The Stone Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy

by Peter G. Renstrom

Overview

A comprehensive examination of the rulings, key figures, and legal legacy of the Stone Court.

When President Franklin Roosevelt got the chance to appoint seven Supreme Court justices within five years, he created a bench packed with liberals and elevated justice Harlan Fiske Stone to lead them. Roosevelt Democrats expected great things from the Stone Court. But for the most part, they were disappointed.

The Stone Court significantly expanded executive authority. It also supported the rights of racial minorities, laying the foundation for subsequent rulings on desegregation and discrimination. But whatever gains it made in advancing individual rights were overshadowed by its decisions regarding the evacuation of Japanese Americans. Although the Stone Court itself did not profoundly affect individual rights jurisprudence, it became the bridge between the pre-1937 constitutional interpretation and the "new constitutionalism" that came after.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781576071533
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/06/2001
Series:	ABC-CLIO Supreme Court Handbooks
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Peter G. Renstrom is professor of political science at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.

Table of Contents

	Series Foreword	ix
	Preface	xi
Part 1	Justices, Rulings, and Legacy	1
1	The Stone Court and the Period	3
	The Great Depression	4
	The New Deal	7
	The Hughes Court Response	9
	The Election of 1936--the "Referendum" on the New Deal	12
	Reforming the Courts: The Court-Packing Proposal	12
	The "Other" War: From Neutrality to Intervention	16
	Assembling the Stone Court	20
	The Stone Court: An Aggregate Profile	30
	Stone and Hughes: A Comparison	32
	References	36
2	The Justices	37
	The Coolidge Appointment	39
	The Hoover Appointment	42
	The Roosevelt Appointments	46
	The Truman Appointment	82
	References	87
3	Significant Decisions	89
	Individual Rights	90
	First Amendment Issues	92
	Rights of the Accused	105
	Discrimination	112
	Civil Liberties and the War	120
	Government Authority in Wartime	145
	Federalism	157
	References	177
4	Legacy and Impact	179
	World War II	183
	Regulatory Authority Independent of the War: The Commerce Power	190
	Civil Liberties	193
	Conclusion	201
	References	204
Part 2	Reference Materials	205
	Key People, Laws, and Events	207
Appendix I	Selected Documents on the Relocation of the Japanese	249
Appendix II	Footnote Four to United States v. Carolene Products Co.	255
	Chronology	257
	Table of Cases	271
	Glossary	277
	Annotated Bibliography	289
	Index	305
	About the Author	319

Editorial Reviews

An exemplary volume in the ABC-CLIO Supreme Court series. . . . Recommended at all levels.” —Choice

From the Publisher