Van Devanter News Today

The adage that the Supreme Court follows the election returns certainly did not apply to the Four Horsemen — Willis Van Devanter, George Sutherland, James McReynolds and Pierce Butler. President

Time for a reset

The nine members of the U. S. Supreme Court were officially dismayed and privately rather flattered'. For six weeks they had held an unparalleled place…

The odds were against Willis Van Devanter ever winning an appointment to the Supreme Court. Widespread talk that he suffered from “pen paralysis,” an affliction that subverted his production, made

The real work is in the arena

The standard narrative of Roosevelt's court-packing efforts casts them as a failure. But what if they were a success?

Last week Senator Dick Durbin invited Chief Justice Roberts to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite my hope that...

In the US, judges are left out of the process entirely – and history shows why there's good reason for that policy

FDR asks for more Supreme Court justices, Elizabeth takes throne after death of King George VI, Beatles on Ed Sullivan Show, Hagley real estate deal

When Democrat Franklin Roosevelt attempted court-packing in 1937, a prominent member of his own party helped lead the successful fight to defeat it.