Hughes Court

The Hughes Court began in 1930, when Hughes was confirmed to replace William Howard Taft as Chief Justice. As president, Taft had appointed Hughes to the position of Associate Justice in 1910, and Hughes had remained on the Court until his resignation in 1916 to run for president. Associate Justice Edward Terry Sanford died less than a month after Hughes's confirmation as Chief Justice, and was succeeded by Justice Owen Roberts in May 1930, after the Senate rejected President Herbert Hoover's first nominee, John J. Parker. With the confirmation of Roberts, the Hughes Court consisted of Hughes, Roberts, and seven veterans of the Taft Court: Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Van Devanter, McReynolds, Louis Brandeis, Sutherland, Butler, and Harlan F. Stone. Holmes retired in 1932 and was succeeded by Benjamin N. Cardozo; like Roberts and Hughes, Cardozo was appointed by President Hoover. Roosevelt made his first appointment to the court in 1937, replacing the retiring Van Devanter with Hugo Black. Two justices left the Court in 1938: Sutherland, who retired, and Cardozo, who died. They were succeeded respectively by Stanley Forman Reed, and Felix Frankfurter. After Brandeis retired from the court in 1939, Roosevelt appointed William O. Douglas to his seat. Douglas served from April 15, 1939, to November 12, 1975, which is longer than any other justice in the Court's history. Butler died on November 16, 1939, and was replaced by Frank Murphy. With these appointments, the president successfully moved the Court to a position that was more liberal and more agreeable to him. Lastly, McReynolds retired shortly before Hughes did, and Roosevelt replaced him with James F. Byrnes. The Hughes Court ended with Hughes's retirement in 1941. Roosevelt selected Associate Justice Stone to succeed Hughes. Stone's position as Associate Justice was subsequently filled by Robert H. Jackson. Timeline ==Other branches==

Presidents during this court included Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Congresses during this court included 71st through the 77th United States Congresses. ==Rulings of the Court==

. The Hughes Court issued several notable rulings touching on many aspects of American life. Landmark cases of the Hughes Court include: • NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. (1937): In a 5–4 decision written by Justice Hughes, the court upheld the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935. The court held that the Commerce Clause gives Congress the power to regulate some intrastate economic activities when those intrastate activities collectively have a strong impact on interstate commerce. • United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938): In a 6–1 decision written by Justice Stone, the court upheld the Filled Milk Act, which the appellant challenged as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause. The case is mostly remembered for Footnote 4, which laid the basis for strict scrutiny, the most exacting standard of judicial review. • Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins (1938): In a 5–2 decision written by Justice Brandeis, the court established the Erie doctrine, which requires federal courts sitting in diversity jurisdiction to use state substantive law. • Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940): In a unanimous decision, the court held that Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. • United States v. Darby Lumber Co. (1941): In a unanimous decision written by Justice Stone, the court upheld the Fair Labor Standards Act as Constitutional under the Commerce Clause. The act established a federal minimum wage and restricted child labor. • Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940): Upheld mandatory flag salutes in Pennsylvania schools even when it was against the religious beliefs of the students. This was overturned only three years later in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. ==Judicial philosophy==

The Hughes Court has been called a time of "constitutional revolution" in which the court turned away from the Lochner era of striking down government regulations. The Four Horsemen consisting of Justices Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland and Butler, were a group of conservative justices who often voted to strike down New Deal programs, while a liberal bloc known as the Three Musketeers, consisting of Justices Brandeis, Stone, and Cardozo, often upheld New Deal programs. Chief Justice Hughes and Justice Roberts were nicknamed the "roving justices" and essentially were the ideological center of the Court until at least 1937. Regardless of the reasons for the change, the Supreme Court did not strike down another New Deal law after 1936. The subsequent retirements or deaths of three of the Four Horsemen (plus Justices Cardozo and Brandeis) gave Roosevelt the opportunity to appoint liberal Justices who ruled more favorably on his agenda. == Gallery ==