The Hatch Act of 1939 , An Act to Prevent Pernicious Political Activities , is a United States federal law that prohibits civil-service employees in the executive branch of the federal government , except the president and vice president , from engaging in some forms of political activity. It became law on August 2, 1939. The law was named for Senator Carl Hatch of New Mexico. It was most recently amended in 2012.
171-587: Widespread allegations that local Democratic Party politicians used employees of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the congressional elections of 1938 provided the immediate impetus for the passage of the Hatch Act. Criticism centered on swing states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. In Pennsylvania, Republicans and dissident Democrats publicized evidence that Democratic politicians were consulted on
342-947: A visiting judge on the Second Circuit for a week in January 1992, and he received the American Bar Association 's highest award in August of that year. His health continued to deteriorate, and, on January 24, 1993, at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center , he died of heart failure . He was 84 years old. Marshall lay in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, and thousands thronged there to pay their respects; more than four thousand attended his funeral service at
513-562: A "relentlessly formalistic catechism" that failed to take account of the amendment's "crushing burden on indigent women". Although Marshall's sliding-scale approach was never adopted by the Court as a whole, the legal scholar Susan Low Bloch comments that "his consistent criticism seems to have prodded the Court to somewhat greater flexibility". Marshall supported the Warren Court's constitutional decisions on criminal law, and he wrote
684-550: A "vestigial savagery" that was immoral and violative of the Eighth Amendment. Afterwards, Marshall and Brennan dissented in every instance in which the Court declined to review a death sentence, filing more than 1,400 dissents that read: "Adhering to our views that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, we would grant certiorari and vacate
855-631: A case in which the Court ruled that the government could forbid homeless individuals from protesting poverty by sleeping overnight in Lafayette Park ; although Burger decried their claims as "frivolous" attempts to "trivialize" the Constitution, Marshall argued that the protesters were engaged in constitutionally protected symbolic speech . Marshall joined the majority in Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman , two cases in which
1026-408: A coalition of farmers, city-dwelling laborers and Irish Catholics. Both parties worked hard to build grassroots organizations and maximize the turnout of voters, which often reached 80 percent or 90 percent of eligible voters. Both parties used patronage extensively to finance their operations, which included emerging big city political machines as well as national networks of newspapers. Behind
1197-423: A concrete deadline came as a disappointment to Marshall, who had argued for total integration to be completed by September 1956. In the years following the Court's decision, Marshall coordinated challenges to Virginia's " massive resistance " to Brown , and he returned to the Court to successfully argue Cooper v. Aaron (1958), involving Little Rock 's attempt to delay integration. Marshall, who according to
1368-458: A contentious issue the extension of slavery to the territories . On the other hand, many Democrats feared industrialization the Whigs welcomed....For many Democrats, the answer to the nation's social ills was to continue to follow Thomas Jefferson's vision of establishing agriculture in the new territories in order to counterbalance industrialization. In 1848 a major innovation was the creation of
1539-461: A hearing before a Senate subcommittee lasted only fifteen minutes; the full Senate confirmed him on August 11, 1965. As Solicitor General, Marshall won fourteen of the nineteen Supreme Court cases he argued. He later characterized the position as "the most effective job" and "maybe the best" job he ever had. Marshall argued in Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966) that conditioning
1710-456: A lack of resolve to implement desegregation even when faced with difficulties and public resistance. In a dissent in City of Memphis v. Greene that according to Tushnet "demonstrated his sense of the practical reality that formed the context for abstract legal issues", he argued that a street closure that made it more difficult for residents of an African-American neighborhood to reach a city park
1881-679: A law practice in Baltimore, but it was not financially successful, partially because he spent much of his time working for the benefit of the community. He volunteered with the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP). In 1935, Marshall and Houston brought suit against the University of Maryland on behalf of Donald Gaines Murray , an African American whose application to
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#17327654374222052-410: A little ironic that, after several hundred years of class-based discrimination against Negroes, the Court is unwilling to hold that a class-based remedy for that discrimination is permissible". Dissenting in City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. , he rejected the majority's decision to strike down an affirmative-action program for government contractors, stating that he did "not believe that this Nation
2223-510: A movement. Reformers eager to turn their programs into legislation called for a more active government. But Democrats tended to oppose programs like educational reform and the establishment of a public school system....Nor did Jackson share reformers' humanitarian concerns. He had no sympathy for American Indians , initiating the removal of the Cherokees along the Trail of Tears . The party
2394-800: A necessary source of government revenue. They supported the Independent Treasury (the Jacksonian alternative to the Second Bank of the United States) not as a scheme to quash the special privilege of the Whiggish monied elite, but as a device to spread prosperity to all Americans . Sectional confrontations escalated during the 1850s, the Democratic Party split between North and South grew deeper. The conflict
2565-461: A pro-slavery constitution on Kansas; acquire Cuba (where slavery already existed); accepting the Dred Scott decision of the Supreme Court; and adopting a federal slave code to protect slavery in the territories. President Buchanan went along with these demands, but Douglas refused and proved a much better politician than Buchanan, though the bitter battle lasted for years and permanently alienated
2736-858: A provision meant to prohibit membership in organizations on the far left and far right, such as the Communist Party USA and the German-American Bund . An amendment on July 19, 1940, extended the Act to certain employees of state and local governments whose positions are primarily paid for by federal funds. It has been interpreted to bar political activity on the part of employees of state agencies administering federal unemployment insurance programs and appointed local law enforcement agency officials with oversight of federal grant funds. The Hatch Act bars state and local government employees from running for public office if any federal funds support
2907-477: A reduced role for the government in the economy, and a liberal policy for the sale of public lands to encourage settlement; they opposed high tariffs to encourage industry. The Jackson policies were kept, such as Indian removal and the Trail of Tears . Van Buren personally disliked slavery but he kept the slaveholder's rights intact. Nevertheless, he was distrusted across the South. The 1840 Democratic convention
