Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 5 February 1937 — Page 26

PAGE 26

Text of Roosevelt's Message on U. S. Courts

(Continued from Page One)

cuits” fold trials through f!Nnd brea the dice which endured over a century. In almost every decade since 1789 changes have been made by the Congress whereby the numbers of judges and the duties of judges in Federal courts have been altered in one way or another. The Supreme Court was established with six members in 1789; it was reduced te five in 1801; it was increased to seven in 1807: it was increased to nine in 1837; i was increased to ten in 1863: was reduced to seven in 18635; was increased to nine in 1859. The simple fact is that today a new need for legislative action arises because the personnel of the Federal lary insufficient to meet the business before them. A growing body of our cifizens complain of the complexities, the dejays, and the expense of litigation dn United States cou A letter from the Attorney General, which I submit herewith, tifies by and the common impression created by our ercrowded Federal dockets-— and it proves the need for addition-

circuit justices, to out the lengih

land—a prac-

and, as

dth

aint oO

ria

jusreason statistics

luxury » who can 8 property 1 are sufficiently the cost. Poorer litigants are compelled to 8bandon valuable rights or to ac- | inadequate or unjust settle- | en because of sheer inability | fo finance or to await the end of a Jong litigation. Only by speeding ) the processes of the law and Vv reducing their cost, can we eradicate the growing impression that courts are chiefly a haven for the 1-to-do. : Delays the determination of peals have the same effect. Toreover, if trials of original acB are reduced the volume of nsed on the Circuit Courts will further rease.

101 r justice |

large to repay

oats gall

Wei

INC di rts below will enlarge the | the Supreme Court itself. | more work would be added | recommendation which I message for the let ination of constituquestions by the highest

C 3 i

nis

he present time the Suis laboring under a ) Its difficulties IS respect were superficially light d some years:ago by authorizing to re-

in many classes

i to hear appeals Of cases, This discretion was so freely s exercised that in the last fiscal ‘year, although 867 petitions for review were presented to the Su~preme Court, jt declined to hear +717 cases. If petitions in behalf tof the Government are excluded, +it appears that the Court per“mitted private litigants to prose“cute appeals in only 108 cases out 3 applications. f the refusals were doubtnted. But can it be said justice is achieved when a forced by the sheer | of keeping up with its | decline, without even | #in explanation, to hear 87 per cent | f the cases presented to it by | rivate litigants? { + It seems clear therefore, that the ecessity of relieving present con- | estion extends to the enlargement f the capacity of all the Federal gourts. £ A part of the problem of obtain- | 3 a sufficient number of judges]

rward the question of aged or injudges—a subject of delicacy nd vet one which requires frank iscussion. the Federal courts there are 237 life tenure permanent 3. Twenty-five of them are by judges over seventy ears of age and eligible to leave he bench on full pay. Originally no nsion or retirement allowance was rovided by the Congress. When fter 80 years of our national hisory the Congress or pensions, it found a well-en-renched tradition among judges to ling to their posts, in many intances far beyond their years of hysical or mental capacity. Their laries were small. As with other en, responsibilities and obligations ccumulated. No alternative had een open to them except to attempt fo perform the duties of their offices $0 the very edge of the grave. * In exceptional cases, of course,

21028

I'M JUST A WEE

i the judges themselves. This brings | their judgments: irm

seld held

there are incumbent judges of retirement age who do not choose to retire or to resign. If an elder judge is not in fact incapacitated, only good can come from the presence of an additional judge in the crowded state of the dockets; if the capacity of an elder judge is in fact impaired, the appointment of an additional judge is indispensable. This seems to be a

judges, like other men, retain to an advanced age full mental and physical vigor. Those not so fortunate are often unable to perceive their own infirmities. “They seem to be tenacious of the appearance of adequacy.” The voluntary retirement law of 1869 provided, therefore, only a partial solution. That law, still in force, has not proved effective in inducing aged judges to retire on a truth which cannot be contra-

