Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-13
Chief Justice Warren Ends
Momentous First Year
By Robert K. Welsh

K. Welsh
number. He disSented from eight
written opinions and wrote one dis
sent himself.
In written opinions, excluding per
curtains and orders, he Joined in dis
SentS six times with Justice Black,
five times with Justice Douglas. four
times with Justice Clark, twice with
Justice Minton and once each with
Justices Reed, Jackson and Burton.
Justices Black and Douglas dissented
twice from the Chief Justice and
Justices Reed, Burton and Minton
once each.
Wrote Nine Opinions
OF the nine written opinions Of
the Chief Justice. including the two
on school segregation. all except
three were unanimous. The splits
on those three were 6-3, 60 and
5-3. But the diSsentS were fortnight.
A deeper insight into the Warren
record must be sought in the issues
themselves. Besides the rulings out
having racial segregation in public
schools and upholding validity OF
the registration section Of the Fed
eral Lobbying Regulation Act. others
written by Chief Justice Warren:
Held that the Government could
not deport Filipino who came to
the United States while the islands
were a possession of this country
and who later was convicted Of
crimes involving moral turpitude;
reversed the murder conviction of q
Mexican tried before a Texas jury
from which persons of Mexican
descent were excluded; declared that
radio-television giveawRy programs
do not violate the lottery law and
that the Federal Communications
Commission exceeded its authority
in trying to ban them; declared that
the longShoremenS compensation
law was interpreted by lower court
with harsh and incongruouS re-
suits" in denying damages to an in
jured dock worker; stated that mi
nlmum wage rates in a Government
contract did not represent prevail
ing wage rates in a contract area:
affirmed the conviction Of q man
who claimed he did not "contem-
plate" using the mails to defraud in
a scheme that involved going
through q marriage as part Of the
fraud.
Dissents DetoiI Picture
Considering the possibility that
the diSSenterS at one term (cf. PleSSy
VS.. Ferguson in the separate but
equal pronouncement of 1896 may
one day become the majority, Chief
Justice Warren'S diSSents add to the
picture of his present position.
He joined Justices Reed, Burton
and Clark in dissenting from a deci-
sion allowing shipment of gambling
machines in interstate commerce
under specific circumstances; with
Justices Clark and Minton in con-
tending it was up to Congress and
not the courts to change the law
allowing courts to vacate q judg.
ment against person after serving
a full sentence from an original con-
viction; with Justices Black, Doug.
las and Clark against majority rul.
ing that Maryland could not compel
out-of-State merchants to collect
its use tax on products sold to Mary
land residents, and with Justices
Black and Douglas in declaring that
until Congress says differently q
State should not be allowed to tax
all sales to cost-plus Government
contractors.
The Chief Justice may be judged
to some extent not alone by the
opinions he wrote and those from
which he dissented, but also from
several other major cases in which
he went along with the majority.
He was on the top side in deci--
sionS or orders that said professional
baseball was not subject to the Fed.
eral antitrust laws; that employees
can legally be fired for "diSloyalty'e
to their employers; that the Federal
Power Commission must regulate
prices of natural gas produced and
gathered by independents and sold
in interstate commerce; that an
alien who became q Communist
temporarily after entering the
United States years ago can be de-
ported under the Internal Security
Act; and that evidence q Maryland
man gave before q congressional
committee cannot be used to- convict
him in q State court.
A final look at the Chief Justices
first term must include his writings
themselves. Whatever their depth.
scope or soundness, he writes his
opinions clearly and forcefully. yet
temporarily. He IL, in other words
often ouotablO.