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Critical Faculties

Supreme switch

Did FDR's threat to 'pack' the court in 1937 really change the course of constitutional history?

Addressed to the nine. The Supreme Court in 1937, the year Franklin Roosevelt threatened to pack the court. When Justice Owen Roberts (rear, second from right), an ally of the court's conservatives, voted to uphold a minimum-wage law, it was called 'the switch in time that saved nine.'
Addressed to the nine. The Supreme Court in 1937, the year Franklin Roosevelt threatened to pack the court. When Justice Owen Roberts (rear, second from right), an ally of the court's conservatives, voted to uphold a minimum-wage law, it was called "the switch in time that saved nine." (Bettmann / Corbis) Bettmann / Corbis
By Christopher Shea
December 4, 2005

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(Correction: Because of a reporting error, an article in the Dec. 4 Ideas section about Franklin Roosevelt and the Supreme Court in 1937 misspelled the surname of Justice Benjamin Cardozo.) (Full article: 1191 words)

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