Today in Supreme Court History: December 21, 1922

12/21/1922: Justice Pierce Butler takes oath.

Justice Pierce Butler

 

Comments

[Commenter_XY]

Today at 10:59am EST (I think), Winter begins. Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest daylight of the year.

Best Wishes to all VC Conspirators!

[apedad]

It's also the Summer Solstice today and the longest day of the year if you're in Australia, South Africa, southern Argentina, etc.

[Cal Cetín]

I see you've been duped by the round-earth propaganda machine.

[apedad]

I can't help it if C_XY was being northern-hemisphere centric (a nohe? norhem? norther?).

[Commenter_XY]

LOL

[Syd Henderson]

Butler was the lone dissenter in both Buck v Bell and Palko v Connecticut. In the latter case the court refused to incorporate the double jeopardy clause against the states because it is not "essential to a fundamental scheme of ordered liberty." Since Palko was sentenced to death as a result of the second trial, I have to say "huh?" Fortunately, the Court has since incorporated the double jeopardy clause, but too late for Palko.

[Dilan Esper]

And it's worth noting that the Double Jeopardy Clause's incorporation is only half-effective, because the separate sovereigns rule allows plenty of prosecutions for the same offense even with Double Jeopardy protection in place at the state level.

[Aneglur]

Wouldn't a half-effective Double Jeopardy clause be just a "Single Jeopardy Clause" or maybe just "Jeopardy Clause?"

[bernard11]

Congratulations, Aneglur.

You are the only one who commented in the form of a question.

[Cal Cetín]

The problem with Butler is he ordered lots of his papers destroyed, and in the Buck and Palko cases (see above) he simply noted his dissent without writing an opinion.

Imagine eloquent dissents plus scholarly access to his private papers - imagine the monographs and articles on "reassessing Pierce Butler - his reactionary badness was tempered by being right in a couple cases."

[Aneglur]

I was going to make a joke about him being on the list of SCOTUS justices you've never heard of. But if he was the lone dissenter in Buck v. Bell, then he earns my respect on that basis alone.