FDR and the Supreme Court

 

During the early part of the New Deal, the Supreme Court was dominated by a conservative majority

 

The Court threw out several early New Deal laws including the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act

 

After the 1936 election, FDR proposed a court reorganization plan to increase the number of justices to 15, allowing FDR to appoint 6 new justices

 

Roosevelt’s political enemies referred to the plan as “the court packing plan”

 

Democrats and Republicans voted against the plan because they felt it jeopardized the separation of powers in the Constitution

 

The Court then began to reverse its position

 

In 1937, in a 5-4 vote, the court decided that the National Labor Relations Act and the Social Security Act WERE constitutional

 

A conservative justice then resigned which allowed FDR to appoint a New Dealer to the court

 

The New Deal ended in 1939 for several reasons:

 

    1. Southern Conservative Democrats split from the party as a result of

            the court fight

 

    2. 1938’s Wages and  Hours Act further alienated them for fear of

            losing cheap labor in southern industries

 

    3. The public lost its enthusiasm for further reform as the economy

            recovered

   

    4. American attention increasingly shifted from domestic to foreign

            affairs