The Warren Court - After Three Terms

Abstract

WHEN ITS 1955 term ended in June, 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States was once again a center of interest, both as an object of severe criticism and as a subject of widespread speculation. In general, the interest in the Court derived from its decisions in cases involving important issues of individual liberties, national security, and states' rights. The criticism, somewhat less vehement than that begun in 1953 as a result of the decisions in the public school segregation cases,' was at the same time less sectional. In Congress certain Northern Republicans joined already embittered Southern Democrats in denouncing the Court and in attacking those decisions which reflected a libertarian viewpoint. Legislative proposals to curb the Court, to prescribe judicial experience as a qualification for appointment, and to reverse certain controversial decisions, multiplied.2 Speculation and comment occurring in newspapers and popular magazines centered around the voting behavior of Chief Justice Warren, who had identified himself closely with the old liberal bloc made up of Justices Black and Douglas. In October, 1953, when Earl Warren was sworn as Chief Justice of the United States, the Court was sharply divided into two unbalanced blocs. On the one hand, the remaining Truman appointees Justices Burton, Clark, and Minton along with Justice Reed, a Roosevelt appointee, constituted the conservative wing.3 During the four previous terms of the Court, 1949-52, this group, led or supported by Chief Justice Vinson, had dominated as a stable majority in disposing of cases involving issues of civil liberties versus governmental authority.4 On the other hand, the liberal bloc, long powerful before the deaths of Justices Murphy and Rutledge in 1949, had dwindled to only two members, Justices Black and Douglas. The