Crossref Citations
This article has been cited by the following publications. This list is generated based on data provided by Crossref.
2013.
The American State from the Civil War to the New Deal.
p.
296.
Article contents
The Role of Religion in the Defeat of the 1937 Court-Packing Plan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2015
Extract
Religious issues and clergy played a prominent and now largely forgotten role in the defeat of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's controversial 1937 proposal to add six Justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. Although many prominent Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish clergy and lay persons shared Roosevelt's frustration with the Court's obstruction of legislation to ameliorate the ravages of the Great Depression and reform the nation's economic system, many of the New Deal's most ardent supporters feared that Roosevelt's plan threatened religious liberty by making the Court vulnerable to political pressure. Opposition to Court-packing among clerics and lay persons, who warned that it could subject religious minorities to majoritarian tyranny, may have contributed heavily to the plan's defeat. The prevalence of these fears that diminution of judicial independence would threaten religious freedom helps to demonstrate that the Supreme Court already was widely regarded as an important guardian of personal liberty on the eve of the Court's transition from its long-time role as a defender of property rights to its modern role as a protector of personal rights.
- Type
- Articles
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2008
References
1. Roosevelt, Franklin D., Rosenman, Samuel Irving & Hassett, William D., The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt vol. 5, 55 (13 vols., Random House 1938–1950)Google Scholar; Leuchtenburg, William E., The Supreme Court Reborn: the Constitutional Revolution in the Age of Roosevelt 82–134 (Oxford U. Press 1995)Google Scholar.
2. McKenna, Marian C., Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Constitutional War: The Court Packing Crisis of 1937, at 141–154 (Fordham U. Press 2002)Google Scholar.
3. Leuchtenburg, supra n. 1, at 134-135; McKenna, supra n. 2, at 303-314.
4. Gallup, George, The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 1935-1971, vol. 1, 50, 50-52, 53, 55, 57, 58, 69 (Gallup, George H., Hanson, William P. & Israel, Fred L. eds., Random House 1972)Google Scholar.
5. Feinman, Ronald L., Twilight of Progressivism: The Western Republican Senators and the New Deal 68-90, 117–135 (Johns Hopkins U. Press 1981)Google Scholar.
6. Ltr. from Charles Evans Hughes to Burton K. Wheeler (Mar. 21, 1937), in Senate Judiciary Committee, Reorganization of the Federal Judiciary, Hearings on S. 1392 before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. I: pt. 3, 488, 491 [hereinafter Hearings].
7. Ross, William G., The Chief Justiceship of Charles Evans Hughes 1930-1941, at 117 (U.S.C. Press 2007)Google Scholar.
8. E.g. West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, 300 U.S. 379 (1937).
9. NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1 (1937).
10. The Wagner Act Decisions, 54 Christian Cent. 512 (Apr. 21, 1937).
11. Joseph O' Meara, Jr., The Court and Democracy, Commonweal 12 (Apr. 30, 1937).
12. Steward Mack Co. v. Davis, 301 U.S. 548 (1937); Helvering v. Davis, 301 U.S. 619 (1937).
13. McKenna, supra n. 3, at 480-521.
14. Ltr. from William Allen White to Felix Frankfurter (Mar. 23, 1937) (on file in William Allen White Papers, Ser. C, Box 269, Ms. Div., Lib. Cong.).
15. The Supreme Court Issue, ABA J. 268, 270 (Apr. 1937) (editorial).
16. 81 Congressional Record, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. 132 (1937) (extension of remarks of Tom Connelly).
17. Democrats to the Defense, Christian Sci. Monitor 20 (Feb. 18, 1937).
18. A Many Colored Toga: The Diary of Henry Fountain Ashurst 375 (Sparks, George F. ed., U.Ariz. Press 1962)Google Scholar.
19. Id.
20. Secretary Ickes Addresses the Second Victory Dinner at Raleigh, North Carolina (extension of the remarks of Hon. Maury Maverick of Texas, Mar, 15, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec, App. 555 (1937).
21. Address of Hon. Robert M. LaFollette, Jr., of Wisconsin, at the Convention of Labor's Non-Partisan League, Mar. 8, 1937, D.C. (extension of the remarks of Hon. Joseph T. Robinson of Ark., Mar. 11, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 501 (1937).
22. Radio Address by Hon. Prentiss M. Brown, of Michigan, March 2, 1937 (extension of remarks of Hon. Clyde L. Herring of Iowa), Mar. 3, 1937, 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 392 (1937).
