If Chief Justice Hughes and his five aged associates had chosen to remain, the membership of the court would have been enlarged from nine to fifteen" (Pusey 1995).
A small group of constitutional lawyers advised Roosevelt in the construction of the bill, assuring him that the Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress would pass it. When Roosevelt introduced the bill, Roosevelt used the euphemism of judicial 'reform' rather than said it was an attempt to circumvent the recent rulings of the Supreme Court. He framed his plan as a way of relieving the pressures of overcrowded court dockets. However, some of the phrases he used made his feelings clear, namely his reference to the problems of lifetime appointments, or "aged or infirm judges," (Menaker 2008).
When he spoke of justices of advanced ages, the President was obviously speaking of his opponents on the Court, the so-called anti-government Four Horsemen of the New Deal Apocalypse, all over the age of seventy: Justices Butler, McReynolds, Sutherland and Van Devanter. Roosevelt said older men often lack "mental or physical vigor" which "leads men to avoid an examination of complicated and changed conditions" (Menaker 2008). He added: "older men, assuming that the scene is the same as it was in the past, cease to explore or inquire into the present or the future" (Menaker 2008). Hence, the need to reduce the influence of old judges.
The Senate hearings on the Bill, particularly after the testimony of Chief Justice Hughes about how an enlarged court would be more unwieldy and inefficient, roused the ire of both legislators and the public against Roosevelt's plan, especially after Chief Justice Hughes showed that the court's docket was not overcrowded. Yet while the doomed bill was debated, the Supreme Court suddenly decided that their previous conclusion in the New York minimum-wage case had been wrong. In December of 1936, the Court voted four-to-four to uphold a similar Washington minimum-age law and to reverse its previous decision. Roosevelt had said he wanted his new justices to be more responsive to the needs of the public. While the justices decried this on principle, in action they began to move to support Roosevelt's desire for change. On April 12 the Court upheld the National Labor Relations Act and confirmed the power...
Instead of pretending that racism and its effects no longer exist, we need to strengthen affirmative action and devise a new set of policies that directly tackle the racial gap in wealth." (Derrity, 1). That, in a nutshell, is the position of this paper. America has not given affirmative action enough time to act. Moving forward, we should continue our affirmative action policies, but with an end in mind. Economists
William Howard Taft -I Brief Biography of Life Before the Supreme Court- In this section you should outline the "life and times" of your chosen subject, placing emphasis on key events in that person's life that may have led them to pursue a career in law. Items you may want to touch upon are the family's legal history (if any), how (if at all) that person's ethnicity, religion, family life or other
Presidential power is thus a matter of persuasion of the public and the other branches and actors within the government. Today in particular, because of the ability of the President to invoke the information of the intelligence agencies, information which the President has special authority over, he can persuade members Congress that if they do not do his bidding, they are jeopardizing America. When the presidential office was first created,
He must bring certain traits, talents, and personality to the table to make certain that priorities are in order, the proper battles are fought and won, and that the country senses his urgency in effecting change in their interest. An effective domestic policy president must be expert in two areas: working with Congress to effect real change, and using his pulpit to gain the support of the American people for
The milestone that the Civil Rights Movement made as concerns the property ownership is encapsulated in the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which is also more commonly referred to as the Fair Housing Act, or as CRA '68. This was as a follow-up or reaffirmation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discussed above. It is apparent that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 outlawed discrimination in property and housing there
" Then there are the "...5 million employees of the federal bureaucracy and the military" at his disposal. Also, the president runs the executive branch of government; Cummings writes that he is "chief of state" - the "ceremonial and symbolic head of state as well as head of government" (391) - as well as being "chief executive" of the government. He has the power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses
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