The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the "court-packing plan", was a failed legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to th
The Hughes Court, 1932–1937. Front row: Justices Brandeis and Van Devanter, Chief Justice Hughes, and Justices McReynolds and Sutherland. Back row: Justices Roberts, Butler, Stone, and Cardozo.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His dissatisfaction over Supreme Court decisions holding New Deal programs unconstitutional prompted him to seek methods to change the way the court functioned.
Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Holmes's loss of half his pension pay due to New Deal legislation after his 1932 retirement is believed to have dissuaded Justices Van Devanter and Sutherland from departing the bench.
Charles Evans Hughes
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Charles Evans Hughes was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was t
Hughes in 1931
Hughes at the age of 16
Hughes with his wife and children, c. 1916
Hughes struck up a close friendship with Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.