3078-499: A ruling upholding the convictions of civil rights protesters at the New York World's Fair . Marshall's dissents indicated that he favored broader interpretations of constitutional protections than did his colleagues. Marshall's nomination to the office of Solicitor General was widely viewed as a stepping stone to a Supreme Court appointment. Johnson pressured Southern senators not to obstruct Marshall's confirmation, and
3249-465: A significant role in giving meaning to the notion of constitutional rights." Marshall's jurisprudence was pragmatic and relied on his real-world experience as a lawyer and as an African American. He disagreed with the notion (favored by some of his conservative colleagues) that the Constitution should be interpreted according to the Founders' original understandings ; in a 1987 speech commemorating
3420-519: A system in which local schools were funded mainly through property taxes, arguing that the policy (which meant that poorer school districts obtained less money than richer ones) resulted in unconstitutional discrimination. His dissent in Harris v. McRae , in which the Court upheld the Hyde Amendment 's ban on the use of Medicaid funds to pay for abortions , rebuked the majority for applying
3591-466: A waiter in hotels, in clubs, and on railroad cars, and his mother was an elementary school teacher. The family moved to New York City in search of better employment opportunities not long after Thurgood's birth; they returned to Baltimore when he was six years old. He was an energetic and boisterous child who frequently found himself in trouble. Following legal cases was one of William's hobbies, and Thurgood oftentimes went to court with him to observe
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#17327654374223762-486: A young (35 years old) upstart, Congressman William Jennings Bryan made the magnificent "cross of gold" speech, which brought the crowd at the convention to its feet and got him the nomination. He would lose the election, but remained the Democratic hero and was renominated and lost again in 1900 and a third time in 1908. Grover Cleveland led the party faction of conservative, pro-business Bourbon Democrats , but as
3933-537: Is anywhere close to eradicating racial discrimination or its vestiges". Marshall's most influential contribution to constitutional doctrine was his "sliding-scale" approach to the Equal Protection Clause, which posited that the judiciary should assess a law's constitutionality by balancing its goals against its impact on groups and rights. Dissenting in Dandridge v. Williams , a case in which
4104-554: Is named in his honor. Buildings named for Marshall include New York's 590-foot-high Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse (renamed in 2001), where he heard cases as an appellate judge, and the federal judicial center in Washington. He is the namesake of streets and schools throughout the nation. Marshall posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton in 1993, and
4275-591: Is no concern of government what an employee does in his or her spare time, whether religion, recreation, social work or politics is his hobby, unless what he or she does impairs efficiency or other facets of the merits of his job." In 1975, the House passed legislation allowing federal employees to participate in partisan elections and run for office, but the Senate took no action. In 1976, Democrats who controlled Congress had sought to win support by adding protections against
4446-614: The Miranda doctrine should be expanded and fully enforced. In cases involving the Sixth Amendment , he argued that defendants must have competent attorneys; dissenting in Strickland v. Washington , Marshall (parting ways with Brennan) rejected the majority's conclusion that defendants must prove prejudice in ineffective assistance of counsel cases. Marshall fervently opposed capital punishment throughout his time on
4617-600: The 1866 elections , the Radical Republicans won two-thirds majorities in Congress and took control of national affairs. The large Republican majorities made Congressional Democrats helpless, though they unanimously opposed the Radicals' Reconstruction policies . The Senate passed the 14th Amendment by a vote of 33 to 11 with every Democratic senator opposed. Realizing that the old issues were holding it back,
4788-677: The American Civil War , the party generally supported slavery or insisted it be left to the states. After the war until the 1940s, the party opposed civil rights reforms in order to retain the support of Southern white voters. The Republican Party was organized in the mid-1850s from the ruins of the Whig Party and Free Soil Democrats. It was dominant in presidential politics from 1860 to 1928. The Democrats elected only two Presidents during this period: Grover Cleveland (in 1884 and 1892) and Woodrow Wilson (in 1912 and 1916). Over
4959-646: The Bill of Rights . He joined the majority in Eisenstadt v. Baird to strike down a statute that prohibited the distribution or sale of contraceptives to unmarried persons, dissented when the Court in Bowers v. Hardwick upheld an anti-sodomy law , and dissented from the majority's decision in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health that the Constitution did not protect an unconditional right to die . On
5130-503: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) to coordinate state activities in the presidential contest. Senator Lewis Cass , who held many offices over the years, lost to General Zachary Taylor of the Whigs. A major cause of the defeat was that the new Free Soil Party , which opposed slavery expansion, split the Democratic vote. The Free Soil Party attracted Democrats and some Whigs and had considerable support in
5301-583: The Democratic-Republican Party , founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1793, and had largely collapsed by 1824 . It was built by Martin Van Buren who assembled many state organizations to form a new party as a vehicle to elect Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. The pattern and speed of formation differed from state to state. By the mid-1830s almost all the state Democratic parties were uniform. The spirit of Jacksonian democracy animated
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5472-646: The Howard University School of Law . At Howard, he was mentored by Charles Hamilton Houston , who taught his students to be "social engineers" willing to use the law to fight for civil rights. Marshall opened a law practice in Baltimore but soon joined Houston at the NAACP in New York. They worked together on the segregation case of Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada ; after Houston returned to Washington, Marshall took his place as special counsel of
5643-507: The National Cathedral . The civil rights leader Vernon E. Jordan said that Marshall had "demonstrat[ed] that the law could be an instrument of liberation", while Chief Justice William Rehnquist gave a eulogy in which he said: "Inscribed above the front entrance to the Supreme Court building are the words 'Equal justice under law'. Surely no one individual did more to make these words a reality than Thurgood Marshall." Marshall
5814-615: The Office of Personnel Management : History of the Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties of the United States political system and the oldest active political party in the country , as well as in the world. The Democratic Party was founded in 1828. It is also the oldest active voter-based political party in the world. The party has changed significantly during its nearly two centuries of existence. Once known as
5985-651: The United States Coast Guard . Members of the U.S. Armed Forces are subject to Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 (DoDD 1344.10), Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces, and the spirit and intent of that directive is effectively the same as that of the Hatch Act for Federal civil servants. By agreement between the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security , DoDD 1344.10 also applies to uniformed personnel of
