Three Musketeers (Supreme Court): Difference between revisions

The "'''Three Musketeers'''" was the nickname given to three liberal members during the 1932–37 terms of the [[United States Supreme Court]], who generally supported the [[New Deal]] agenda of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]. They were [[Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States|Justices]] [[Louis Brandeis]], [[Benjamin N. Cardozo]], and [[Harlan Fiske Stone]].<ref>White, at 81.</ref> They were opposed by the [[Four Horsemen (Supreme Court)|Four Horsemen]], consisting of Justices [[James Clark McReynolds]], [[George Sutherland]], [[Willis Van Devanter]], and [[Pierce Butler (justice)|Pierce Butler]]. [[Chief Justice of the United States|Chief Justice]] [[Charles Evans Hughes]] and Justice [[Owen J. Roberts]] controlled the balance. Charles Evans Hughes often swayedvoted towith the liberal sidewing while Owen J. Roberts sidedvoted with the conservatives. With the help of Roberts, the Four Horsemen controlledmaintained a majority in most of the decisions whichand led to them strikingstruck down many newNew dealDeal laws as unconstitutional.<ref>{{Cite web|title=U.S. Supreme Court Archives|url=http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/tag/u-s-supreme-court/|website=DAVID MEYER|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-21}}</ref> Even thoughAlthough the "Three Musketeers" were primarya liberalbipartisan andgroup, supportedwith theStone Nealbeing Deala Republican, they were adrawn bipartisantogether groupby becausetheir Brandeisshared andviews Cardozoon wereNew democratsDeal whilepolicies.<ref Stonename=nicknames>{{Cite wasweb|title=The aFour republicanHorsemen vs. The Three Musketeers: When the Supreme Court Had Awesome Names for Their Factions|url=https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2018/04/11/the-four-horsemen-vs-the-three-musketeers-when-the-supreme-court-had-awesome-names-for-its-factions/|last=fascinatingpolitics|date=2018-04-11|website=Mad Politics: The Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History|language=en|access-date=2020-05-29}}</ref>

During the 1935 term, the Four Horsemen would often ride (in a car) together to and from Courtthe in orderCourt to coordinate their positions. To counter them, the Three Musketeers started meeting at Brandeis's apartment on Friday afternoons. However, the Four Horsemen held sway, leading to Roosevelt's [[Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937|court-packing scheme]]. In 1937, in the "[[The switch in time that saved nine|switch in time that saved nine]]," Roberts and Hughes switched to the liberal side in several key decisions., Thethe most important decisionone being ''[[West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish|West Coast Hotel V. Parrish]] which was'', a decisioncase regarding the minimum wage of workers.<ref>{{Cite Normallyweb|title=When RobertsFranklin votedRoosevelt toClashed vetowith thesethe lawsSupreme howeverCourt he– switched his vote because he fearedand Lost|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-franklin-roosevelt-clashed-with-the -supreme-court-packing scheme.and-lost-78497994/|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en|access-date=2020-05-22}}</ref> Within a year, Van Devanter and Sutherland retired toand bewere replaced by [[Hugo Black]] and [[Stanley Forman Reed|Stanley Reed]], strong New Dealers. This, endedending the Four Horsemen's sway. By 1941, Brandeis, Cardozo, Butler, McReynolds, and Hughes were also gone. Only Stone and Roberts remained, and by then Stone had been elevated to the position of Chief Justice.

The Three Musketeers were successful in many cases. They often were able to convinceconvinced the swing voters, Charles Evans Hughes and Owen Roberts, to vote for newNew dealDeal ideaspolicies. The Three musketeersMusketeers were able to uphold many newNew dealDeal laws such as the [[Gold ConfiscationReserve Act]] of(in the ''[[Gold 1934Clause Cases]]''), [[Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938|The Fair Labor Standards Act]] (in ''[[United States v. Darby Lumber Co.]]''), the [[Tennessee Valley Authority]] and(in Social''[[Ashwander Securityv. TheyTennessee persuadedValley membersAuthority]]'') ofand the Four[[Social HorsemenSecurity toAct]] vote(in to''[[Steward upholdMachine newCo. deal legislation occasionallyv.<ref>{{Cite web|title=TheDavis]]'' Fourand Horsemen''[[Helvering vsv. TheDavis]]''). ThreeThey Musketeers:persuaded Whenmembers of the SupremeFour CourtHorsemen Hadto Awesomevote Namesto foruphold TheirNew Factions|url=https://fascinatingpolitics.com/2018/04/11/the-four-horsemen-vs-the-three-musketeers-when-the-supreme-court-had-awesome-names-for-its-factions/|last=fascinatingpolitics|date=2018-04-11|website=MadDeal Politics:legislation Theoccasionally.<ref Bizarre, Fascinating, and Unknown of American Political History|languagename=en|access-date=2020-05-21}}<nicknames/ref>

* {{cite book|last=White |first=G. Edward |title=The Constitution and the New Deal |url=https://archive.org/details/constitutionnewd00whit |url-access=limited |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |date=2000 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=[https://archive.org/details/constitutionnewd00whit/page/n396 385] |isbn=978-0-674-00831-1}}

[[Category:Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States|*3]]