Evening star., 1933-11-25
NEW COURT ED|F|CE
. SHRINE Of LIBERTY.
Structure Will Be 0utStand.
ing Among Buildings
of Its Kind.
BY JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.


The new Supreme Court Building,
now rapidly approaching structural
completion, will be the most beauti-
full edifice of its kind in the world.
No other nation Of the earth, authori-
ties agree, has dedicated to justice any
such magnificent architectural monu-
ment.
For centuries legislatures have been
rlobly housed. and monarchs have been
endowed with palaces glorious beyond
the capacity of words to tell, but 1t
remained for the United States to pro-
vide for its highest tribunal an en-
vironment commensurate with its po-
sition and power in the life of the
people.
Specifically, it may seem curious
that no special establishment for the
Supreme Court was set up when the
Federal City Of Washington was first
laid out in 1899 and that only after
more than a century and a quarter
was the subject given serious consid-
Grafton. But an examination of the
history of judicial bodies shows that
they are a relatively novel develop
ment in Western civilization and that
their traditional status is one of de-
pendence upon the executive and legis-
lative departments of government.
King Once High Court.
In ancient times King was accus-
toned to conserve to himself the func-
tions of the high court. Thus M. c.
Lennod says: In very early days in
England and in many of the European
countries, all of the power and juris-
diction now held by law courts was
vested in and exercised by the King or
the executive ruler, commonly de-
scribed as the throne. This also was
true in the primitive administration of
law. Such judicial powers were
exercised by the executive in early
the subordinate officers. In the states
of Greece the King or chief magistrate
was not alone a military leader, but
also was the chief judicial officer, as is
the case now in Oriental autocracieS
where the sovereign appoints deputies
to act as judges subject to his right of
review on appeal. This is the system
in vogue until very recently in Persia
and Turkey. where the deputies of the
Shah and Sultan. respectively, governed
the various states and administered the
laws.
The early English Kings held almost
absolute judicial power; they were to
all lntents and purposes courts of law.
The sole executive and judicial author
ity over whatever law there was, free
from the will of the King. vested in his
person and was exercised by him to
such an extent that individual owner
ship and personal liberties were subor-
dipated to his absolute whim and
caprice. The King himself sat
~ CIV rJyln n
Edward " Regular courts had then
,about 1889 been established, but au-
th0rity was still vested in the King to
participate personally in the business
of the courts. King James I exercised
what has been frequently termed the
last judicial act of an English monarch
when he settled the Controversies be-
tween the courts of law and the court
of chancery.
Advent of Magma Charta.
THE first step toward the separation
of the executive and judicial powers
as jointly vested in the King came when
King John was compelled to sign the
magma charta or great charter in 1215.''
That date marked the founding of the
Court of Common Pleas.
Prof. Talbot F. Hamlin traces the
evolution of governmental architecture
in lire paralleling the development
of democratic institutions. In classic
Greece, he says, courts, usually held in
colonnades of stoas, were occasionally
convened n open areas reserved for
them such as the Areopagos at Athens.
They had no special building assigned
to them.
The group of government buildings
surrounding the Roman Forum" he
continues, formed, in fact, the earliest
prototype of the modern national capi-
toll But there was no particular
edihce designated for court use
1t was not until late in the Middle
Ages that palais de justice structures
began to be built. They were preceded
by the town hall. Prof. Hamlin de-
clares, Most medieval examples are
of the late Gothic period because only
ficiently divorced from royal, monaStic
or feudal domination to neceSSitate
separate buildings. The earliest exist
at Chartres and the Sale lie Roi at
Montdidier (both of the fourteenth
century,. BY far the most famous is
the lavish Palais de Justice at Rouen,
begun before 1474, completed before
1909. This magnificent building stands
on three sides of a court and contains
not only the smaller court rooms but
two vast halls and beautiful chapel.
1t is in this use of large halls that
originated the tradition of having as
an integral part of every court house
great lobby where lawyers could con-
fer with their clients.
Capitol Building Project.
cit was only with the development
of the Government of the United States
that national capitol building, built
solely for the housing of national
government, was first projected"
And even then, SO much was the Su-
preme Court considered to be a de-
pendent branch of the Government, no
special shelter was provided for it.
Assembling in Washington for the
first time, February 2, 1901, it was as
signed to a small room on the south
side of the Senate Chamber, a mere
committee room designed for none but
casual use. In 1910 it was shunted to
a room in the basement, directly under
the meeting place of the Senate. After
the burning of the Capitol, it had
temporary quarters in room described
as little better than a dungeon" in
the north wing. In February, 1919, it
convened in the chamber where its
1857 Montague St. NV. |