6156-933: The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps are subject to specific Health and Human Service regulations found in Title 44, Code of Federal Regulations Part 73 Subpart F. Hatch Act guidelines for NOAA Corps Officers are provided by United States Department of Commerce, Office of the General Counsel, Ethics Law and Program Division. Career members of the Senior Executive Service, administrative law judges, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Corps officers are all subject to Hatch Act restrictions and have additional limitations on their off-duty political activities. Employees of
6327-457: The University of Missouri's law school was rejected on account of his race, he filed suit, arguing that his equal-protection rights had been violated because he had not been provided with a legal education substantially equivalent to that which white students received. After Missouri courts rejected Gaines's claims, Houston—joined by Marshall, who helped to prepare the brief—sought review in
6498-633: The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression , the party employed social liberal policies and programs with the New Deal coalition to combat financial crises and emergency bank closings, with policies continuing into World War II . The party kept the White House after Roosevelt's death in April 1945, electing Harry S. Truman in 1948 to a full term. During this period,
6669-627: The War Democrats , who supported the military policies of Republican President Lincoln; and the Copperheads , who strongly opposed them. In the South party politics ended in the Confederacy . The political leadership, mindful of the fierce divisions in antebellum American politics and with a pressing need for unity, rejected organized political parties as inimical to good governance and as being especially unwise in wartime. Consequently,
6840-801: The depression of 1893 deepened his enemies multiplied. At the 1896 convention , the silverite-agrarian faction repudiated the President and nominated the crusading orator William Jennings Bryan on a platform of free coinage of silver . The idea was that minting silver coins would flood the economy with cash and end the depression. Cleveland supporters formed the National Democratic Party (Gold Democrats), which attracted politicians and intellectuals (including Woodrow Wilson and Frederick Jackson Turner ) who refused to vote Republican. Thurgood Marshall Thoroughgood " Thurgood " Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993)
7011-571: The exclusionary rule applied to the states) did not apply retroactively, writing that the judiciary was "not free to circumscribe the application of a declared constitutional right". In United States v. Wilkins (1964), he concluded that the Fifth Amendment 's protection against double jeopardy applied to the states; in People of the State of New York v. Galamison (1965), he dissented from
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7182-837: The gold standard and opposed Bimetallism . They strongly supported reform movements such as Civil Service Reform and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the Tweed Ring . The leading Bourbons included Samuel J. Tilden , David Bennett Hill and William C. Whitney of New York, Arthur Pue Gorman of Maryland, Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware, Henry M. Mathews and William L. Wilson of West Virginia, John Griffin Carlisle of Kentucky, William F. Vilas of Wisconsin, J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska, John M. Palmer of Illinois, Horace Boies of Iowa, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar of Mississippi and railroad builder James J. Hill of Minnesota. A prominent intellectual
7353-560: The popular vote in 2000 and 2016 but lost the Electoral College in both elections (with candidates Al Gore and Hillary Clinton , respectively). These were two of the four presidential elections in which Democrats won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College , the others being the presidential elections in 1876 and 1888 . The modern Democratic Party emerged in the late 1820s from former factions of
7524-539: The progressive movement in the United States (1890s–1920s) and opposed imperialistic expansion abroad while sponsoring liberal reforms at home despite supporting racism and discrimination against African Americans in government offices and elsewhere. Starting with Franklin D. Roosevelt , the party dominated during the Fifth Party System , which lasted from 1932 until about the 1970s. In response to
7695-644: The 1830s, the Locofocos in New York City were radically democratic, anti-monopoly and were proponents of hard money and free trade . Their chief spokesman was William Leggett . At this time, labor unions were few and some were loosely affiliated with the party. The Presidency of Martin Van Buren was hobbled by a long economic depression called the Panic of 1837 . The presidency promoted hard money based on gold and silver, an independent federal treasury,
7866-612: The 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court, culminating in the Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education , which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967. A staunch liberal, he frequently dissented as the Court became increasingly conservative. Born in Baltimore , Maryland, Marshall attended Lincoln University and
8037-676: The Coast Guard at all times, whether it is operating as a service in the Department of Homeland Security or as part of the Navy under the Department of Defense. As a directive, DoDD 1344.10 is considered to be in the same category as an order or regulation, and military personnel violating its provisions can be considered in violation of Article 92 (Failure to obey order or regulation) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice . Members of
8208-502: The Constitution as a living document, including the Bill of Rights and the other amendments protecting individual freedoms and human rights. As the Court became increasingly conservative, Marshall found himself dissenting in numerous cases regarding racial discrimination. When the majority held in Milliken v. Bradley that a lower court had gone too far in ordering busing to reduce racial imbalances between schools in Detroit, he dissented, criticizing his colleagues for what he viewed as
8379-425: The Constitution's bicentennial, he said: ... I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Convention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain
8550-520: The Constitution: that all efforts of the abolitionists or others, made to induce congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions. The Panic of 1837 led to Van Buren and
8721-421: The Court held that the First Amendment protected the right to burn the American flag. He favored the total separation of church and state , dissenting when the Court upheld in Lynch v. Donnelly a city's display of a nativity scene and joining the majority in Wallace v. Jaffree to strike down an Alabama law regarding prayer in schools. On the issue of the free exercise of religion , Marshall voted with
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#17327654374228892-420: The Court, arguing that it was cruel and unusual and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment . He was the only justice with considerable experience defending those charged with capital crimes, and he expressed concern about the fact that injustices in death-penalty cases could not be remedied, often commenting: "Death is so lasting." In Furman v. Georgia , a case in which the Court struck down
