The Stone Court

SCOTUS
Cases by term
	2025-2026 term2024-2025 term2023-2024 term2022-2023 term2021-2022 term2020-2021 term2019-2020 term2018-2019 term2017-2018 term2016-2017 term2015-2016 termSubmit
Judgeships
	Posts: 9
	Judges: 9
Judges
	Chief: John Roberts
	Active: Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts, Sonia Sotomayor, Clarence Thomas

The Stone Court lasted from June 1941 until April 1946, during the presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. Harlan Fiske Stone was nominated as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by President Franklin Roosevelt on June 12, 1941.^[1]

Stone previously served as an associate justice on the court, after a nomination from President Calvin Coolidge in February 1925. With this nomination, Stone was the first Supreme Court nominee to testify at a confirmation hearing.^[2]

Stone served as the 12th chief justice of the Supreme Court until his death on April 22, 1946.^[3]

About Chief Justice Stone

Prior to joining the high court, Stone was an attorney, then dean of Columbia Law School. In 1924, he was appointed United States Attorney General by President Calvin Coolidge. Perhaps his most lasting legacy in that position was appointing J. Edgar Hoover as FBI Director.^[1]

Associate justices

The justices in this table served on the Stone Court.

Tenure	Justice	Nominated By
1930-1945	Owen Josephus Roberts	Herbert Hoover
1937-1971	Hugo Black	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1938-1957	Stanley Reed	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1939-1962	Felix Frankfurter	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1939-1975	William Douglas	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1940-1949	Frank Murphy	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1941-1942	James Byrnes	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1941-1954	Robert H. Jackson	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1943-1949	Wiley Rutledge	Franklin D. Roosevelt
1945-1958	Harold Burton	Harry Truman

Major cases

Spies and saboteurs do not have rights guaranteed by the Constitution (1942)

In June 1942, Nazi agents attempted to sabotage United States targets in Operation Pastorius. Eight trained, German residents, Richard Quirin, Ernst Burger, George Dasch, Herbert Haupt, Heinrich Heinck, Edward Keiling, Herman Neubauer, and Werener Thiel, were set to attack the United States after arriving via submarine. However, Burger and Dasch backed out of the mission prior to completion, and Dasch even turned himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered they be tried by military commission. All eight were sentenced to the death penalty. However, President Roosevelt commuted Burger and Dasch's sentences to life in prison. Seven of the prisoners, excluding Dasch, petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus. To hear the case, the Court held a special session to determine if the prisoners' Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights were violated when the president called for a trial by military commission. The court unanimously ruled in favor of the United States, saying that the prisoners were spies and saboteurs, which made them enemies of the state. Furthermore, the Articles of War allowed trial by military commission for enemy combatants.^[4]

Exclusion is acceptable in emergency cases (1944)

With Executive Order 9066 and congressional statutes passed during World War II, citizens of Japanese ancestry were forbidden from areas that were important to national defense or vulnerable to espionage. By staying in San Leandro, California, Korematsu violated this order. Korematsu asked the court to determine the constitutionality of this. On December 18, 1944, the Court found in favor of the United States, saying that the security of the United States outweighed the rights of Mr. Korematsu. Justice Hugo Black argued that in certain cases, exclusion was acceptable in "emergency and peril."^[5]

Aid needed for treason conviction (1945)

Anthony Cramer was accused of meeting with and providing aid to two enemies of the United States, Werner Thiel and Edward John Kerling, on June 23, 1942. The two men were found to be German saboteurs. The Supreme Court, however, found that Cramer was not guilty of aiding the saboteurs. The only evidence presented in court was that Cramer met with the two.^[6]

Systematic and continuous business with out of state employees warrants benefits (1945)

International Shoe Co. was a Delaware corporation, based in St. Louis, Missouri, although they employed people from Washington State. The residents of Washington were paid commission for their sales and reimbursed for their expenses. However, the State of Washington sued for unpaid contributions to the unemployment compensation fund. The Washington Supreme Court maintained that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. International Shoe Co. appealed. The Supreme Court ruled that the State of Washington did, in fact, have jurisdiction and that International Shoe Co. was doing "systematic and continuous" business in Washington State. The Court also found that the company deprived the state of contributions due to its unemployment compensation fund.^[7]

Bearing arms in the military not necessary to citizenship (1946)

Girouard was a Canadian member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church who petitioned for citizenship in the United States. He refused to take a pledge to bear arms for the military because of his religious beliefs, though would serve in the military in a non-combative role. The Supreme Court ruled in the 5-3 decision that citizenship did not require an oath to take up arms in the military. This decision overturned the Schwimmer and Macintosh decisions.^[8]

About the court

See also: Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the country and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. It is often referred to by the acronym SCOTUS.^[9]

The Supreme Court consists of nine justices: the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices. The justices are nominated by the president and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the United States Senate per Article II of the United States Constitution. As federal judges, the justices serve during "good behavior," which means that justices have tenure for life unless they are removed by impeachment and subsequent conviction.^[10]

The Supreme Court is the only court established by the United States Constitution (in Article III); all other federal courts are created by Congress.

The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C., in the United States Supreme Court building. The Supreme Court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions in mid-June.^[10]

Number of seats on the Supreme Court over time

See also: History of the Supreme Court

Number of Justices	Set by	Change
Chief Justice + 5 Associate Justices	Judiciary Act of 1789
Chief Justice + 4 Associate Justices	Judiciary Act of 1801 (later repealed)	-1
Chief Justice + 6 Associate Justices	Seventh Circuit Act of 1807	+2
Chief Justice + 8 Associate Justices	Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act of 1837	+2
Chief Justice + 9 Associate Justices	Tenth Circuit Act of 1863	+1
Chief Justice + 6 Associate Justices	Judicial Circuits Act of 1866	-3
Chief Justice + 8 Associate Justices	Judiciary Act of 1869	+2