Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-16
SPEED OF SUPREME, COURT
EMBARRASSES ATTORNEYS
Jurisdictional Act Helps Tribunal in
Working Swiftly to Clear Docket by
Eliminating Many Cases.
BY GREGORY HANKIN.

"%HE greatest advance in clearing
its docket was made by the SUI
preme Court during the term
4 which ended on Monday, June
8. 1t decided S25 Of the 966
eases docketed during the term, leaving
the next term.
For all practical purposes 1t may be
said the court has caught up with Its
work. It has disposed of all the cases
It could have disposed of, In view OF the
rules allowing counsel time within
which to file their briefs. OF over 700
petitions filed during the term, all those
submitted within week from the clos
ing of the term were disposed of. This
left only Al petitions which the court
had no opportunity to consider.
In fact, so rapid has been the courts
pace that its efficiency Is becoming a
source of embarrassment to counsel in
the preparation of their cases. This
was pointed out by Chief Justice Taft
in addressing the last session of the
American Law Institute. He said:
II can say with respect to the busi-
ness of the court that under the benef1-
cent act of February 10, 1925, we have
made such progress with the business
the bar are beginning to be little
embarrassed by the proximity of the
court to them"
T@eOry of JurisdictiOnaI Act.
Under this jurisdictional act, which
was passed through the efforts of the
Chief Justice, Congress limited the types
of cases which may come to the Su-
preme Court as matter of right. Most
of the cases coming to the court must
come under a preliminary application
to review the decision of the lower
court. The first class of cases Is gen.
orally known as the cases on appeal.
The others are known as the cases
coming on writ Of certiorari.
A case may come on appeal from the
decision of the highest court of State
II the constitutionality of State statute
Is in question and that court decides in
favor of its constitutionality. This con-
stitutes the largest class of appeals. An
appeal may also be taken from the
decision of a State court il the consti-
tlItionality Of a Federal law is in ques-
ton and the State court holds the law I'M
constitutional There were no such cases
duMng this term Likewise, where the
Federal Circuit Court Of Appeals holds q
State statute invalid, the case may come
to the Supreme Court on appeal An
illustration of this class of appeals dur
ing this term is the case in which the
Circuit Court of Appeals held the cor
poration franchise tax of New York
unconstitutional as applied to foreign
corporations having non-par value
stock. The State Of New York appealed
che case to the Supreme Court.
Under the judicial code appeals may
also be taken directly to the Supreme
Court from the decisions of the District
Courts. These are the cases In which
the petitioner seeks to enjoin the en-
forcement of o State statute or an order
of q State or Federal commission, in
which cases the petition for prelimi-
mary injunction must have been heard
by three judges This Is q growing class
of appeals. This term 56 appeals came
from the District Courts. An outStand-
ing example of the cases in which or
ders of State commissions were sought
to be set aside is the New York scent
fare case. The inValidity of the order
of q Federal commission was involved
In the appeal Of the O'Fallon Railway
In the valuation case,
The judicial code also provides for
appeals from the District Courts to the
Supreme Court in certain antitrust
and criminal cases. The California CO.
operative Canneries sought to intervene
In the Packers consent decree and
moved to have the decree set aside or
modified. The Supreme Court of the
District OF Columbia denied the motion,
and the canneries appealed to the
Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court
held. however. that In equity suits under
the antitrust laws, an appeal lies only
to the Supreme Court OF the United
States.
An appeal from the District Court i'm
@ criminal case came to the Supreme
Court before the close Of the term. This
was the case in which the. Govern
ment prosecuted former Representative
Wurzbach, of Texas for having accepted
campaign contributions from Federal
employees, contrary to law.
Effect Of JurisdictiOnaI Act.
BY thus limiting the number of cases
which may come to the Supreme Court
as matter of right, the jurisdictional
act enabled the court not only to dis
pose of the large numbers of cases
which come to it every year, but also
to reduce the number of cases In which
1t was In arrears. s
The comparative progress which the
court made In the past eight years
may be seen from the following table:
Disposition Of Cases by the Supreme Court
Number of Cases.
AZ