23. Ross, William G., A Muted Fury: Populists, Progressives, and Labor Unions Confront the Courts, 1890-1937, at 204–205 (Princeton U. Press 1994)Google Scholar.
24. Cortner, Richard C., The Supreme Court and the Second Bill of Rights: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Nationalization of Civil Liberties 130–132 (U. Wis. Press 1981)Google Scholar.
25. Klarman, Michael J., From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality 98–170 (Oxford U. Press 2004)Google Scholar.
26. See e.g. Cover, Robert M., The Origins of Judicial Activism in the Protection of Minorities, 91 Yale L.J. 1287 (1982)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bixby, David M., The Roosevelt Court, Democratic Ideology, and Minority Rights: Another Look at United States v. Classic, 90 Yale L.J. 741 (1981)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
27. Powell v. Ala., 287 U.S. 45 (1932).
28. Thomas, Kendall, Rouge et Noir Reread: A Popular Constitutional History of the Angelo Herndon Case, 65 S. Cal. L. Rev. 2599, 2691 (1992)Google Scholar.
29. Bixby, supra n. 26, at 752-753.
30. Fiske v. Kan., 274 U.S. 380 (1927) (overturning conviction of union organizer under state syndicalism statute); Near v. Minn., 283 U.S. 697 (1931) (invalidating prior restraint on newspaper); Powell v. Ala., 287 U.S. 48 (1932) (invalidating conviction of defendants who had not received meaningful assistance of counsel); Brown v. Miss., 297 U.S. 278 (1936) (overturning conviction of criminal defendant whose confession was obtained through torture); Grosjean v. Am. Press Assn., 297 U.S. 233 (1936) (invalidating Louisiana tax on newspapers); DeJonge v. Ore., 299 U.S. 353 (1937) (overturning conviction of labor organizer under syndicalism statute).
31. See Cantwell v. Conn., 310 U.S. 296 (1940) (nationalizing the free exercise clause); Everson v. Bd. of Educ., 330 U.S. 1 (1947) (nationalizing the establishment clause).
32. Williams, George A., The American Crisis, Liberty: Mag. Religious Freedom 15 (3d Q. 1937)Google ScholarPubMed.
33. 262 U.S. 390 (1923).
34. See Ross, William G., Forging New Freedoms: Nativism, Education, and the Constitution, 1917-1927, at 2-5, 96–98 (U. Neb. Press 1994)Google Scholar.
35. 268 U.S. 510 (1925).
36. Ross, supra n. 34, at 156-163, 168-169.
37. Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and other religious organizations fought vigorous and successful campaigns to defeat compulsory education laws in Michigan referenda in 1920 and 1924, and in a Washington state referendum in 1924. Id. at 134-147.
38. Id. at 134, 148, 172-173.
39. Id. at 172-173, 194-195.
40. Id. at 194-195.
41. Ross, supra n. 23, at 264-265. LaFollette ran a close second to President Calvin Coolidge in most of these states.
42. Cochran v. La., 281 U.S. 370 (1930). See For School Children, Am. 517 (Mar. 6, 1937).
43. Cochran, 281 U.S. at 374-375.
44. U.S. v. Macintosh, 283 U.S. 605 (1931); U.S. v. Bland, 283 U.S. 636 (1931). These cases were decided under principles of statutory interpretation, and the Court did not address freedom of religion issues.
45. For a history of the naturalization cases, see Flowers, Ronald B., To Defend the Constitution: Religion, Conscientious Objection, Naturalization, and the Supreme Court (Scarecrow Press 2003)Google Scholar.
46. Hamilton v. Regents U. Cal., 293 U.S. 245 (1934).
47. Id. at 262.
48. Rerum Novarum: Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Capital and Law (May 15, 1891), in The Papal Encyclicals, 1878-1903, at 241–261 (Claudia Carlen Ihm compiler, Pierian Press 1990)Google Scholar.
49. Id. at 253.
50. Id. at 251.
51. Moreheod v. N.Y. ex rel. Tipaldo, 298 U.S. 587 (1936).
52. Supreme Court Kills State Minimum Wage Law, 53 Christian Cent. 828 (06 10, 1936)Google Scholar.
53. Miller, Robert Moats, American Protestantism and Social Issues 1919-1939, at 113 (U.N.C. Press 1958)Google Scholar (reprinted in Greenwood Press 1977).
