Decisions of the Supreme Court, 1935-36

Report Outline
The Supreme Court and Major New Deal Legislation
Decisions Invalidating A. A. A. and Guffey Coal Acts
Decisions on T. V. A. and Municipal Bankruptcy Acts
State Regulatory Power and the Commerce Clause
Cases Involving Rights Guaranteed by Constitution
Decisions in Securities Act and Anti-Trust Cases
Criminal Cases and Cases Concerning Tax Laws
Special Focus

The Supreme Court and Major New Deal Legislation

Five more cases involving important New Deal legislation were decided by the Supreme Court during the term that ended June 1, bringing to ten the total number of major measures of the Roosevelt administration so far subjected to final court review. This year, as last year, the government won only one case. Its sole victory, in the Tennessee Valley Authority case, came midway of the term on February 17, 1936, a year lacking one day after its earlier victory in the gold-clause cases. It was on May 27, 1935, that the Supreme Court invalidated the Frazier-Lemke mortgage-moratorium act and handed down the famous Schechter decision outlawing the N. R. A. Similarly, as the 1935–36 term drew toward a close, the government again suffered defeat at the hands of the high court. On May 18 the Guffey act establishing a “little N. R. A.” for the bituminous coal industry was declared unconstitutional, and a week later the Municipal Bankruptcy Act was overthrown.

In the gold-clause cases? the administration won a partial victory by the narrow margin of 5 to 4. The Court divided 8 to 1 in sustaining the validity of certain operations of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The votes in the eight principal cases decided against the government in the 1934–35 and 1935–36 terms are tabulated below.

The Court did not pass on the constitutionality of the Bankhead cotton control act during the recent term, but that measure was repealed on recommendation of President Roosevelt early in February as a direct consequence of the Court's decision in the A. A. A. case.