Chief Justice Charles Hughes

Hughes Court:

Biography:

Major Cases: Near v. Minnesota 1931                      Powell v. Alabama 1932                      Schechter Poultry v. United States 1935                      NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel 1937                      United States v. Carolene Products 1938                     Korematsu v. United States 1944 (Epstein, 2001)

11th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Born: April 11, 1862 in Glens Falls, New York Died: August 27, 1948 in Washington, D.C. Education: Brown University, B.A. 1881                 Columbia Law School 1884 Employment: 1884-1891 private practice in New York City, New York                     1891-1893 Professor of law at Cornell Law School                     1893-1906 private practice in New York City, New York                     1893-1895 Special Lecturer at Cornell Law School                     1893-1900 Special Lecturer at New York City Law School                     1900-1905 private practice in New York City, New York                     1905 Counsel for the Stevens Gas Commission in the New York Legislature                     1905-1906 Counsel for the Armstrong Insurance Commission in the New York Legislature                     1906 Special Assistant to the United States Attorney General                     1907-1910 Eleceted State Governor of New York                     1910-1916 appointed Justice of the United States Supreme Court by President Taft                     1916 resigned from the United States Supreme Court                     1916 republican candidate for the President of the United States                     1916-1921 private practice in New York City, New York                     1921-1925 United States Secretary of State                     1925-1930 private practice in New York City, New York                     1930-1948 appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court                     1948 died in office (Virtualology, 2002)

Chief Justice Hughes entered the Supreme Court with promises of becoming chief justice as soon as a positioned opened.  In 1910 he was appointed to the bench and a few months later Chief Justice Fuller died in office but President Taft changed his mind and appointed Edward White as chief justice.  Hughes would have to wait 20 years to become chief justice and after White, Taft became chief justice, the man who was suppose to make Hughes chief justice became chief justice, after Taft, Hughes was finally appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1930.      Chief Justice Hughes was part of the Conservative Court.  The Conservative Court looked after the interest of business over the interest of governmental police powers.  This Court was also responsible for shooting down President Roosevelt�s New Deal policies.  This was a Republican court and it didn�t want the ideals or ideas of the Democratic Party.      Before the New Deal, Chief Justice Hughes began his term ironing out the problems of the former courts after the Civil War.  �It was fortunate then that the Chief of the Justices at such a time was one whose established position in public opinion gave the country a sense of steadiness, in spite of rapid movement, and an assurance that he was leading in the direction of amendment of doctrine rather than toward destruction of institutions.� (Choper, 1987)  Chief Justice Hughes became the symbol of stability and progress.(1987)       One of the court cases that we are still benefited from today was the overruling of Adkins v. Children�s Hospital which makes the state regulate minimum wages.  Another very influential case that is still apart of our lives today is Powell v. Alabama.  This case was about 9 black men who got in a fight with 7 white men and during the fight the black men threw off the white men and the 2 white women who were left on the train claimed that they had been raped by these 9 black men.  When the train finally stopped the black men were arrested and when trial came their lawyer wasn�t ABA certified and had just begun to look at the case minutes before he was suppose to present his arguments.  This was a direct violation of their 6th amendment rights, which guarantees them the right to a fair trial, the right to competent counsel, they appealed to the Untied States Supreme Court where Chief Justice Hughes reversed the case and the black men were set free.       Chief Justice Hughes waited his time to become Chief Justice of the United States and when that time came he shined.  His decisions and the decisions of the Court play an important part of our lives today even though they happened 60-70 years ago.

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