The Missing Justice in Coleman v. Miller

42 J. Sup. Ct. Hist. 67 (2017)

Notre Dame Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1712

11 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2017

Date Written: March 2, 2017

Abstract

All nine of the sitting justices took part in the 1939 case of Coleman v. Miller, which concerned whether the Kansas legislature had ratified the pending Child Labor Amendment. One of the issues in the case was decided by a vote of 5-4, while another was resolved by a vote of 7-2. With respect to a third issue, however, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes reported that it presented “a question upon which the Court is equally divided and therefore the Court expresses no opinion upon that point.”

Scholars understandably have been puzzled by how a decision in which a full Court participated could have been “equally divided” on an issue. Shortly after the decision was handed down, the Yale Law Journal published an anonymous Note entitled Sawing a Justice in Half, which remarked that the division “should astonish even a Yogi magician.” The perplexed author concluded by asking, “is it possible to saw a Justice vertically in half during a conference and have him walk away whole?” This brief article seeks to determine what happened in Coleman, and to pin down the identity of the missing justice.

Suggested Citation

Cushman, Barry, The Missing Justice in Coleman v. Miller (March 2, 2017). 42 J. Sup. Ct. Hist. 67 (2017), Notre Dame Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1712, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2926588

Barry Cushman (Contact Author)

Notre Dame Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 780
Notre Dame, IN 46556-0780
United States

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