Friday 16 April 2021

What was the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937?

 To say in a 'nice way'.....the first four years of the FDR period (1933 to 1936) went badly in terms of key parts of the FDR 'way ahead' being deemed illegal (by the Supreme Court).

So in in the period after the 1936 re-election, FDR decided that it was time to 'pack' the Supreme Court.  This bill was constructed to further that agenda.  The central theme here?  The President would be given the 'power' to appoint an additional justice to the U.S. Supreme Court, up to a maximum of six additional 'chairs'.....for each member of the court over 70 years and 6 months.

You can laugh over the wording.....but that was the threat. 

The bill came out in the early part of 1937, and consumed an awful lot of discussion.

What happened to it?  The Democrats had more than enough support in the House and Senate, but it just lingered there in the House.....in committee....for more than 160 days.

The chief Senate advocate for the bill?  Joseph T. Robinson.....passed away in mid-summer of 1937.

If you stand over the wording....the same logic for adding more House/Senate members over the age of 70 years/6 months....ought to fall into place as well.

For this reason, I suspect that Biden's own chatter for court-packing will be reaching some peak in the next month, and then spiral downwards for the rest of 2021.  

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