9063-515: The Court. The 82-year-old justice announced on June 27, 1991, that he would retire. When asked at a press conference what was wrong with him that would cause him to leave the Court, he replied: "What's wrong with me? I'm old. I'm getting old and coming apart!" President George H. W. Bush (whom Marshall loathed) nominated Clarence Thomas , a conservative who had served in the Reagan and Bush administrations, to replace Marshall. His retirement took effect on October 1. Marshall served as
9234-443: The Democratic Party came in the late 1850s as Democrats increasingly rejected national policies demanded by the Southern Democrats. The demands were to support slavery outside the South. Southerners insisted that full equality for their region required the government to acknowledge the legitimacy of slavery outside the South. The Southern demands included a fugitive slave law to recapture runaway slaves; opening Kansas to slavery; forcing
9405-424: The Democratic Party halted all operations during the life of the Confederacy (1861–1865). Partisanship flourished in the North and strengthened the Lincoln Administration as Republicans automatically rallied behind it. After the attack on Fort Sumter , Douglas rallied Northern Democrats behind the Union, but when Douglas died the party lacked an outstanding figure in the North and by 1862 an anti-war peace element
9576-443: The Democratic Party left it powerless. Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States. Douglas campaigned across the country calling for unity and came in second in the popular vote, but carried only Missouri and New Jersey. Breckinridge carried 11 slave states , coming in second in the Electoral vote, but third in the popular vote. During the Civil War , Northern Democrats divided into two factions:
9747-460: The Democratic Party was the party of the "common man". It opposed the abolition of slavery. From 1828 to 1848, banking and tariffs were the central domestic policy issues. Democrats strongly favored—and Whigs opposed—expansion to new farm lands, as typified by their expulsion of eastern American Indians and acquisition of vast amounts of new land in the West after 1846. The party favored the war with Mexico and opposed anti-immigrant nativism . In
9918-409: The Democrats control of every Southern state (by the Compromise of 1877 ), but the disenfranchisement of blacks took place (1880–1900). From 1880 to 1960, the " Solid South " voted Democratic in presidential elections (except 1928). After 1900, a victory in a Democratic primary was " tantamount to election " because the Republican Party was so weak in the South. After being out of office since 1861,
10089-444: The Democrats tried a " New Departure " that downplayed the War and stressed such issues as stopping corruption and white supremacy , which it wholeheartedly supported. President Johnson , elected on the fusion Union Party ticket, did not rejoin the Democratic Party, but Democrats in Congress supported him and voted against his impeachment in 1868. After his term ended in 1869 he rejoined the Democrats. War hero Ulysses S. Grant led
10260-412: The Democrats won the popular vote in three consecutive elections, and the electoral vote (and thus the White House) in 1884 and 1892. Although Republicans continued to control the White House until 1884, the Democrats remained competitive (especially in the mid-Atlantic and lower Midwest ) and controlled the House of Representatives for most of that period. In the election of 1884 , Grover Cleveland ,
10431-429: The Democrats' drop in popularity. The Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison as their candidate for the 1840 presidential race. Harrison won as the first president of the Whigs. However, he died in office a month later and was succeeded by his Vice President John Tyler . Tyler had recently left the Democrats for the Whigs and thus his beliefs did not align much with the Whig Party. During his presidency, he vetoed most of
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#173276543742210602-405: The First Amendment rights of individual employees". President Carter proposed similar legislation in 1977. A proposed amendment to permit federal workers to participate in political campaigns passed the House on a 305 to 112 vote in 1987. In 1990, a similar bill passed the House on a vote of 334 to 87 and the Senate on a vote of 67 to 30. President George H. W. Bush vetoed the legislation, which
10773-552: The House voted to override 327 to 93 and the Senate sustained on a vote of 65 to 35, with 55 Democrats and 10 Republicans voting to override and 35 Republicans supporting the president's veto. In 1993 the advocates for removing or modifying restrictions on the political activities of federal employees succeeded in enacting the Hatch Act Reform Amendments of 1993 (107 Stat. 1001) that removed the prohibition on participation in "political management or political campaigns". Federal employees are still forbidden to use their authority to affect
10944-410: The NAACP, and he became director-counsel of the newly formed NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. He participated in numerous landmark Supreme Court cases involving civil rights, including Smith v. Allwright , Morgan v. Virginia , Shelley v. Kraemer , McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents , Sweatt v. Painter , Brown , and Cooper v. Aaron . His approach to desegregation cases emphasized
11115-449: The Northeast. Former Democratic President Van Buren ran as the Free Soil nominee in 1848 and finished second ahead of Cass in the anti-slavery states of Vermont and Massachusetts and in his home state of New York. Had Cass won New York as Polk had 4 years prior, he would have won the election. Free Soils warned that rich slave owners would move into new territories such as Nebraska and buy up the best lands and work them with slaves. To protect
11286-418: The Northern and Southern wings. When the new Republican Party formed in 1854 on the basis of refusing to tolerate the expansion of slavery into the territories, many northern Democrats (especially Free Soilers from 1848) joined it. The formation of the new short-lived Know-Nothing Party allowed the Democrats to win the presidential election of 1856. Buchanan, a Northern " Doughface " (his base of support
11457-509: The Republican Party only elected one president ( Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956) and was the minority in Congress all but twice (the exceptions being 1947–49 and 1953–55). Powerful committee chairmanships were awarded automatically on the basis of seniority, which gave power especially to long-serving Southerners. Important Democratic leaders during this time included Presidents Truman (1945–1953), John F. Kennedy (1961–1963), and Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969). Republican Richard Nixon won
11628-406: The Republicans to landslides in 1868 and 1872 . When a major economic depression hit the United States with the Panic of 1873 , the Democratic Party made major gains across the country, took full control of the South, and took control of Congress. The Democrats lost consecutive presidential elections from 1860 through 1880, nevertheless Democrats have won the popular vote in 1876 . Although
11799-437: The Republicans won their biggest landslide ever, taking full control of the House. The Democrats lost nearly all their seats in the Northeast. The third party Populists also were ruined. However, Cleveland's silverite enemies gained control of the Democratic Party in state after state, including full control in Illinois and Michigan and made major gains in Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and other states. Wisconsin and Massachusetts were two of
11970-530: The Supreme Court for a decade, wrote that "it was rare during our conference deliberations that he would not share an anecdote, a joke or a story"; although O'Connor initially treated the stories as "welcome diversions", she later "realized that behind most of the anecdotes was a relevant legal point". Marshall did not wish to retire—he frequently said "I was appointed to a life term, and I intend to serve it"—but he had been in ill health for many years, and Brennan's retirement in 1990 left him unhappy and isolated on
