Evening star., 1944-10-02
Supreme Court Opens
New Term, Admits
Two Dozen 10 Practice

Nine black-robed Justices began
q new. term Of the Supreme Court
today by admitting two dozen At
torneys to practice before its bar,
hearing = routine motion and then
adjourning until next Monday.
The nine justices, appearing to be
in good health and refreshed by
summer vacations, marched SOL
emnly to their places and faced q
courtroom crowded with Govern
ment dignitaries, prominent attor-
|neys and personal friends and rela-
tives. Several hundred persons were
unable to gain admission to the
jammed courtroom.
The traditional 'Oyez, oyez, oyez"
which formally opened the l944-5
term was intoned by wartime sub
stitute crier, Thomas E. Waggaman,
the Supreme Court marshal. The
crier OF last session, J. Alec Ken
ming, 6-foot-3-inch Philadelphian,
now is in Army uniform at Camp
Blanding, Fla. Mr.. Waggaman
served as crier for % years before
becoming marshal.
500 Cases on Docket.
The justices were confronted by
an unusual total OF more than 500
cases already docketed.
A test of the power of the Gov
ernment to control the movements
of civilians in wartime was high
on the list Of cases awaiting DISPOSE
tion.
The ciyilian-curb litigation In
wolves challenge by two Americans
OF Japanese ancestry to the West
Coast segregation order applied inn
mediately after Pearl Harbor when
persons OF Japanese descent were
sent to relocation centers. It is
looked on as one OF the most i'm
portant civil liberties cases ever
brought before the court.
The disposition will have direct
bearing on.-at least two cases still
in the lower courts of Pennsylvania
where the Government sought to bar
citizens OF German descent from
areas of military Importance.
Bund Case Pending.
The curfew regulation applied
simultaneously with the segregation
order was upheld by the Supreme
Court in June, 1943, in a unanimous
decision in which Chief Justice
Stone wrote the opinion.
Other cases stemming from the
war which confront the court in
clude the appeals of Gerhard Will
helm Kunze, former head of the
German-American Bund and % as
sociates, convicted of conspiring to
advise evasion and resistance to the
Selective Service Act.
Anthony Cramer, naturalized Ger
man charged with aiding two OF the
Nazi saboteurs-later executed
who landed from submarines on the
East Coast in 1912, also will get a
hearing on his appeal from a trea-
son conviction which brought a As
year sentence.
Asked to Pass on Ballot.
The court also was faced with
request to pass on the constitu-
tionality of the Federal ballot before
election day, and If this Is to be
done, it was thought the date for
argument might be announced. An
Army lieutenant sought the ruling
after Gov. Dwight H. Green of Illi-
nois refused to certify use of the
ballot for service people from that
State.
The high tribunal also must de-
eide If it will reconsider the 4-3 de-
cision of the last term holding the
fire insurance business subject to
the Sherman antitrust law. The at
torneys general of Al States and the
companies themselves are seeking to
have the case reopened.
Also on the docket is an appeal
from the lower court decision on
the Governments antitrust suit
against the Associated Press.
AS the court started the eight
month grind. observers wondered If
the acrimony of the last session.
when the justices several times
mixed personal criticisms with their
opinions, would be carried over to
the new term.