Court Packing Flashcards
What did FDR do to try and pack the court?
On the pretense that several of the members were too old to perform their function, he proposed that the president be allowed to appoint a new justice for each one who remained on the court past 70 (an age that 6 out of 9 already surpassed).
How many of the supreme Court Justices were over 70?
6 out of 9
What was FDR’s aim with his proposal of apointing a new justice for each one who remained on the court past 70?
his aim was to change the balance of power on a court that he feared would invalidate Social Security, The Wagner Act, and other measures of the Second New deal
Did FDR’s proposal pass?
Congress rejected it but it accomplished his underlying purpose. the Supreme Court, it sometimes said, follows the election return. Coming soon after Roosevelt’s landslide victory in 1936 the threat of “court packing” inspired an about-face on the part of key justices. In March 1937, the court suddenly revealed new willingness to support economic regulations by both the federal government and the states. It upheld minimum wage law of the State of Washington which in a similar case in NY it had declared unconstitutional a year earlier. It turned aside challenges to Social Security and the Wagner Act. The court had a new willingness to accept the New Deal.
Chief Justice Charles Hughes view on upholding parts of the second New Deal?
He argued that “freedom of contract” sis not appear in the constitution but “freedom” did and that required a protection of law against evils which menace the health, safety, morals , and welfare of people.
