in the Dred fired Scott case 50 years later Th The court held only four federal statutes statute unconstitutional during the first 80 years of its existence By Dy 1825 however it had under Marshall strengthened the federal structure considerably It had invalidated invalidate 10 laws made by the states as unconstitutionaL un un- constitutional During Andrew J Jr tenure of office once the state of Georgia p passed a law of ot division of some land i ithe Inthe in inthe n the state to which the Cherokee IndIans In In- held title the Supreme cour court t decided this was outside its tion The state then passed a la law w requiring all aU whites in the Cherokee Cheroke e ee territory to take an oath of allegiance allegiance alle alle- all e glance to the state When two missionaries missionaries mis mis- refused they were imprisoned The Supreme court issued a writ of error and declared that the th e statute was unconstitutional because the federal government alone ha had d jurisdiction over the Cherokees an and d c their territory The country was growing and an d crowded court dockets made it advisable adon advisable ad ad- on the last day of the Jackson Jackson Jack Jack- Jackson son administration to increase th the number of justices to nine there ther e were then eight one having bee been n added in n 1807 1001 As the West began n to expand another justice was added adde d in 1863 During the reconstruction period perio d in 1866 1868 President Johnson was o on n trial on impeachment charges hi his a leniency toward the South havin having I angered party leaders Congress s passed a statute returning the number num ber bee of justices to seven Johnson vetoed it it but the reduction was carried carried car car- ried over his veto A bill requiring g a two-thirds two vote of ot the court to declare declare de de- clare clan a law unconstitutional tall failed to pass in congress about that time it had been drawn in the fear tear that the t the court would declare the reconstruction recon reco n laws invalid Grant Appoints Two President Lincoln clashed wi with Chief Justice Taney when soon soot after Fort Sumter was attacked John Merryman a Confederate lie lieu lieu- u tenant was arrested on charges of aiding the Ue enemy Taney gave hi him hima r m a habeas corpus to get released release It from Irom Fort McHenry but the oats officer er in charge acting under the Presidents President's Pres I dents dent's instructions refused to obe obey y the writ Tane Taney ordered the arrest arre st of the officer but the civilian w who h bore the writ was refused admission n to the fort lort Tane Taney wrote an opinion on declaring that a writ of habeas babe as corpus could not be suspended The number of justices was increased in in- creased from seven to nine shor shortly Uy after alter Ulysses S. S Grant bees became President The court b by a vote of 4 to 3 held unconstitutional the 1 legal le le- le gal tender act which was pass passed eel during the Civil war there wee were o two vacancies on the bench at th that at time lime The day the opinion was di delivered de de- livered b by Chief Justice Chase Chas President Grant nominated two new ne w member members and end soon lOon after the co court urt ordered that the greenbacks ca case se be re reargued There was a great storm of in ln indignation when the new justic justices es joined with the three who had vote voted el to uphold the act and the legal leg al tender act was declared u Most persons of course believed believe el that Grant had intentionally pack packed eel the court to secure this decision n but historians do not agree alree C Western Newspaper p r Union |