The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Debs Decision, by Scott Nearing

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Title: The Debs Decision

Author: Scott Nearing

Release Date: February 25, 2007 [EBook #20666]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE DEBS DECISION

_By_

SCOTT NEARING

Published by

THE RAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

New York City

Copyright

RAND SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

7 East 15th Street

New York

1919

THE DEBS DECISION

_By_

SCOTT NEARING

1. THE SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court of the United States on March 10, 1919, handed down a
decision on the Debs case. That decision is far-reaching in its
immediate significance and still more far-reaching in its ultimate
implications.

What is the Supreme Court of the United States?

Article III, Section I of the Constitution provides as follows:

"The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme
Court.... The judges shall hold their offices during good behavior."

The judges are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate
(Article XII, Section II). That is all the constitution provides with
regard to the Supreme Court.

At the present time, there are nine judges on the Supreme bench. It
might interest you to know some facts about the nine. All of the judges
are men. The chief justice is Edward D. White, who was born in 1845 and
admitted to the bar in 1868. He is seventy-three years of age. His
birth-place was Louisiana. He served in the Confederate Army, in the
State Senate, in the State Supreme Court and in the United States
Senate. He has been a member of the Supreme Court for twenty-five years.
Joseph McKenna is the second member in point of seniority. He was born
in 1843. His birth-place is Philadelphia. He was a county District
Attorney, a member of the State Legislature, a member of the national
House of Representatives, attorney-general of the United States and a
United States Circuit Judge. He has been a member of the Supreme Court
for t