12141-453: The Supreme Court have not rated Marshall as highly as some of his colleagues: although his pre–Supreme Court legal career and his staunch liberalism have met with broad approval, a perception that he lacked substantial influence over his fellow justices has harmed his reputation. In Abraham's view, "he was one of America's greatest public lawyers, but he was not a great Supreme Court justice". A 1993 survey of legal scholars found that Marshall
12312-410: The Supreme Court's liberal bloc. According to the scholar William J. Daniels: "His approach to justice was Warren Court–style legal realism ... In his dissenting opinions he emphasized individual rights, fundamental fairness, equal opportunity and protection under the law, the supremacy of the Constitution as the embodiment of rights and privileges, and the Supreme Court's responsibility to play
12483-691: The Supreme Court, Marshall participated in over 3,400 cases and authored 322 majority opinions. He was a member of the unanimous majority in United States v. Nixon that rejected President Nixon's claims of absolute executive privilege . Marshall wrote several influential decisions in the fields of corporate law and securities law , including a frequently-cited opinion regarding materiality in TSC Industries, Inc. v. Northway, Inc. His opinions involving personal jurisdiction , such as Shaffer v. Heitner , were pragmatic and de-emphasized
12654-475: The Supreme Court. He took the constitutional oath of office on October 2, 1967, becoming the first African American to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Marshall remained on the Supreme Court for nearly twenty-four years, serving until his retirement in 1991. The Court to which he was appointed—the Warren Court —had a consistent liberal majority, and Marshall's jurisprudence
12825-550: The Supreme Court. Of the thirty-two civil rights cases that Marshall argued before the Supreme Court, he won twenty-nine. He and W. J. Durham wrote the brief in Smith v. Allwright (1944), in which the Court ruled the white primary unconstitutional, and he successfully argued both Morgan v. Virginia (1946), involving segregation on interstate buses, and a companion case to Shelley v. Kraemer (1948), involving racially restrictive covenants . From 1939 to 1947, Marshall
12996-405: The Supreme Court; despite opposition from Southern senators , he was confirmed by a vote of 69 to 11. He was often in the majority during the consistently liberal Warren Court period, but after appointments by President Richard Nixon made the Court more conservative, Marshall frequently found himself in dissent. His closest ally on the Court was Justice William J. Brennan Jr. , and the two voted
13167-564: The Texas issue. John Mack Faragher 's analysis of the political polarization between the parties is: Most Democrats were wholehearted supporters of expansion, whereas many Whigs (especially in the North ) were opposed. Whigs welcomed most of the changes wrought by industrialization but advocated strong government policies that would guide growth and development within the country's existing boundaries; they feared (correctly) that expansion raised
13338-451: The U.S. Supreme Court. They did not challenge the Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which had accepted the " separate but equal " doctrine; instead, they argued that Gaines had been denied an equal education. In an opinion by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes , the Court held that if Missouri gave whites the opportunity to attend law school in-state, it was required to do
13509-544: The United States and therefore did not apply nationwide, but it pleased Marshall, who later said that he had filed the lawsuit "to get even with the bastards" who had kept him from attending the school himself. In 1936, Marshall joined Houston, who had been appointed as the NAACP's special counsel, in New York City, serving as his assistant. They worked together on the landmark case of Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938) . When Lloyd Lionel Gaines 's application to
13680-503: The Whig Party, which finally collapsed in 1852, fatally weakened by division on slavery and nativism . The fragmented opposition could not stop the election of Democrats Franklin Pierce in 1852 and James Buchanan in 1856 . The eight years during which Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan held the presidency were disasters; historians agree that they rank as among the worst presidents. The Party increasingly split along regional lines on
13851-701: The White House in 1968 and 1972, leading to the end of the New Deal era; however, the party became extremely successful in the House, holding it with a majority for 42 years (from 1953 until the Republican Revolution in 1995). Democrats have won five out of the last twelve presidential elections, winning in the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996 (with Bill Clinton , 1993–2001), 2008 and 2012 (with Barack Obama , 2009–2017), and 2020 (with Joe Biden , 2021–2025). Democrats have also won
14022-673: The ability to vote on the payment of a poll tax was unlawful; in a companion case to Miranda v. Arizona (1966), he unsuccessfully maintained on behalf of the government that federal agents were not always required to inform arrested individuals of their rights. He defended the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in South Carolina v. Katzenbach (1966) and Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966), winning both cases. In February 1967, Johnson nominated Ramsey Clark to be Attorney General . The nominee's father
14193-505: The agrarian and strict constructionist orthodoxies of the past and embraced commerce, technology, regulation, reform and internationalism. The movement attracted a circle of outstanding writers, including William Cullen Bryant , George Bancroft , Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne . They sought independence from European standards of high culture and wanted to demonstrate the excellence and exceptionalism of America's own literary tradition . In economic policy, Young America saw
14364-472: The agrarian party elements representing poor farmers in the South and West. After the Republican landslide in the 1894 House elections , the agrarian element, marching behind the slogan of free silver (i.e. in favor of inflation), captured the party. They nominated William Jennings Bryan in the 1896, 1900, and 1908 presidential elections, although he lost every time. Both Bryan and Wilson were leaders of
14535-558: The all-white University of Maryland Law School —applied to Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., and was admitted. At Howard, he was mentored by Charles Hamilton Houston , who taught his students to be "social engineers" willing to use the law as a vehicle to fight for civil rights. Marshall graduated in June 1933 ranked first in his class, and he passed the Maryland bar examination later that year. Marshall started
14706-557: The applicability to the District of Columbia of provisions that cover state and local governments; limited the prohibition on state and local employees running for elective office to employees whose salary is paid completely by federal loans or grants. The Hatch Act does not apply to military members of the uniformed services of the United States , although it does apply to Department of Defense civil servants, as well as Department of Homeland Security civil servants in direct support of
14877-566: The appointment of WPA administrators and case workers and that they used WPA jobs to gain unfair political advantage. In 1938, a series of newspaper articles exposed WPA patronage, and political contributions in return for employment, prompting an investigation by the Senate Campaign Expenditures Committee, headed by Sen. Morris Sheppard , a Texas Democrat. Despite that investigation's inconclusive findings, many in both parties determined to take action against