54. Id. at 122. The Literary Digest survey is suspect, however, since the same publication in the same year conducted a poll that forecast the defeat of Roosevelt, who won re-election by a landslide. Both surveys were conducted through self-selection rather than scientific samples.
55. The Religious Press On the Court Issue, U.S. News 12 (03 15, 1937)Google Scholar.
56. Feinman, supra n. 5, at 123-135.
57. Gallup, supra n. 4, at 36.
58. Miller, supra n. 53, at 121.
59. Alsop, Joseph & Catledge, Turner, The 168 Days 73 (Da Capo Press 1973)Google Scholar.
60. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 678 (testimony of Theodore Graebner); 750 (testimony of Dr. Gould Wickey); 981 (testimony of Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes); 1239 (testimony of Rev. W.B. Harvey); 1398 (testimony of G.M. Bruce); 1403 (testimony of Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes); 1413 (testimony of Rev. Linus Lilly); 1539 (testimony of Rt. Rev. James E. Freeman); 1545 (testimony of Dr. Wallace C. Calvert); 1645 (testimony of Rabbi William F. Rosenblum).
61. Senators Hold Fate of Court Plan, Lit. Digest 3-4 (Feb. 27, 1937) (quoting five bishops); Court Plan Leaps Over Party Lines, Lit. Digest 4 (Feb. 20, 1937) (quoting one bishop).
62 .Hearings, supra n. 6, at 751 (Statement of Dr. Gould Wickey, General Secretary, Council of Church Boards of Education, and General Secretary, National Conference of Church-Related Colleges). Wickey is identified as Norman J.G. Wickey, id. at 701, which also identifies his church affiliation.
63. Id. at 1418-1419 (Statement of Rev. Linus Lilly, S.J.) (italics omitted). Lilly explained that Meyer “was not subjected to fine and imprisonment, but was allowed to continue his useful and honorable occupation because the Constitution meant in his case what the Supreme Court said it meant.” Id. at 1418. Similarly, Lilly declared that “the Sisters were allowed to continue their laudable work of teaching little children because the Constitution meant to them what the Supreme Court said it meant.” Id. at 1419.
64. Id. at 1413.
65. Id. at 1136 (statement of Ignatius M. Wilkinson, Dean, Fordham U. Sch. L.).
66. Statement of Paul Shipman Andrews, Dean of the Syracuse University College of Law,Syracuse, N.Y., Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1447.
67. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1700.
68. Radio Address by Hon. Clarence E. Hancock, of New York, February 28, 1937 (extension of remarks of Hon. Clarence E. Hancock of N.Y., Mar. 5, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 430 (1937).
69. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 603 (Statement of Hon. William Lemke, Representative at Large From the State of North Dakota).
70. Senate Comm. on the Jud., Rpt. No. 711, Reorganization of the Federal Judiciary, 75th Cong., 1st Sess. 20, 22 (1937).
71. Lawrence, David, The Great Contract, U.S. News 20 (03 29, 1937)Google Scholar.
72. Non Abbiamo Bisogno: Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Catholic Action in Italy (June 291931), in The Papal Encyclicals, supra n. 48, at 445-458; Acerba Animi: Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Persecution of the Church in Mexico (Sept. 29, 1932), in The Papal Encyclicals, supra n. 48, at 485-489; Dilectissima Nobis: Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Oppression of the Church in Spain (June 3, 1933), in The Papal Encyclicals, supra n. 48, at 491-496.
73. Helmreich, Ernst Christian, The German Churches Under Hitler: Background, Struggle, and Epilogue 207–217 (Wayne State U. Press 1979)Google Scholar.
74. Mit brennender Sorge, Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on the Church and the German Reich, (Mar. 14, 1937), in The Papal Encyclicals, supra n. 48, at 525-535.
75. Divini Redemptoris: Encyclical of Pope Pius XI on Atheistic Communism 538-553 (Mar. 19, 1937), in The Papal Encyclicals, supra n. 48, at 538-553.
76. See The Nazis Discover John, 54 Christian Cent. 102–103 (01 27, 1937)Google Scholar.
77. Barnett, Victoria, For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protests Against Hitler 25–27 (Oxford U. Press 1992)Google Scholar.
78. An American Hitler, Am. 156 (May 22, 1937).
79. Address by Hon. Royal S. Copeland of New York, at Philadelphia, Pa., on March 10, 1937 (extension of remarks of Hon. Pat McCarran of Nev., Mar. 17, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 1174 (1937).
80. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1551 (Statement of Dr. Wallace C. Calvert, Minister of the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, Indianapolis, Ind.).
81. Radio Address of Hon. Royal S. Copeland of New York on March 12, 1937 (extension of remarks of Hon. Walter F. George, Mar. 17, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 566 (1937).
82. Ross, Forging New Freedoms, supra n. 34, at 135-142, 143-145, 157-158.
83. Ross, The Chief Justiceship of Charles Evans Hughes, supra n. 7, at 12-16.
84. Watson, Richard L. Jr., The Defeat of Judge Parker: A Study in Pressure Groups and Politics, 50 Miss. Valley Historical Rev. 213, 217–218 (1963)Google Scholar.
85. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1611. In attacking judicial review during his testimony before the Judiciary Committee in favor of the Court-packing bill, former Senator Smith W. Brookhart asserted that “Congress will uphold this Constitution just as much as the Court.” When Senator Connally asked whether the Court should have the power to strike down a statute establishing a state church, Brookhart replied, “But suppose the Court would decide that nobody else should hold office but Methodists. One is just as ridiculous as the other.” When Connally pressed Brookhart further, Brookhart reiterated that “it is a preposterous presumption, and you have got just as much right to presume that the Court will decide that way as Congress will do it. Id.
86. Creel, A.B., The President and Judicial Reform, Ala. Baptist 5 (05 13, 1937)Google Scholar.
87. The President and the Court, 54 Christian Cent. 208 (02 17, 1937)Google Scholar.
88. The Court as Guardian of Liberty 125 (03 10, 1937) (editorial)Google Scholar.
89. Statement of Hon. Ferdinand Pecora, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Hearings, supra n. 6, at 429.
90. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 426 (Statement of Hon. Ferdinand Pecora, Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York).
91. 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. 1247 (1937) (remarks of Sen. Griswold).
92. Ltr. from G.A. Thiele to Robert M. LaFollette, Jr. (Mar. 9, 1937) (on file in LaFollette Family Papers, Ser. C, Box 365, Ms. Div., Lib. Cong.).
93. Roosevelt, Franklin D. & Rosenman, Samuel Irving, The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt vol. 6, 124, 132 (MacMillan Col. 1941)Google Scholar.
94. Radio Address By Hon. Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior and Federal Public Works Administrator, on April 10, 1937 (extension of remarks of Hon. Joseph T. Robinson of Ark., Apr. 12, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 789 (1937).
95. The President and the Court, supra n. 87, at 208.
96. O'Meara, Jr., supra n. 11, at 12.
97. O'Brien, David J., Public Catholicism 174 (2d ed., Orbis Books 1996)Google Scholar.
98. Kenneally, James J., Catholicism and the Supreme Court Reorganization Proposal of 1937, 25 J. Church & St. 479–483 (1983)Google Scholar.
99. Id. at 489. Professor Kenneally observed that the absence of any ‘“Catholic position’ on reorganization became increasingly apparent” as “Catholics not only publicly aired their differences but quarreled with one another.” Id. at 487.
100. The Court Bill, Am. 373 (07 24, 1937)Google ScholarPubMed.
101. The Price of Freedom, Am. 540 (Mar. 13, 1937) (editorial).
102. Kenneally, supra n. 98, at 474.
103. Id. at 477.
104. Norton, Thomas James, Ltr. to the Ed., Am. 545 (03 13, 1937)Google Scholar.
105. See Warner, Donald, Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio 94 (Free Press 1996)Google Scholar.
106. Id.
107. Kenneally, supra n. 98, at 485.
108. McKenna, supra n. 2, at 395-396.
109. Kenneally, supra n. 98, at 485-487.
110. Id. at 473.
111. Ryan, John A., Court Reform and Minorities, Commonweal 684–685 (04 16, 1937)Google Scholar.
112. The Constitutional Crisis, Commonweal 482 (Feb. 26, 1937).
113. Crabites, Pierre, The Lesser of Two Evils, Commonweal 63–64 (05 14, 1937)Google Scholar.
114. Ltr. from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Michael Williams (Mar. 30, 1937), in The Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, supra n. 93, at 139-140.
115. Ltr. from Fred Hall to George W. Norris (Mar. 30, 1937) (on file in George W. Norris Papers, Ms. Div., Lib. Cong., Box 117).
