FDR and Supreme Court Packing

On February 14, 1937, Attorney General Cummings broadcast to the general public an address on the Judicial Reform Bill and included the motivations for its conception. Cummings pointed to lengthy case pending times of five to ten years and explained that justices over the age of 70 were incapable of understanding and deciding complex modern issues. AG Cummings Speech (Transcription) Image Source

The Judicial Reform Bill was proposed February 5, 1937. By narrow margins, SCOTUS upheld the National Relations Act and the Social Security Act. In July of the same year, the Bill was voted down 22-70. Prior to the vote of the Bill, SCOTUS was primarily comprised of conservative justices. By the time FDR passed, he would go on to appoint a total of eight SCOTUS justices. Image Source

Throughout his presidency, FDR used his "fireside chats" to reach the people of the United States through radios. His personalized speeches included the people by using wording such as "you and I understand" and separated dissenters from him and the people of the United States. In fireside chat 9, President FDR broadcast his Judicial Reform Bill to the people for the first time. Fireside Chat 9 (Audio and Transcription)   17:15-18:30 for proposal Image Source

"Court Packing" was the term applied by opposition to the Judicial Form Act. The above image is a reflection of the general consensus to the concept. Image Source

After his re-election in 1936, President FDR proposed the Judicial Reform Bill which he said would: Modernize SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) by appointing one new justice for every justice who reached the age of 70 while on the bench New judges would be more progressive and understand current issues instead of the "archaic" decisions by life long appointed justices Justices were essentially kings appointed to the bench (Ironically, so was the continuously re-elected FDR Image Source

Several key parts of FDR's new deal were found Unconstitutional including: Agricultural Adjustment Act did not levy a tax but tried to control production, exceeding government responsibilities Railroad Pension Act passage of ex post facto laws, and creating arbitrary rules and obligations in a manner prohibited by the Fifth Amendment. Bankruptcy Act  federal government exercised eminent domain "in the public interest" by seizing farm property owned by the banks and turning it over to the farmers, in violation of the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause Bituminous Coal Conservation Act attempted to regulate coal prices and wages by empowering local boards to set minimum prices for coal and to provide collective bargaining services for employees, whose wages were abysmally low Image Source