15048-416: The artisan and the ordinary farmer – by ending federal support of banks and corporations and restricting the use of paper currency , which they distrusted. Their definition of the proper role of government tended to be negative, and Jackson's political power was largely expressed in negative acts. He exercised the veto more than all previous presidents combined. Jackson and his supporters also opposed reform as
15219-577: The assertion that "clean politics" required the act's restrictions: "it would hardly seem to be imperative to muzzle millions of citizens because some of them, if left to their constitutional freedoms, might corrupt the political process." In 1973, in a case brought by the National Association of Letter Carriers, a 6 to 3 decision found the act neither too broad nor unclear. The court's three most liberal justices, Douglas, William J. Brennan , and Thurgood Marshall , dissented. Douglas wrote: "It
15390-533: The bill into law in 1854. The Act opened Kansas Territory and Nebraska Territory to a decision by the residents on whether slavery would be legal or not. Previously it had been illegal there. Thus the new law implicitly repealed the prohibition on slavery in territory north of 36° 30′ latitude that had been part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. Supporters and enemies of slavery poured into Kansas to vote slavery up or down. The armed conflict
15561-557: The blame. The party polarized between the pro-gold pro-business Cleveland faction and the anti-business silverites in the West and South. A fierce struggle inside the party ensued, with catastrophic losses for both the Bourbon and agrarian factions in 1894, leading to the showdown in 1896. Just before the 1894 election, President Cleveland was warned by an advisor: Aided by the deep nationwide economic depression that lasted from 1893 to 1897,
15732-533: The capital-punishment statutes that were in force at the time, Marshall wrote that the death penalty was "morally unacceptable to the people of the United States at this time in their history" and that it "falls upon the poor, the ignorant, and the underprivileged members of society". When the Court in Gregg v. Georgia upheld new death-penalty laws that required juries to consider aggravating and mitigating circumstances , he dissented, describing capital punishment as
15903-444: The coercion of employees by their superiors and federal employee unions had supported the legislation. It passed the House on a vote of 241 to 164 and the Senate on a vote of 54 to 36. President Ford vetoed the legislation on April 12. He noted that coercion could be too subtle for the law to eliminate and that the Supreme Court had said in 1973 that the Hatch Act had achieved "a delicate balance between fair and effective government and
16074-455: The conditions of segregation exist". The five cases eventually reached the Supreme Court and were argued in December 1952. In contrast to the oratorical rhetoric of his adversary— John W. Davis , a former solicitor general and presidential candidate—Marshall spoke plainly and conversationally. He stated that the only possible justification for segregation "is an inherent determination that
16245-478: The convention, including those on slavery, taxes, and the possibility of a central bank. Regarding slavery, the Convention adopted the following resolution: Resolved, That congress has no power under the Constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states, and that such states are the sole and proper judges of every thing appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by
16416-482: The conviction of a Georgia man charged with possessing pornography, writing: "If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a State has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his own house, what books he may read or what films he may watch." In Amalgamated Food Employees Union Local 400 v. Logan Valley Plaza , he wrote for the Court that protesters had the right to picket on private property that
16587-527: The death sentence in this case." According to Ball, Marshall felt that the rights protected by the First Amendment were the Constitution's most important principles and that they could be restricted only for extremely compelling reasons. In a 1969 opinion in Stanley v. Georgia , he held that it was unconstitutional to criminalize the possession of obscene material . For the Court, he reversed
16758-400: The enemy of individual liberty. The 1824 " corrupt bargain " had strengthened their suspicion of Washington politics. ... Jacksonians feared the concentration of economic and political power. They believed that government intervention in the economy benefited special-interest groups and created corporate monopolies that favored the rich. They sought to restore the independence of the individual –
16929-474: The few states that remained under the control of Cleveland's allies. The opposition Democrats were close to controlling two-thirds of the vote at the 1896 national convention , which they needed to nominate their own candidate. However, they were not united and had no national leader, as Illinois governor John Peter Altgeld had been born in Germany and was ineligible to be nominated for president. However,
17100-601: The field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." When Marshall heard Warren read those words, he later said, "I was so happy I was numb". The Court in Brown ordered additional arguments on the proper remedy for the constitutional violation that it had identified; in Brown II , decided in 1955, the justices ordered that desegregation proceed "with all deliberate speed". Their refusal to set
17271-416: The following agencies (or agency components), or in the following categories, are subject to more extensive restrictions on their political activities than employees in other departments and agencies. Additionally, one of the early consequences of the act, were disparate court rulings in union busting cases which forbade the use of voter information from initiative and recall petitions for any purposes outside
17442-534: The full Senate confirmed him by a 56–14 vote on September 11, 1962. On the Second Circuit, Marshall authored 98 majority opinions, none of which was reversed by the Supreme Court, as well as 8 concurrences and 12 dissents. He dissented when a majority held in the Fourth Amendment case of United States ex rel. Angelet v. Fay (1964) that the Supreme Court's 1961 decision in Mapp v. Ohio (which held that
17613-515: The growing power of the WPA and its chief administrator, Harry Hopkins , an intimate of President Franklin Roosevelt . The Act was sponsored by Senator Carl Hatch , a Democrat from New Mexico. At the time, Roosevelt was struggling to purge the Democratic Party of its more conservative members, who were increasingly aligned with the administration's Republican opponents. The president considered vetoing
17784-445: The idea that he "was a lazy Justice uninterested in the Court's work ... is wrong and perhaps racist". Marshall's closest colleague and friend on the Court was Brennan, and the two justices agreed so often that their clerks privately referred to them as "Justice Brennanmarshall". He also had a high regard for Warren, whom he described as "probably the greatest Chief Justice who ever lived". Marshall consistently sided with
