Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937
E726088
The Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s controversial “court-packing” proposal to expand the U.S. Supreme Court and secure favorable rulings for New Deal legislation.
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States federal bill
ⓘ
proposed legislation ⓘ |
| actualPurposeAsPerCritics | change ideological balance of Supreme Court ⓘ |
| aimedAtInstitution |
Supreme Court of the United States
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
lower federal courts ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Court-Packing Plan
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Roosevelt court-packing plan ⓘ |
| committeeAction | referred to Senate Judiciary Committee ⓘ |
| committeeCharacterization | "needless, futile and utterly dangerous abandonment of constitutional principle" ⓘ |
| committeeReport | Senate Judiciary Committee issued unfavorable report ⓘ |
| consequence |
damage to Roosevelt’s relations with Congress
ⓘ
political defeat for Franklin D. Roosevelt ⓘ strengthening of norm against court-packing ⓘ |
| constitutionalIssue |
judicial independence
ⓘ
separation of powers ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| dateIntroduced | February 5, 1937 ⓘ |
| field |
United States political history
ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | New Deal era NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| intendedEffect |
expand United States Supreme Court
ⓘ
increase number of federal judges ⓘ reorganize federal judiciary ⓘ secure favorable rulings for New Deal legislation ⓘ |
| introducedBy | Franklin D. Roosevelt NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| introducedInChamber | United States Senate NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| introducedInLegislature | United States Congress NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| justificationGiven | reduce backlog and improve efficiency of federal courts ⓘ |
| legislativeOutcome |
failed to pass
ⓘ
not enacted into law ⓘ |
| longTermEffect | Supreme Court became more favorable to New Deal due to later appointments NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| maximumAdditionalJustices | 6 ⓘ |
| mechanism | add one new justice for each sitting justice over age 70½ up to six ⓘ |
| motivation | hostile Supreme Court rulings against New Deal laws ⓘ |
| opposedBy |
American Bar Association
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes NERFINISHED ⓘ Republican Party leaders NERFINISHED ⓘ many conservative Democrats ⓘ much of the press ⓘ public opinion majority ⓘ |
| politicalContext | Second New Deal NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| presidentialAdministration | Franklin D. Roosevelt administration NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| proposedBy | Franklin D. Roosevelt NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| proposedSupremeCourtSizeLimit | 15 justices ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
New Deal
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Supreme Court and New Deal conflict ⓘ switch in time that saved nine NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| supportedBy |
Franklin D. Roosevelt
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
many New Deal Democrats ⓘ |
| triggerCondition | justice over age 70½ not retiring ⓘ |
| yearProposed | 1937 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.