The Constitution and the New Deal

Extract

The year 1937 marks a great division in the history of the Supreme Court. In a period of 18 months in 1935 and 1936, the Court struck down more important social and economic legislation of the national government and of state government than at any time in its history, including such landmarks of the New Deal as the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Agricultural Adjustment Act. In the nearly half-century since then, the Court has not invalidated even one piece of significant social legislation. The seminar will explore how this “Constitutional Revolution of 1937” came about. It will examine the changes wrought by the New Deal, the character of the Court in the era of “the nine old men,” controversial rulings such as those in the Schecter and Butler cases, the origins and nature of FDR's “court packing“ plan, and the long term consequences of the Constitutional Revolution.