17955-921: The importance of state boundaries. According to Tushnet, Marshall was "the Court's liberal specialist in Native American law "; he endeavored to protect Native Americans from regulatory action on the part of the states. He favored a rigid interpretation of procedural requirements, saying in one case that "rules mean what they say"—a position that in Tushnet's view was motivated by the justice's "traditionalist streak". Like most Supreme Court justices, many of Marshall's law clerks went on to become prominent lawyers and legal scholars. His clerks included future Supreme Court justice Elena Kagan , U.S. circuit judge Douglas H. Ginsburg , and legal scholars Cass Sunstein , Mark Tushnet , and Martha Minow . Marshall wed Vivian "Buster" Burey on September 4, 1929, while he
18126-549: The intended elections. Federal employees are allowed to be candidates in non-partisan elections, meaning where no candidates are identified by political party. This type of election is used by most municipalities and school boards in the United States. They are also allowed to be independent candidates in partisan elections for offices of certain localities in the Washington metropolitan area and certain other localities where most voters are federal employees, as designated by
18297-481: The interests of African Americans without incurring enormous political costs", nominated Marshall to be a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on September 23, 1961. The Second Circuit, which spanned New York, Vermont, and Connecticut, was at the time the nation's prominent appellate court. When Congress adjourned, Kennedy gave Marshall a recess appointment , and he took
18468-689: The issue of abortion rights, the author Carl T. Rowan comments that "no justice ever supported a woman's right to choice as uncompromisingly as Marshall did". He joined Blackmun's opinion for the Court in Roe v. Wade , which held that the Constitution protected a woman's right to have an abortion, and he consistently voted against state laws that sought to limit that right in cases such as Maher v. Roe , H. L. v. Matheson , Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health , Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists , and Webster v. Reproductive Health Services . During his service on
18639-559: The issue of slavery in the territories. When the new Republican Party formed in 1854, many anti-slavery ("Free Soil") Democrats in the North switched over and joined it. In 1860 two Democrats ran for president and the United States was moving rapidly toward civil war. The 1840s and 1850s were the heyday of a new faction of young Democrats called " Young America ". It was led by Stephen A. Douglas , James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce and New York financier August Belmont . This new faction broke with
18810-452: The justice was "an unyielding supporter of civil liberties", whose "commitment to the values of the First Amendment was enhanced from actually realizing the historical consequences of being on the weaker and poorer side of power". In Marshall's view, the Constitution guaranteed to all citizens the right to privacy ; he felt that although the Constitution nowhere mentioned such a right expressly, it could be inferred from various provisions of
18981-533: The key Whig bills. The Whigs disowned him. This allowed for the Democrats to retake power in 1845. Foreign policy was a major issue in the 1840s as war threatened with Mexico over Texas and with Britain over Oregon. Democrats strongly supported Manifest Destiny and most Whigs strongly opposed it. The 1844 election was a showdown, with the Democrat James K. Polk narrowly defeating Whig Henry Clay on
19152-747: The lead of the Fire-Eaters by walking out of the Democratic National Convention at Charleston 's Institute Hall in April 1860. They were later joined by those who, once again led by the Fire-Eaters, left the Baltimore Convention the following June when the convention rejected a resolution supporting extending slavery into territories whose voters did not want it. The Southern Democrats, also referred to as Seceders, nominated John C. Breckinridge of Kentucky,
19323-465: The legal scholar Mark Tushnet "gradually became a civil rights leader more than a civil rights lawyer", spent substantial amounts of time giving speeches and fundraising; in 1960, he accepted an invitation from Tom Mboya to help draft Kenya's constitution . By that year, Tushnet writes, he had become "the country's most prominent Supreme Court advocate". President John F. Kennedy , who according to Tushnet "wanted to demonstrate his commitment to
19494-765: The legislation or allowing it to become law without his signature, but instead signed it on the last day he could do so. His signing message welcomed the legislation as if he had called for it, and emphasized the protection his administration would provide for political expression on the part of public employees. The 1939 Act forbids the intimidation or bribery of voters and restricts political campaign activities by federal employees. It prohibits using any public funds designated for relief or public works for electoral purposes. It forbids officials paid with federal funds from using promises of jobs, promotion, financial assistance, contracts, or any other benefit to coerce campaign contributions or political support. It provides that persons below
19665-578: The majority in Wisconsin v. Yoder to hold that a school attendance law could not be constitutionally applied to the Amish , and he joined Justice Harry Blackmun 's dissent when the Court in Employment Division v. Smith upheld a restriction on religious uses of peyote and curtailed Sherbert v. Verner 's strict scrutiny standard. In the view of J. Clay Smith Jr. and Scott Burrell,
19836-473: The majority refused to review a death sentence. He favored a robust interpretation of the First Amendment in decisions such as Stanley v. Georgia , and he supported abortion rights in Roe v. Wade and other cases. Marshall retired from the Supreme Court in 1991 and was replaced by Clarence Thomas . He died in 1993. Thurgood Marshall was born on July 2, 1908, in Baltimore , Maryland, to Norma and William Canfield Marshall. His father held various jobs as
20007-529: The majority upheld Maryland's $ 250-a-month cap on welfare payments against claims that it was insufficient for large families, he argued that rational basis review was not appropriate in cases involving "the literally vital interests of a powerless minority". In what Cass Sunstein described as the justice's greatest opinion, Marshall dissented when the Court in San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez upheld
20178-598: The necessity of a modern infrastructure with railroads, canals, telegraphs, turnpikes and harbors. They endorsed the " market revolution " and promoted capitalism . They called for Congressional land grants to the states, which allowed Democrats to claim that internal improvements were locally rather than federally sponsored. Young America claimed that modernization would perpetuate the agrarian vision of Jeffersonian democracy by allowing yeomen farmers to sell their products and therefore to prosper. They tied internal improvements to free trade , while accepting moderate tariffs as
20349-403: The nominee's liberal jurisprudence. In what Time magazine characterized as a "Yahoo-type hazing", Thurmond asked Marshall over sixty questions about various minor aspects of the history of certain constitutional provisions. By an 11–5 vote on August 3, the committee recommended that Marshall be confirmed. On August 30, after six hours of debate, senators voted 69–11 to confirm Marshall to
20520-494: The oath of office on October 23. Even after his recess appointment, Southern senators continued to delay Marshall's full confirmation for more than eight months. A subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed his hearing several times, leading Senator Kenneth Keating , a New York Republican, to charge that the three-member subcommittee, which included two pro-segregation Southern Democrats,
