Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals On February 4, 1903, President
Theodore Roosevelt nominated Van Devanter to a newly created seat on the
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate on February 18, 1903, and received his commission the same day. He was
sworn into office on January 3, 1911. and voted against the
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (
United States v. Butler), the
National Recovery Administration (
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States), federal regulation of
labor relations (
National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp.), the
Railway Pension Act (
Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad),
unemployment insurance (
Steward Machine Co. v. Davis), and the
minimum wage (
West Coast Hotel v. Parrish). For his conservatism, he was known as one of the
Four Horsemen, along with
Pierce Butler,
James Clark McReynolds, and
George Sutherland; the four would dominate the Supreme Court for over two decades, until the early 1930s. The decision has since been the basis for Pueblo self-government and protection of tribal lands. Van Devanter had chronic "
pen paralysis", and, as a result, he wrote fewer opinions than the other justices, averaging three a term during his last decade on the Court. He rarely wrote on constitutional issues. However, he was widely respected as an expert on judicial procedure. In December 1921, Chief Justice Taft appointed him, along with Justices McReynolds and Sutherland, to draw up a proposal that would amend the nation's Judicial code and which would define further the jurisdiction of the nation's circuit courts. Known widely as "the Judges' Bill", it retained mandatory jurisdiction over cases that raised questions regarding federal jurisdiction. It called for the circuit courts of appeal to have appellate jurisdiction to review "by appeal or writ of error" final decisions in the district courts, as well as for the district courts for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
China, the Virgin Islands and the Canal Zone. The circuit courts were also empowered to modify, enforce or set aside orders of the
Federal Communications Commission, the
Interstate Commerce Commission, the
Federal Reserve Board and the
Federal Trade Commission. The proposed bill further provided that "a final judgment or decree in any suit in the highest court of a state in which a decision in the suit could be had, where is drawn in question the validity of a treaty or statute of the United States may be reviewed by the Supreme Court on a writ of error." Lastly, cases involving final decrees which brought into question the validity of a wide range of Federal or state treaties would come to the Court by certiorari. Four justices would be required to vote affirmatively to accept petitions, which meant that the Court's agenda would now be enrolled by "judicial review." The Chief Justice, together with the three Justices, made repeated trips to Congress, and in 1925, after two years of debate, the new Code was passed. == Retirement and final years ==