Decisions of the Supreme Court, 1928-29

Report Outline
Cases of a Political Nature
Railroad Valuation, Consolidation and Rate Cases
Public Utility Cases
Anti-Trust and Labor Cases
Federal Employer's Liability Act
Conflicts of Jurisdiction in Liability Cases
Banking and Taxation Cases
Statutes Upheld or Invalidated
Special Focus

The Supreme Court of the United States, at its October terra, 1928, which came to a close June 3, 1929, decided a total of 825 cases. Of these, the cases of greatest public importance and widest public interest were the Railroad Valuation Case, the Chicago Diversion Case, the New York Five-Cent Fare Case, and the cases which sent Harry F. Sinclair to jail for contempt of the Senate and for contempt of court

During this term the Supreme Court made great progress in disposing of litigation, and for all practical purposes it may now be said to have caught up with its docket. This does not mean that the Court disposed of all cases docketed during the term, but it did make final disposition of all the cases it reasonably could have decided, in view of the time allowed to both sides under the rules for the filing of briefs. Cases carried over for decision at the next term, beginning the first Monday in October, numbered 143, as compared with 190 at the end of the 1927-28 term, and 295 at the end of the 1926-27 term.

The notable progress made by the Court since 1925 in bringing its work to a current basis has been attributed by Chief Justice Taft to the effects of the Jurisdictional Act, passed by Congress in that year, largely through his effort. This act strictly limited the types of cases which may come to the Supreme Court as a matter of right-cases on appeal. At the recent meeting of the American Law Institute at Washington, Chief Justice Taft said: