Evening star., 1950-06-11

another Is with only one dissen
each.
Box scores of the recorded out
put by individual justices ref1ec
Importont Supreme Court Decisions Z
Recent Session Summarized. Pg. c.
a comparatively small part of tn
work done by the jurists, indi
vidually and collectively, in han
ding hundreds of cases. petition
and motions. An unofficial nu
merical survey of the courts con
clusions and combinations sine
last october, however, shows sur
prising and significant lineups an,
trends.
The LOT formal opinions, while
II fewer than during the 1884!
term, covered bigger issues ane
more varied subjects. There were
four more unanimous decision!
than in the previous year, bu1
nowhere near as many 5-4 or A.:
or A splits.
Douglas Absence Factor.
The absence of Justice Douglas
during the first five months of the
session, and the dozen cases or
which Justices Clark or Mintor
disqualified themselves, may have
been a factor in the lack of 5-4
decisions. There were only three
4-3 written opinions and three
even splits. Most Of the non
unanimous rulings were by votes
of IL. 60 and So or So.
Although Justice Black, in II
instances. was by far the most
frequent lone dissenter against the
rest of the court, Justices Jack
son, Reed, Frankfurter. Douglas
Burton and Minton each stood
alone on occasion.
Justices Black. Frankfurter and
Jackson had the most dissents
Justice Black wrote II and was
listed in 19 others. Justice Frank
furter wrote 16, of which two were
partial dissents, and recorded nine
others. Justice jackson dissented
in 10 written opinions, one a dis
sent in part, and noted 13 others
Justice Reed had a total of Is
Justice Burton eight. and Chief
Justice Vinson, two.
Combinations Noted.
The most frequent dissent COM
bination was that Of Justices
Frankfurter and Jackson. They
were the only dissenters in eight
instances. They also stood to-
gether in several other dissents
with Justices Reed or Black.
Justices Black and Douglas
teamed up three times in dissent,
They sided in other dissents with
Justices Reed, Burton or Minton.
Justice Black, generally linked
with Justice Douglas as the core
of the liberal wing" Joined the
following other members in dis
sents: Justices Frankfurter, eight
times. Jackson, five, Reed, Burton
and Minton, twice each, and Chief
Justice Vinson, once.
Justice Burton, only Republican
on the court, saw eye to eye with
Justice Black three times, and
Chief Justice Vinson and Justices
Douglas and Frankfurter, once
each, and Justice Reed, three
times.
No Clark Dissents.
Justice Clark, former Attorney
General who took his seat on the
bench last october, was the only
member who did not dissent at all.
Justice Minton, the other new ap-
pointee. registered five dissents
of which four were written. His
associates in dissents were JUS
tices Reed, three times. Black,
twice, and Douglas and Jacksons
once each.
Looking at the record from
another standpoint. Justice Min
tons dissents opposed majority
opinions written by Justices Clark,
Frankfurter, Burton, Douglas or
Black.
Justices Clark and Minton set
@ precedent in the number OF
opinions written by first-year men
Justice Clark handed down 13 to
tie with Justice Black for the
largest number. Justice Minton
produced IL.
Other Opinions Listed.
Other written opinions were the
10 Of Chief Justice Vinson, IL Of
Justice jackson, 9 Of Justice
Burton, 8 Of Justice Frankfurter
6 of Justice Reed and 4 of Justice
Douglas.
The others were either per-
curiam opinions, presumably writ
ten in most instances by the Chief
Justice, or. brief announcements
that did not always disclose how
the members voted.
Supreme Court attaches caution
against trying to read too many
things into numerical summaries
The fact that a justice might
have written fewer majority opin-
ions might mean the opinions
assigned to him involved unusually
complex cases requiring vast re-
search.
Some dissents were mainly legal,
technical or procedural points. and
do not necessarily set forth a
judges views on constitutional or
other broad questions.
Besides the written majority
opinions and dissents there were
numerous written concurrences,
principally by Justice Frankfur-
ter. They generally stressed special
points or arrived at the same
conclusion by lines of reasoning
different from the majority's.
Gwynn to Be installed
Rv lndue%vsol Edi@ore