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doas (Rev. 9-7-56) os Today in National Affairs” va Election to Supreme Court Suggested as Power Brake By DAVID LAWRENCE WASHINGTON, June 19.—Now that the Supreme Court has| tralsformed \tself into what is being termed “another legislative! body,” @ movement has started to bring about the election of the high court justices by the people. It would require a Constitu- tonal amendment. The idea, of course, is not novel. This hap- pens to be the custom in the Several states with few exceptions, Thirty-six states elect heir-highest court judges at the polls, four! States elect thelr top judges by vote of the ASstate legislatures, and only e4 : the al custom of ap States has set itself up as having the right, to tell Congress how to run tts committees | and the Executive departments that they must retain question of employees they don’t Hke, the how the Supreme Court itself shall be held accountable for its acts bas arisen. This fore in Ame has happened several tlmes be- Tican history. The late President Franklin D. Roosevelt thoue\ the Clous crt ahswer to an arbitrary or capri- Was to increase the number of Juitices ao he could appoint those who would decide cases as he thought they ahould be decided. This scheme Was called “court- Bi g." It required legislation éresa in 1037, Former President of “recall of fudictal decisions", 50 the people, by referendum, could affirm or reverse decisions, especiglly in state courts. and was frowned upon by Con- ny of the professors of ia; In the university law school ore Roosevelt, as a cand dete for the Presidency tn 1912, frged that there be a ays the tast twenty year; Lawyers Perplexed ~ Today the Supreme Court af the United States has Tendered so Many conflicting and confus- ing declaions that many lawyers throughout the counfry are per- plexed and bewildered. The ts- sue was succinctly stated by 9 member of the Supreme Court itself, the late Justice Robert H. Jackson, who, in the course of 40 opinion in 1953, wrote: : “Rightly or wrongly, the be- ‘Hef is widely held by the prac- ticing profession that this court Do longer respects impersona! Tules of law but is guided in’ these matters by Personal im-) pressions which from time tol time may be shared by a major- ity af justices. Whatever has been Intended, this court also RS generated a impression . a thet regard for precedents and authorities is obsolete, tht words no longer mean what they have always Meant to the profession, t aw knows no fixed princtples.v f particularly fn the East, have =! raised @ whole generation of so- | ‘called “liberals” -that the Supreme Court ahould [thet “policy” and that to ad- here to historic principles ts out of keeping with the spirit of the times. This is the type of think- ing which has bred throughout the country «@ feeling that the court pays more attention to sociology or political science or ideological considerations now- adays tha rfit does to fundamen- tal interpretation of the Conati- tution and to the enduring prin- ciples of jurisprudence. __ Uf. therefore. the Supreme Court is to make “policies.” to| whom should it be responsible? F-fuow places itself above both the Congress and the Executive, Which are themselves atcount- -able to the people. The Justices, however, are accountable to no: one but themselves. Such an Rutocracy was never envisioned by the FPound:iy Fathers when| they authorized life tenure for ustices. The several states have ' con- . | wisely written into RECOPREN - 95 20 JUN PRE? N. Y. Daily News Tele. Room Holloman - Gandy * Wash. Post and Times Herald , / Wash. News : Wash. Star Trifune — . 7 ournda Daily Worker The Worker New Leader __ er Date __ S38 * UY 1957 U 1957