Supreme Court: Legal Storm Center

Archive Report

Controversy Over Recent Vourt Rulings

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes's remark about the Supreme Court of the United States—“We are very quiet there, but it is the quiet of a storm center”—stands as an historically apt description of the country's highest tribunal. It seems as pertinent as ever today, as the Supreme Court prepares for the opening of its 1968–67 term on Oct. 3. Numerous decisions on behalf of individual rights, dating back a decade and more, have given rise to charges that the Court is wielding unrestrained power. The same charges were heard 30 years ago when, acting in defense of state and property rights, the Court struck down key New Deal legislation. The basic function of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution ...

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