In House subcommittee hearings in 1924, Associate Justices Willis Van Devanter, James Clark McReynolds, and George Sutherland testified concerning a Senate version of the bill. The justices’ comments and suggestions influenced the final legislation on jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
Jurisdiction of Circuit Courts of Appeals and of the Supreme Court of the United States . . . , December 18, 1924
Congress and the Court Collaborate
Beginning in 1891, Congress allowed the court some discretion over its docket, but still required it to hear many appeals from lower courts. By the 1920s, the Supreme Court was backlogged with cases stemming from World War I and enforcement of liquor prohibition. Congress, with advice from Supreme Court justices, made major changes to the court’s jurisdiction in 1925. The so-called “Judges’ Bill” relieved the Court by removing all but a small set of cases from its mandatory docket.
Congress determines the structure and authority of the federal court system. In 1925 Congress and the Supreme Court collaborated in redefining the highest court’s role and narrowing its jurisdiction.
In House subcommittee hearings in 1924, Associate Justices Willis Van Devanter, James Clark McReynolds, and George Sutherland testified concerning a Senate version of the bill. The justices’ comments and suggestions influenced the final legislation on jurisdiction of the Circuit Courts of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration
