This is a list of cases reported in volume 237 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1915.
| Supreme Court of the United States | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W | |
| Established | March 4, 1789 |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | 38°53′26″N 77°00′16″W / 38.89056°N 77.00444°W |
| Composition method | Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authorised by | Constitution of the United States, Art. III, § 1 |
| Judge term length | life tenure, subject to impeachment and removal |
| Number of positions | 9 (by statute) |
| Website | supremecourt |
Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 237 U.S.
editThe Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices).[1] Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).
When the cases in volume 237 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:
| Portrait | Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) |
Tenure on Supreme Court |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Edward Douglass White | Chief Justice | Louisiana | Melville Fuller | December 12, 1910 (Acclamation) |
December 19, 1910 – May 19, 1921 (Died) |
|
Joseph McKenna | Associate Justice | California | Stephen Johnson Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) |
January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
|
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Horace Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) |
December 8, 1902 – January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
|
William R. Day | Associate Justice | Ohio | George Shiras Jr. | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) |
March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
|
Charles Evans Hughes | Associate Justice | New York | David Josiah Brewer | May 2, 1910 (Acclamation) |
October 10, 1910 – June 10, 1916 (Resigned) |
|
Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
|
Joseph Rucker Lamar | Associate Justice | Georgia | William Henry Moody | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1911 – January 2, 1916 (Died) |
|
Mahlon Pitney | Associate Justice | New Jersey | John Marshall Harlan | March 13, 1912 (50–26) |
March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922 (Resigned) |
|
James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | August 29, 1914 (44–6) |
October 12, 1914 – January 31, 1941 (Retired) |
Notable case in 237 U.S.
editFrank v. Mangum
edit
Frank v. Mangum, 237 U.S. 309 (1915), was an appeal by Leo Frank, a young Jewish businessman, against his murder conviction in Georgia. In April 1915 the Supreme Court denied Frank's appeal by a 7–2 vote. Part of the decision was due to Frank's lawyers having failed timely to raise the argument that the threat of crowd violence during his trial had forced Frank to be absent from the verdict hearing, violating his right to due process. Justices Holmes and Hughes dissented, with Holmes writing, "It is our duty to declare lynch law as little valid when practiced by a regularly drawn jury as when administered by one elected by a mob intent on death."[2] Four months later a crowd of upstanding citizens of Georgia murdered Frank by lynching after the governor commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment.[3]
Citation style
editUnder the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.
The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.
Bluebook citation style is used for case names, citations, and jurisdictions.
- "# Cir." = United States Court of Appeals
- e.g., "3d Cir." = United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- "D." = United States District Court for the District of . . .
- e.g.,"D. Mass." = United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- "E." = Eastern; "M." = Middle; "N." = Northern; "S." = Southern; "W." = Western
- e.g.,"M.D. Ala." = United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
- "Ct. Cl." = United States Court of Claims
- The abbreviation of a state's name alone indicates the highest appellate court in that state's judiciary at the time.
- e.g.,"Pa." = Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- e.g.,"Me." = Supreme Judicial Court of Maine
List of cases in volume 237 U.S.
editNotes and references
edit- ^ "Supreme Court Research Guide". Georgetown Law Library. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ 237 U.S. 309, 349
- ^ "Grim Tragedy in Woods". The New York Times, August 19, 1915. p. 1. Via Internet Archive.
External links
edit- [1] Case reports in volume 237 from Library of Congress
- [2] Case reports in volume 237 from Court Listener
- [3] Case reports in volume 237 from the Caselaw Access Project of Harvard Law School
- [4] Case reports in volume 237 from Google Scholar
- [5] Case reports in volume 237 from Justia
- [6] Case reports in volume 237 from Open Jurist
- Website of the United States Supreme Court
- United States Courts website about the Supreme Court
- National Archives, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States
- American Bar Association, How Does the Supreme Court Work?
- The Supreme Court Historical Society