pension. dicted. This result had been foreseen in I also recommend that the Sk the debates when the measure was gress provide machinery for taki being considered. It was then pro- | care of sudden or long-standing conposed that when a judge refused to| gestion in the lower courts. The Suretire upon reaching the age of 70, | preme Court should be given power an additional judge should be ap-| to appoint an administrative assistpointed to assist in the work of the ant who may be called a proctor. He court. The proposal passed the would be charged with the duty of House, but was eliminated in the: atching the calendar and the busiSenate. ness of all the courts in the Federal system. The Chief Justice thereup‘on should be authorized to make a temrorary assignment of any circuit or district judge hereafter appointed | in order that he may serve as long With the opening of the 20th cen- | a5 needed in any circuit or district tury, and the great increase of pop where the courts are in arrears. 3 ulation and commerce. and the] v nsidered | growth of a more complex type of lars een Tu oe if litigation, similar proposals were in- | enacted, would, I am confident, aftroduced in the Congress. To meet ford substantial relief. The proposed the situation, in 1913, 1914, 1915 and | measure also contains a limit on the 1816, the Attorneys General then in | total number of judges who might Te iy te Congas; [ihn be spaointed snd sis & Ami judge failed ‘to retire at the age of On 158 olential Stes mye? 70, an additional judge be appointed | in order that the affags of the court | might be promptly and adequately discharged. In 1919 a law was finally passed providing that the President “may” | These proposals do not raise any appoint additional District and Cir- | issue of constitutional law. They do cuit Judges, but only upon a find- | not suggest any form of compulsory ing that the incumbent judge over retirement for incumbent judges. In70 “is unable to discharge effici- deed, those who have reached the ently all the duties of his office by | retirement. age, but desire to conreason of mental or physical dis [tinue their judicial work, would be ability of permanent character.” able to do sO under less physical The discretionary and indefinite na- | and mental strain and would be able ture of this legislation has rendered | to play a useful part in relieving the ineffective. No President. should | growing cofigestion in the business be asked to determine the aka’iy | of our courts. Among them are men | or disability of any pardsular of eminence and great ability whose | Judge. mm ; ud : | services the Government would bel fie duty of a judge involves |loath to lose. If, on the other hand. | more than presiding or listening to | any judge eligible for retirement | testimony hu ng It is well'| should feel that his court would Yi to remember that the mass of de-|fer because of an increase in its tails involved in the average of law | membership, he may retire or resign | cases today is vastly greater and | under already existing provisions of | more complicated than even 20 law if he wishes so to do. In this | oars amo Roars and briefs must | connection let me say that the pendread; statutes, te ii < usSeritog Hot ot ona [me proposal to extend to the jus- | t; or Hy | tices of the Supreme Court the same | entific, statistical and economic na- | retirement privileges now available | re , 36 Seared ee den lo other Feder! judges, has my en- | written. The modern tasks of | SE PIVak : r judges call for the use of full en- | One further matter requires im- | nediate attention. We have wit- |

» BTSNES: | nessed the spectacle of conflicting | | decisions in both trial and appellate (courts on the constitutionality of | | every form of important legislation. | | Such a welter of uncomposed differences of judicial opinion has! brought the law, the courts, and ne

WORK MORE COMPLEX

NOT COMPULSORY

it il

NEW BLOOD REQUIRED

{

Modern complexities call also for a constant infusion of new blood in | the courts, just as it is needed in | executive functions of the Govern- |: ment and in private business. [1 Re: a L : A lowered mental or physical A Federal statute is held legal by

oie hy t es ~ one judge in one district; it vigor leads men to ‘avoid an ex- simultaneously held illegal by anamination of complicated and | other Judge in another district. An | changed conditions. Little by lit-

g act valid in one judicial circuit is tle, new facts become blurred invalig in another judicial circuit. through old glasses fitted, as it

Thus rights fully accorded to one were, for the needs of another |

deed the entire administration of

justice dangerously near to disre- |

‘fers no protection. Statutes which | | the Congress enacts are set aside or |

suspended for long periods of time

| even in cases to which the Govern- | ment is not a party.

GOVERNMENT HAMPERED

In the uncertain state of the law. it is not difficult for the ingenious to devise novel reasons for attacking the validity of new legislation or its application. While these questions |

(are laboriously brought to issue and

debated through a series of courts, | the Government must stand aside. | It matters not that the Congress | has enacted the law, that the] Executive has signed it and that the administrative machinery is waiting to function. Government by injunction lays a heavy hand upon normal processes; and no important statute can take | effect—against any individual or organization with the means to em- | ploy lawyers and engage in wideflung litigation—until it has passed | through the whole hierarchy of the courts. Thus the judiciary, by postponing the effective date of acts of the Congress, is assuming an additional function and is coming more and more to constitute a scattered, ! loosely organized ang siowly operating third house of the national legislature. This state of affairs has come upon the nation gradually over a period of decades. In my annual message | to this Congress I expressed some views and some hopes. Now, as an imniediate step, I recommend that the Congress provide that no decision, injunction, judgment or decree on any constitutional question be promulgated by any Federal court without previous and ample notice to the Attorney General and an ete

Again We Dare Make This

is | BRINE

THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES

lin cases in which any court of first

| precedence over : | pending in that Court. Such legis- | We 8rant to the Supreme Court

