Stone Court

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Supreme Court of the United States
Stone Court
July 3, 1941 – April 22, 1946
(4 years, 293 days)
SeatSupreme Court Building
Washington, D.C.
No. of positions9
Stone Court decisions

The Stone Court refers to the

military tribunals.[1][2] It also supported the federal government's policy of relocating Japanese Americans into internment camps.[3]

Membership

The Stone Court began in 1941, when Associate Justice Stone was confirmed to replace Charles Evans Hughes as Chief Justice. Stone had served as an Associate Justice since 1925, when President Calvin Coolidge nominated him to the bench. During the Court's 1932–37 terms, Stone and justices Brandeis and Cardozo formed a liberal bloc called the Three Musketeers that generally voted to uphold the constitutionality of the New Deal.

At the beginning of Stone's chief-justiceship, the Court consisted of Stone,

Harold Hitz Burton
to replace him.

Shortly before

Fred Vinson
as Stone's successor.

Timeline

Bar key:   Hoover appointee   F. Roosevelt appointee   Truman appointee

Other branches

Presidents during this court included

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Congresses during this court included 77th through the 79th
United States Congresses.

Rulings of the Court

Major rulings of the Stone Court include:

Judicial philosophy

Stone had largely sided with the government's position when the Hughes Court struck down several pieces of New Deal legislation, and the Stone Court (with the addition of several Roosevelt appointees) consistently upheld Congressional power pursuant to the Commerce Clause.[2] The Stone Court also upheld broad war-time powers for the government.[2] The Stone Court was less deferential in the area of civil liberties, striking down laws in cases such as Barnett, although Korematsu was a major exception to this trend.[2] Despite Roosevelt's appointment of seven of the nine justices (and the elevation of Stone), the justices held independent views and often found each other at odds in regard to civil liberties.[2][6] Stone himself received criticism for presiding over a divided and quarrelsome court.[7] Justice Frankfurter often took a position supporting judicial restraint in which the court took deference to the decisions of elected officials, while Justices Black and Douglas were more willing to strike down laws and precedents for what they saw as violations of constitutional rights.[6] Murphy and Rutledge joined Black and Douglas as part of the more liberal bloc, while Jackson, Reed, and Stone tended to side with Frankfurter.[8][9] Roberts often sided with the Frankfurter bloc, but was more conservative than the other eight justices.[9] Though outnumbered, the more liberal bloc led by Black and Douglas often took the majority in cases by peeling off the votes from the moderate bloc, and the two groupings of justices did not form as tight of blocs as had existed in the Hughes Court.[10] The short length of the Stone Court gave it little chance to establish a definitive legacy.[11] However, the Stone Court continued the Constitutional Revolution of 1937 that had started during the Hughes Court and foreshadowed the liberal rulings of the Warren Court.[12]

References

  1. ^ Ex Parte Quirin, 317 U. S. 1 (1942)
  2. ^ . Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Harlan Fiske Stone: Supreme Court Justice (1872–1946)". A&E Television Networks. April 2, 2014. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  4. ^ "Remarks of the Chief Justice, American Law Institute Annual Meeting, May 17, 2004". www.supremecourt.gov. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Savage, David G. (24 March 2011). "U.S. official cites misconduct in Japanese American internment cases". LA Times. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  6. ^ a b Urofsky, Melvin (1988). "CONFLICT AMONG THE BRETHREN". Duke Law Journal. 37 (1): 81–84. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  7. ^ Renstrom, 40-42
  8. ^ Urofsky, 85, 87, 92
  9. ^ a b Galloway, Russell Jr. (1 January 1983). "The Roosevelt Court: The Liberals Conquer (1937-1947) and Divide (1941-1946)". Santa Clara Law Review. 23 (2): 513–515. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  10. ^ Galloway, Jr., 516-520
  11. . Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  12. ^ Galloway, Jr., 527-531

Further reading

Works centering on the Stone Court

Works centering on Stone Court justices

Other relevant works