The "Three Musketeers" was the nickname given to three liberal members during the 1932–37 terms of the United States Supreme Court, who generally supported the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

agenda of President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. They were Justices

Louis Brandeis Louis Dembitz Brandeis (; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an American lawyer and associate justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939. Starting in 1890, he helped develop the "right to privacy" concept ...

, Benjamin N. Cardozo, and Harlan Fiske Stone. They were opposed by the Four Horsemen, consisting of Justices James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter, and Pierce Butler. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and Justice

Owen J. Roberts Owen Josephus Roberts (May 2, 1875 – May 17, 1955) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1930 to 1945. He also led two Roberts Commissions, the first of which investigated the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the seco ...

controlled the balance. Charles Evans Hughes often voted with the liberal wing while Owen J. Roberts voted with the conservatives. With the help of Roberts, the Four Horsemen maintained a majority in most of the decisions and struck down many New Deal laws as unconstitutional. Although the "Three Musketeers" were a bipartisan group, with Stone being a Republican, they were drawn together by their shared views on New Deal policies. During the 1935 term, the Four Horsemen would often ride together to and from Court in order to coordinate their positions. To counter them, the Three Musketeers started meeting at Brandeis's apartment on Friday afternoons. However, the Four Horsemen held sway, leading to Roosevelt's court-packing scheme. In 1937, in the " switch in time that saved nine," Roberts and Hughes switched to the liberal side in several key decisions, the most important one being '' West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish'', a case regarding the minimum wage of workers. Within a year, Van Devanter and Sutherland retired and were replaced by

Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American lawyer, politician, and jurist who served as a U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1927 to 1937 and as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1937 to 1971. A ...

and Stanley Reed, strong New Dealers, ending the Four Horsemen's sway. By 1941, Brandeis, Cardozo, Butler, McReynolds, and Hughes were also gone. Only Stone and Roberts remained, and by then Stone had been elevated to the position of Chief Justice. The Three Musketeers were successful in many cases. They often were able to convince the swing voters, Charles Evans Hughes and Owen Roberts, to vote for New Deal policies. The Three Musketeers were able to uphold many New Deal laws such as the Gold Reserve Act (in the '' Gold Clause Cases''), The Fair Labor Standards Act (in '' United States v. Darby Lumber Co.''), the Tennessee Valley Authority (in ''

Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority ''Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority'', 297 U.S. 288 (1936), was a United States Supreme Court case that provided the first elaboration of the doctrine of "Constitutional avoidance". Background In ''Ashwander'', the Supreme Court faced a ch ...

'') and the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...

(in ''

Steward Machine Co. v. Davis ''Steward Machine Company v. Davis'', 301 U.S. 548 (1937), was a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the unemployment compensation provisions of the Social Security Act of 1935, which established the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, federal ta ...

'' and '' Helvering v. Davis''). They persuaded members of the Four Horsemen to vote to uphold New Deal legislation occasionally.

References

Sources

* Supreme Court of the United States people Trios Liberalism in the United States {{US-hist-stub