Montana labor news., 1937-06-17
THE SUPREME COURT
And THE ORGANIZED
LABOR MOVEMENT
Speech of William f. Dunno, at
Butte High School, June 10.


When President Franklin d.
Roosevelt sent to Congress his pro-
posals for the reform of the judi
ciary, with especial reference to the
Supreme Court, he brought to a head
the most serious political struggle
that has emerged in America since
the days of Civil War and Recon-
.struction. Like the issues of the
Civil War, this presents a constitu-
tional crisis, going to the very foun-
dalton of the American system of
government, and expressing a deep
crisis in class relations. Already it
has aroused a stubborn bitterness
that was not witnessed even in the
1886 presidential election, extraor-
binary for its sharpness. The struggle
about the role of the Supreme Court
is cutting across old party lines. 1t
has deeply divided the Democratic
Party, the party of the Roosevelt
administration. 1t is furnishing the
occasion for a fundamental regroup-
ing of class forces, long in prepara-
ton and now approaching maturity.
It is, therefore, of far more than
ordinary Importance to study the is
sues of this struggle, and to see the
process which is lining up individ-
uals, groups, parties, and classes on
one or the other side-a realignment
which will indicate in what direction
American political life is heading for
the next period.
President R~oosevelt's plan for ju-
dicial reform does not, in itself, ex-
plain the tremendous excitement
which it aroused. 1t does not at
tempt to limit the role of the SUI
preme Court as fixed in the written
constitution of the U. S. A. It does
not even challenge the power,
usurped by the Supreme Court with
out constitutional authorization, to
function as a supreme legislative Or
gan by exercise of a veto upon laws
passed by Congress and approved
by the President. 1t is limited to
measures, expressly within the pow
er Of Congress as fixed by the Con-
stitution, to enlarge the personnel
of the court under certain condi-
tons. The expectation that such en-
largement of the court may shift its
views or disputed questions toward
a more favorable attitude to the adj
ministration just reelected by an
overwhelming majority, is certainly
not something to shock the preju-
dices of a democratic people. It
would be taken for granted in any
other democratic country but the
U. S. A.
AS a matter of fact, the only per-
sons that are alarmed r those who
have been %benefiting for years by
the Courts rulings in favor of cor
porate property and its protection of
gigantic fortunes.
That feature of Roosevelt's plan
around which controversy RACES, is
the provision that whenever judges
of the Supreme Court reach the age
of 70 years without retiring upon a
pension, already provided by law,
of the full salary of $4,000 per
year,, then the President is en-
powered, with the agreement of the
Senate, to name additional judges
to the same number, provided that
the present membership of nine shall
not be increased to more than is.
The immediate significance of this
| plan lies in the fact that the Supreme
Court itself is sharply divided. With
a divided vote, often five to four, it
has been exercising with unexampled
freedom its usurped power to nullify
Federal legislation. During the
Roosevelt administration it has exer-
cised this power on more occasions
than in the entire previous history
Of the U. S. A. 1t has cancelled most
of the laws embodying Roosevelt's
so-called New Deal policies, usually
with a bare majority, with the mi
nority of the court itself vigorously
Continued on Page 6)