116. The Supreme Court Issue, Liberty: Mag. Religious Freedom 17 (3d Q. 1937) (editorial).
117. Marsh, Robert McC., Ltr. to the Ed., The Supreme Court, Churchman 5 (03 15, 1937)Google ScholarPubMed.
118. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1551.
119. The Hemlock Cup, Living Church 222 (Feb. 20, 1937).
120. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1550.
121. Id. at 1550-1551.
122. Id. at 1554.
123. Manning Assails President's Plan, 86 N.Y. Times 16 (02 11, 1937)Google Scholar.
124. Pastors Support Court's Integrity, 86 N.Y. Times 15 (02 22, 1937)Google Scholar.
125. Luebke, Frederick C., Bonds of Loyalty: German Americans and World War I, 238, 251, 268, 269, 285–286 (No. 111. U. Press 1974)Google Scholar; Chrislock, Carl T., Ethnicity Challenged: The Upper Midwest Norwegian Experience in World War I, vol. 3 (Norwegian-Am. Historical Assn. 1981)Google Scholar.
126. Ross, Forging New Freedoms, supra n. 34, at 41.
127. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 679, 680, 684 (Statement of Theodore Graebner, Professor of Theology, Concordia College, St. Louis).
128. Id. at 681.
129. Id.
130. Id. at 681.
131. Id. at 682.
132. See Ltr. from G. Paul Stowell to Robert LaFollette, Jr. (Mar. 18, 1937) (on file in LaFoUette Family Papers), supra 82.
133. Ltr. from Ben F. Wyland to George W. Norris (Feb. 11, 1937) (on file in George W. Norris Papers, Box 117, Ms. Div., Lib. Cong.).
134. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1405.
135. No Small Commotion, Ala. Baptist 3 (Feb. 18, 1937).
136. Ala. Baptist (entitled editorial) 4 (Feb. 11, 1937).
137. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1241.
138. Id. at 1242.
139. Id. at 1243.
140. Id. at 1244 (Statement of Rev. W.B. Harvey, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, Okla.).
141. The President and the Court, supra n. 86, at 208.
142. Id. at 207.
143. Current Morals, Messenger 4 (Feb. 11, 1937); Child Labor Must Be Prevented, id. at 5 (May 6, 1937).
144. Kenneally, supra n. 97, at 479 (citing 16 Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, The Supreme Court Controversy, Info. Serv. 7 (Apr. 24, 1937)).
145. Divided on Court Plan, 86 N.Y. Times 8 (Mar. 20, 1937).
146. Sachar, Howard M., A History of the Jews in America 458–460 (Alfred A. Knopf 1992)Google Scholar.
147. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1698-1699, 1699 (Statement of Rabbi William F. Rosenblum, Temple Israel, New York).
148. Id. at 1704-1705.
149. Id. at 1696.
150. Id. at 1697.
151. Radio Address of the Hon. Royal S. Copeland, supra n. 80.
152. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1781 (testimony of Catherine Curtis, representing the Women's National Committee for “Hands Off the Supreme Court,” sponsored by Women Investors in America, Inc.).
153. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1723.
154. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1723 (Statement of Edward T. Lee, Dean, The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, III.).
155. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 660.
156. Id.
157. Id. at 667.
158. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 675 (Statement of Louis J. Taber, Master of the National Grange, Columbus, Ohio).
159. Kammen, Michael, A Machine That Would Go Of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture 225 (Alfred A. Knopf 1986)Google Scholar.
160. Lerner, Max, Constitution and Court as Symbols, 46 Yale L.J. 1290, 1307 (1937)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
161. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1689 (testimony of Col. Frederick Hobbes Allen).
162. Id. at 1702.
163. Id. at 1243.
164. Id. at 1703.
165. Public Papers and Addresses of Franklin D. Roosevelt, supra n. 92, at 124.
166. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1543-1544.
167. Id. at 1542.
168. Id. at 1543-1544 (Statement of Rt. Rev. James E. Freeman, The Bishop of Washington).
169 . Embarrassing the Supreme Court, Church Advoc. 4-5 (Feb. 17, 1937).
170. The President and the Courts, Presbyterian Trib. 5 (Feb. 18, 1937).
171. The Nine Old Men, Am. 590 (Mar. 27, 1937); The Supreme Court Bill, Am. 349-350 (July 17, 1937); The Court Lives, Am. 277-278 (June 26, 1937); Unanimous, Am. 612 (Apr. 3, 1937).
