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.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

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 ⓘ
lower federal courts ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Court-Packing Plan ⓘ
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 ⓘ
dateIntroduced February 5, 1937 ⓘ
field United States political history ⓘ
constitutional law ⓘ
historicalPeriod New Deal era ⓘ
linked to: New Deal
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 ⓘ
introducedInChamber United States Senate ⓘ
introducedInLegislature United States Congress ⓘ
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 ⓘ
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 ⓘ
Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes ⓘ
Republican Party leaders ⓘ
many conservative Democrats ⓘ
much of the press ⓘ
public opinion majority ⓘ
politicalContext Second New Deal ⓘ
linked to: New Deal
presidentialAdministration Franklin D. Roosevelt administration ⓘ
proposedBy Franklin D. Roosevelt ⓘ
proposedSupremeCourtSizeLimit 15 justices ⓘ
relatedTo New Deal ⓘ
Supreme Court and New Deal conflict ⓘ
switch in time that saved nine ⓘ
supportedBy Franklin D. Roosevelt ⓘ
many New Deal Democrats ⓘ
triggerCondition justice over age 70½ not retiring ⓘ
yearProposed 1937 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

New Deal constitutional crisis → hasPart → Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 ⓘ
Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 → alsoKnownAs → Court-Packing Plan ⓘ
linked to: Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937