Today in Supreme Court History: August 11, 1942

8/11/1942: General John DeWitt, Commander of Western Defense Command, issues exclusion order. The Supreme Court held this order was constitutional in Korematsu v. United States.

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

Fowler v. Adams, 400 U.S. 1205 (decided August 11, 1970): Black allows Florida candidate for U.S. House to be on ballot even though he refused to pay the $2,125 statutory fee on the grounds that a state cannot set qualifications for federal office; not enough time for the Court to weigh in before the election, and if the fee is upheld Florida can get the $ from him later (I don’t think this issue was ever resolved)

Brennan v. U.S. Postal Service, 439 U.S. 1345 (decided August 11, 1978): Marshall refuses to stay conviction based on violation of Private Express Statutes; does not believe that the Court would agree with applicants (who operated a private letter delivery service) that the Postal Service was an illegal monopoly

[F.D. Wolf]

I suspect most (if not all) states have filing fees to run for state and federal offices, though they tend to be modest, and alternatives are generally available, such as a certain number of collected signatures or even just an affidavit of inability to pay. I suspect filing fees are OK, as long as they are "reasonable".

In Bullock v. Carter, 405 U.S. 134 (1972), the Court, by a 7-0 vote (Powell and Rehnquist had just joined) per Chief Justice Burger, struck down a Texas filing fee to run for Congress that could be as high as $8,900 (nearly $67,000 in today's dollars) on Equal Protection grounds. The plaintiffs there had also argued that the state was unconstitutionally adding a "wealth qualification", but the Court didn't really address that argument. The opinion concluded:

Since the State has failed to establish the requisite justification for this filing fee system, we hold that it results in a denial of equal protection of the laws. It must be emphasized that nothing herein is intended to cast doubt on the validity of reasonable candidate filing fees or licensing fees in other contexts. By requiring candidates to shoulder the costs of conducting primary elections through filing fees and by providing no reasonable alternative means of access to the ballot, the State of Texas has erected a system that utilizes the criterion of ability to pay as a condition to being on the ballot, thus excluding some candidates otherwise qualified and denying an undetermined number of voters the opportunity to vote for candidates of their choice. These salient features of the Texas system are critical to our determination of constitutional invalidity.

Id. at 149.

There is a little tension between the Qualifications Clause, which states may not enlarge, and the Elections Clause, which allows states to regulate the "time, place, and manner" of elections, absent a contrary federal rule. So, I think the operative question is whether a state requirement is a "qualification" or a mere regulation. For example, I can't imagine anyone would seriously argue that a mere filing deadline was an added "qualification", as opposed to a permissible regulation.

[David Nieporent]

In U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton, the Court distinguished between adding qualifications (impermissible) and creating ballot access rules (permissible). I found this unpersuasive, particularly since they then immediately proceeded to decide that some of the latter were actually the former.

[JoeFromtheBronx]

"Talbot v. Seeman, 5 U.S. 1 (August 11, 1801). MARSHALL, Ch. J. delivered the Opinion of the Court"

This is the first time "Opinion of the Court" was used. CJ Ellsworth at times announced the opinion of the Court without separate opinions being used. But John Marshall started the general practice of an "Opinion of the Court" written in one voice.

The opinion also was an important precedent regarding congressional war power. Note Marshall's soon to be well known assured tone:

"The whole powers of war being, by the constitution of the United States, vested in congress, the acts of that body can alone be resorted to as our guides in this inquiry. It is not denied, nor in the course of the argument has it been denied, that congress may authorize general hostilities, in which case the general laws of war apply to our situation; or partial hostilities, in which case the laws of war, so far as they actually apply to our situation."

Beavis & Butthead Analysis: "Seeman" "Heh heh."

[Frank Drackman]

My Uncle began as a Semen, actually we all did

[F.D. Wolf]

It was General John DeWitt who, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, recommended that the 1942 Rose Bowl Game be moved from Pasadena, California. That year's game was played in Duke Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The only other year in its history the game was not played in Pasadena was 2021, when it was played in AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when the game's organizers could not get an exemption from the state's COVID-19 restrictions.

[Frank Drackman]

Auburn’s First Bowl Game (only 6 Bowl games in 1937, 43 last year) was the 1937 Bacardi Bowl in Habana, Cuber 7-7 Tie against Villanova, back when College games could end in Ties,
The game was played in a revolutionary atmosphere. Fulgencio Batista, the dictator who would be overthrown by Fidel Castro 22 years later, had just assumed power. The game was almost canceled because Batista’s picture was not in the game program. A quick trip to the printer saved the Bacardi Bowl.

Frank

[F.D. Wolf]

The 1912 Bacardi Bowl was scheduled as a two-game series in Havana featuring the Florida Gators against squads from two different Cuban athletic clubs. It was Florida's first experience with postseason football.

The first game was held on Christmas Day, and the Gators defeated the Vedado Athletic Club 28–0. The second game, which pitted the Gators against the Cuban Athletic Club of Havana a few days later, was never finished. Florida head coach George E. Pyle realized during the first quarter that the game was being officiated using college football's pre-1906 rules, and while discussing this issue with the officials, he discovered that the head referee was the former coach of his opponent. Feeling that playing under those conditions was neither fair nor safe, Pyle pulled his team off the field and was promptly arrested for violating a Cuban law prohibiting a game's suspension after spectators' money had been collected. A trial was scheduled, and Pyle was released on bail that evening, at which point he and the Gators quickly boarded a steamship for Tampa, an escape which caused the coach to be branded a "fugitive from justice" by Cuban authorities.

Bacardi Bowl officials declared that Florida had forfeited the game and listed it as a 1–0 win for the Cuban Athletic Club, while the University of Florida declared the contest a 1–0 forfeit win for the Gators. In later years, both the complete and incomplete games were dropped from the university's official football record, and the Gators' trip to the Bacardi Bowl is not listed among the program's official bowl game appearances.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacardi_Bowl

[Mr. Bumble]

Thanks to those above for some interesting comments.