172. Collier, Byron W., Packing the Supreme Court, Ala. Baptist 6 (05 6, 1937)Google Scholar.
173. Blakely, Paul L., Young-Eyed Cherubins Who Think With the President, Am. 460 (02 20, 1937)Google Scholar.
174. Ltr. from M.J. Keyes to William E. Borah (on file in William E. Borah Papers, Box 483, Ms. Div., Lib. Cong.).
175. Blakely, Paul L., Your Rights Under the Constitution: When the Supreme Court falls you have none, Am. 583 (03 27, 1937)Google Scholar.
176. Statement Submitted by Bishop Philip M. Rhinelander, of the Episcopal Church, on the Subject of Increasing the Personnel of the Supreme Court (extension of the remarks of Hon. Peter G. Gerry of R.I., Mar. 3, 1937), 75th Cong., 1st Sess., 81 Cong. Rec. App. 1041 (1937).
177. Statement ofG.M. Bruce, Esq., Secretary, Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minn., in Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1398-1402. Bruce based his opposition on the lack of a national emergency, the speciousness of the age issue, and the general threat to separation of powers.
178. Sampey, John R., Autocracy or Democracy, Alab. Christian Advoc. 2 (04 8, 1937)Google Scholar.
179. Id. at 2.
180. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1702.
181. Marty, Martin E., The Career of Pluralism in America, in Religion in America 1950 to the Present 68 (Carroll, Jackson W., Johnson, Douglas W., Marty, Martin E. eds., Harper & Row 1979)Google Scholar.
182. Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1539.
183. Id. at 981-993 (Statement of Rev. Anson Phelps Stokes, Canon, Washington Cathedral).
184. Statement of Bishop Edwin Holt Hughes, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of Washington, D.C., Hearings, supra n. 6, at 1407.
185. Cooper, George W., Ltr. to Ed., Religious Liberties and the Court, 54 Christian Cent. 431 (03 31, 1937)Google Scholar.
186. Id. at 478.
187. Kenneally, supra n. 97, at 478 (citing Ltr. from John J. Mitty to Garrett McEnerney (Mar. 10, 1937) (on file in McEnerney's Office File, 1936-1937, Archives of Archdiocese of San Francisco)).
188. Id. at 478.
189. Methodist Session Scores Court Plan, N.Y. Times 2 (Mar. 7, 1937).
190. Id.
191. Episcopalian Group Opposes Court Bill, N.Y. Times 4 (Feb. 9, 1937).
192. Rector Hits Court Plan, N.Y. Times 2 (Feb. 15, 1937).
193. Cong. Rec. 1658-1659 (1937); Winrod States His Views, N.Y. Times 10 (Mar. 2, 1937).
194. Ltr. from Edward A. Rumely to William E. Borah (Aug. 9, 1937) (on letterhead of National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government and attached “Membership List”) (on file in Borah Papers, Box 484); Ltr. from Frank E. Gannett to William E. Borah (July 23, 1937) (on file in Borah Papers, Box 484).
195. The Churches Speak, attachment to letter from Frank E. Gannett to Thomas F. Konop (Feb. 27, 1937) (on file in LaFollete Family Papers, supra n. 82).
196. Ltr. from Walter List to Robert LaFollette, Jr. (Mar. 25, 1937) (on file in LaFollette Family Papers, id. at Box 366).
197. Ltr. from Thomas F. Konop to Robert M. LaFollette (Mar. 5, 1937) (on file in LaFollette Family Papers, id. at Box 365.
198. A Sad Commentary, 111. Baptist News 3 (Apr. 1937).
199. U.S. v. Carolene Prod., 304 U.S. 144, 152-153, n. 4 (1938).
200. Id.
201. See Cushman, Barry, Rethinking the New Deal Court: the Structure of a Constitutional Revolution (Oxford U. Press 1998)Google Scholar (arguing that the Court was not influenced by external forces, that its decisions in 1937 were consistent with pre-existing doctrine, and that the Court's ultimate abandonment of scrutiny of economic legislation occurred because of changes in the Court's personnel); Leuchtenburg, supra n. 1 (espousing the “externalist” argument that the Court, at least to some degree, was influenced by Court-packing). For a recent survey of this controversy, see Kalman, Laura, The Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the New Deal, 110 Historian 1052–1080 (2005)Google Scholar.
- 1
- Cited by