The Vinson Court: Justices, Rulings, and Legacy (ABC-CLIO Supreme Court Handbooks)

304 Pages·2004·0.95 MB·English

by  Michal R. Belknap

The Vinson Court
ABC-CLIO SUPREME COURT HANDBOOKS
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The Vinson Court,Michal R. Belknap
The Waite Court,Donald Grier Stephenson, Jr.
The Warren Court, Melvin I. Urofsky
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Forthcoming:
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Peter G. Renstrom, Series Editor
ABC-CLIO SUPREME COURT HANDBOOKS
The Vinson Court
Justices,
Rulings, and
Legacy
Michal R. Belknap
ABC-CLIO
Santa Barbara, California • Denver, Colorado • Oxford, England
Copyright © 2004 by Michal R. Belknap
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani-
cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quota-
tions in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Belknap, Michal R.
The Vinson Court: justices, rulings, and legacy / Michal R. Belknap.
p. cm. — (ABC-CLIOSupreme Court handbooks)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-57607-201-0 (hardcopy: alk. paper) ISBN1-85109-542-X (e-book)
1. Vinson, Fred M., 1890–1953. 2. United States. Supreme Court —History—20th
century. 3. Constitutional history—United States. I. Title. II. Series
KF8742.B43 2004
342.7302'9—dc22 2004011690
08 07 06 05 04 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an e-book. Visit abc-clio.com
for details.
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This book is printed on acid-free paper ∞.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Contents
Series Foreword, ix
Preface, xi
PART ONE
Justices, Rulings, and Legacy, 1
1 The Vinson Court and the Period, 3
Truman Succeeds Roosevelt, 4
Ending the War, 5
The United Nations, 6
Reconversion, 7
The Cold War Begins, 8
The Fair Deal and the 80th Congress, 9
The 1948 Election, 14
Foreign Policy, the Truman Doctrine, and the Marshall Plan, 16
The Korean War, 19
The Communist Issue, 20
The Steel Seizure Case, 23
The 1952 Election, 24
Assembling the Vinson Court, 25
References and Further Reading, 32
2 The Justices, 35
Frederick Moore Vinson, 36
Hugo Lafayette Black, 44
Stanley Forman Reed, 49
Felix Frankfurter, 53
William Orville Douglas, 60
v
vi
Contents
Frank Murphy, 66
Robert Houghwout Jackson, 69
Wiley Blount Rutledge, 73
Harold Hitz Burton, 77
Tom Campbell Clark, 80
Sherman Minton, 83
Conclusion, 86
References and Further Reading, 87
3 Major Decisions, 89
Aftermath of World War II, 90
Presidential Power, 93
The Rosenberg Case, 98
Loyalty of Government Employees, 102
The Communist Issue and Free Speech, 105
Local Government Restrictions on Speech, 111
Group Libel, 115
The First Amendment and Picketing, 116
The Vinson Court and Labor Rights, 118
Incorporation, 127
Free Exercise of Religion, 128
Establishment of Religion, 130
Adamson v. California and the Incorporation Debate, 136
Due Process Rights, 140
The Fourth Amendment, 142
Equal Protection Cases, 148
Conclusion, 158
References and Further Reading, 159
4 Legacy and Impact, 161
The Transformation of the Court, 162
Equal Protection, 164
Freedom of Speech, 166
Internal Security, 170
Freedom of Religion, 172
Incorporation, 175
Rights of the Accused, 176
The Fourth Amendment: Search Warrants, 178
The Fourth Amendment: Wiretapping, 179
vii
Contents
The Exclusionary Rule, 180
The Sixth Amendment: The Right to Counsel, 181
The Fifth Amendment: The Privilege against Self-Incrimination, 182
Criminal Procedure in the Burger and Rehnquist Courts, 185
Apportionment, 186
The Steel Seizure Case, 191
Conclusion, 192
References and Further Reading, 193
PART TWO
Reference Materials, 195
Key People, Laws, and Events, 197
Chronology, 231
Table of Cases, 239
Glossary, 245
Annotated Bibliography, 259
Index, 275

Series Foreword
T
here is an extensive literature on the U.S. Supreme Court, but it contains dis-
cussion familiar largely to the academic community and the legal profession.
The ABC-CLIO Supreme Court series is designed to have value to the aca-
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stitutional law. The series is intended to effectively represent each of fourteen periods
in the history of the Supreme Court with each of these fourteen eras defined by the
chief justice, beginning with John Jay in 1789. Each Court confronted constitutional
and statutory questions that were of major importance to and influenced by the his-
torical period. The Court’s decisions were also influenced by the values of each of the
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ix
x
Series Foreword
Each volume contains four substantive chapters. The first chapter introduces the
Court and the historical period in which it served. The second chapter examines each
of the justices who sat on the particular Court. The third chapter represents the most
significant decisions rendered by the particular Court. Among other things, the impact
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American constitutional law—its doctrinal legacy.
Each volume contains several features designed to make it more valuable to
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of the people, statutes, events, and concepts introduced in the four substantive chap-
ters. Entries in this section are arranged alphabetically. Each volume also contains a
glossary of selected legal terms used in the text. Following each of the four chapters,
a list of sources used in the chapter and suggestions for further reading appears. Each
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Permit me to conclude with a personal note. This project has been an extraordi-
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tive business pertaining to the series, securing authors for each volume was the first
major task. I developed a list of possible authors after reviewing previous work and
obtaining valuable counsel from several recognized experts in American constitu-
tional history. In virtually every instance, the first person on my list agreed to partici-
pate in the project. The high quality of the series was assured and enhanced as each
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apparent to the reader. I sincerely thank each author.
Finally, a word about ABC-CLIO and its staff. ABC-CLIO was enthusiastic about
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I cannot thank her enough.
—Peter G. Renstrom