‘lation will, T am convinced, go far further power and responsibility in

lof vital

(need. In the American idea of gov- | ernment i tial | striving to fulfill that ideal, not only

| present needs:

VA-TRO-NOL

| generation;

group of citizens may be denied in older men, others. As a practical matter this means that for periods running as long as one year or two years or |

that the scene is the same as it was in the past, cease to explore or

assuming |

|the Constitution, was designed to

dispose of cases is the capacity |OF influences which might impair

made provision |

inquire into the present or the | three years—until final determina- | future. | lon can be made by the Supreme | We have recognized this truth | Court—the law loses its most indis- | in the Civil Service of the nation | Pensable element—equality., and of many states by compelling Moreover, during the long retirement on pay at the age of processes of preliminary motions, 70. We have recognized it in the :

original trials, petitions for reArmy and Navy by retiring offi- | hearings, appeals, reversals on cers at the age of 64. A number

technical grounds requiring reof states have recognized it by trials, motions before the Supreme providing in their constitutions

Court and the final hearing by for compulsory retirement of aged the highest tribunal—during all judges.

this time labor, industry, agriculLife tenure of judges, assured by| ture, commerce and the Government itself go through an unconscionable period of uncertainty and embarrassment. And it is well to remember that during these long processes the normal operations of society and Government are handicapped in many cases by differing and divided opinions in the lower courts and by the lack of any clear guide for the dispatch of business, Thereby our legal system is fast losing another essential of justice—certainty., | Finally, we find the processes of | government itself brought to a | Folate stop Som time to time by : ctions issue almost autoIt is obvious, therefore, from both | mati A ti y i | somo or rr in Hou natically, sometimes even without | provision must be adopted, which | will operate automatically to sup- | | plement the work of older judges | | and accelerate the work of the Crt, I, therefore, earnestly recommend that the necessity of an increase in the number of judges be supplied by legislation providing for the appointment of additional judges in all Federal courts, without exception, where

| | { i

place the courts beyond temptations

It was not intended to create a static judiciary. A constant and systematic addition of younger blood will vitalize the | courts and better equip them to recognize and apply the essential concepts of justice in the light of the needs and the facts of an ever- | changing world.

SPEED UP WORK

— 0

: B = g

ERRY &

of J JANE B

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69:

FRIDAY, FEB. 5, 1937

lare most in arrears; third, to fur-| |nish the Supreme Court practical | assistance in supervising the conduct |of business in the lower courts; | fourth, to eliminate inequality, un- | certainty and delay now existing in |the determination of constitutional | questions involving Federal statutes. | If we increase the “personnel of | | the Federal courts so that cases may instance determines a question of | be promptly decided In she dirstaiite constitutionality, the Congress pro- | stance, and may be given adequate vide that there shall be a direct and | and prompt hearing on all appeals; immediate appeal to the Supreme if we invigorate all the courts by the

. | Court, and that such cases take | persistent infusion of new blood; if all other matters

opportunity for the United States to present evidence and be heard. This is to prevent court action on the constitutionality of acts of the Congress in suits between private individuals, where the Government is not a party to the suit, withcut giving opportunity to the Government of the United States to defend the law of the land. I also earnestly recommend that

to alleviate the inequality, uncertainty and delay in the disposition questions of constitutionality arising under our fundamental law.

sidering any fundamental changes | tainty as to the wisdom of such in the powers of the courts or the | course. Constitution of our Government— | FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, changes which involve consequences | The White House, so far-reaching as to cause uncer- | Feb. 5, 1937.

KZA RT 7X TVR

—Improve Your Eyesight

CLEAR HEADS NEED CLEAR VISION!

A thorough examination by our registered optometrist—who will prescribe correctly fitted eyeglasses for you—will work wonders in improving your health, as well as immeasurably aiding your vision and appearance. Dr. West, Registered Optometrist

| measures achieve their aim, we may

STRENGTHEN COURTS : | be relieved of the necessity of con-'

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My desire is to strengthen the ad- | ministration of justice and to make | it a more effective servant of public |

the courts find an essenand constitutional place. In the judges, but the Congress and the Executive as well, must do all in their power to bring the judicial organization and personnel to the | high standards of usefulness which | sound and efficient Government and modern conditions require. {

This message has dealt with four |

OPEN SATURDAY UNTIL

First, to eliminate congestion of | calendars and to make the judiciary | as a whole less static by the con- | stant and systematic addition of new blood to its personnel: second, |

[to make the judiciary more elastic |

by providing for temporary trans- | fers of circuit and district judges to |

| those places where Federal courts |

| | | | |

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