20691-502: The oldest college for African Americans in the United States. The mischievous Marshall was suspended for two weeks in the wake of a hazing incident, but he earned good grades in his classes and led the school's debating team to numerous victories. His classmates included the poet Langston Hughes . Upon his graduation with honors in 1930 with a bachelor's degree in American literature and philosophy, Marshall—being unable to attend
20862-519: The opinion of the Court in Benton v. Maryland , which held that the Constitution's prohibition of double jeopardy applied to the states. After the retirements of Warren and Justice Hugo Black , however, "Marshall was continually shocked at the refusal" of the Burger and Rehnquist Courts "to hold police and those involved in the criminal justice system responsible for acting according to the language and
21033-550: The overwhelming northern opposition to equal rights for black men. When Whig Vice President Millard Fillmore replaced Taylor, Democrats in Congress led by Stephen Douglas passed the Compromise of 1850 designed to avoid civil war by putting the slavery issue to rest while resolving issues involving territories gained following the War with Mexico. However, in state after state the Democrats gained small but permanent advantages over
21204-646: The party from the early 1830s to the 1850s, shaping the Second Party System , with the Whig Party as the main opposition. After the disappearance of the Federalists after 1815 and the Era of Good Feelings (1816–1824), there was a hiatus of weakly organized personal factions until about 1828–1832, when the modern Democratic Party emerged along with its rival, the Whigs. The new Democratic Party became
21375-409: The party of the "common man", the early Democratic Party stood for individual rights and state sovereignty, and opposed banks and high tariffs. In the first decades of its existence, from 1832 to the mid-1850s (known as the Second Party System ), under Presidents Andrew Jackson , Martin Van Buren , and James K. Polk , the Democrats usually bested the opposition Whig Party by narrow margins. Before
21546-466: The party platforms, acceptance speeches of candidates, editorials, pamphlets and stump speeches , there was a widespread consensus of political values among Democrats. As a textbook coauthored by Mary Beth Norton explains: The Democrats represented a wide range of views but shared a fundamental commitment to the Jeffersonian concept of an agrarian society . They viewed the central government as
21717-456: The people who were formerly in slavery, regardless of anything else, shall be kept as near that stage as possible. And now is the time, we submit, that this Court should make clear that that is not what our Constitution stands for." On May 17, 1954, after internal disagreements and a 1953 reargument, the Supreme Court handed down its unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education , holding in an opinion by Chief Justice Earl Warren that: "in
21888-439: The policy-making level in the executive branch of the federal government must not only refrain from political practices that would be illegal for any citizen, but must abstain from "any active part" in political campaigns, using this language to specify those who are exempt: The act also precludes federal employees from membership in "any political organization which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government",
22059-577: The position, even if the position is funded almost entirely with local funds. The Merit Systems Protection Board and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) are responsible for enforcement of the Hatch Act. The Supreme Court has several times declined to hear challenges to the act and has twice upheld its constitutionality. In a 1947 case brought by the CIO , a divided court found that Congress had properly exercised its authority as long as it had not affected voting rights. Justice William O. Douglas objected to
22230-591: The pro-slavery incumbent vice president, for president and General Joseph Lane , former governor of Oregon, for vice president. The Northern Democrats proceeded to nominate Douglas of Illinois for president and former governor of Georgia Herschel Vespasian Johnson for vice president, while some southern Democrats joined the Constitutional Union Party , backing former Senator John Bell of Tennessee for president and politician Edward Everett of Massachusetts for vice president. This fracturing of
22401-623: The proceedings. Marshall later said that his father "never told me to become a lawyer, but he turned me into one ... He taught me how to argue, challenged my logic on every point, by making me prove every statement I made, even if we were discussing the weather." Marshall attended the Colored High and Training School (later Frederick Douglass High School ) in Baltimore, graduating in 1925 with honors. He then enrolled at Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania ,
22572-493: The prosecution of thirty-two right wing opponents of Roosevelt's pre-war foreign policy in the Sedition Trial of 1944 violated the First Amendment. In the years after 1945, Marshall resumed his offensive against racial segregation in schools. Together with his Inc Fund colleagues, he devised a strategy that emphasized the inherent educational disparities caused by segregation rather than the physical differences between
22743-487: The provisions of schools for blacks that were inferior to those provided for whites. Marshall next turned to the issue of segregation in primary and secondary schools. The NAACP brought suit to challenge segregated schools in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Kansas, South Carolina, and Virginia, arguing both that there were disparities between the physical facilities provided for blacks and whites and that segregation
22914-495: The races after 1872 were very close they did not win the presidency until 1884 . The party was weakened by its record of opposition to the war, but nevertheless benefited from White Southerners ' resentment of Reconstruction and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. The nationwide depression of 1873 allowed the Democrats to retake control of the House in the 1874 Democratic landslide . The Redeemers gave
23085-529: The reforming Democratic Governor of New York, won the Presidency, a feat he repeated in 1892 , having lost in the election of 1888 . Cleveland was the leader of the Bourbon Democrats . They represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted laissez-faire capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. overseas expansion, opposed the annexation of Hawaii , fought for
23256-525: The results of an election. They are also forbidden to run for office in a partisan election, to solicit or receive political contributions, and to engage in political activities while on duty or on federal property. President Barack Obama signed the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012 on December 28, 2012. It modified penalties under the Hatch Act to allow for disciplinary actions in addition to removal for federal employees; clarified
23427-561: The right time to do it, the right man and the right place." The public received the nomination favorably, and Marshall was praised by prominent senators from both parties. The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings for five days in July. Marshall faced harsh criticism from such senators as Mississippi's James O. Eastland , North Carolina's Sam Ervin Jr. , Arkansas's John McClellan , and South Carolina's Strom Thurmond , all of whom opposed
23598-527: The same for blacks. Houston returned to Washington in 1938, and Marshall assumed his position as special counsel the following year. He also became the director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (the Inc Fund), which had been established as a separate organization for tax purposes. In addition to litigating cases and arguing matters before the Supreme Court, he
23769-699: The same period, the Democrats proved more competitive with the Republicans in Congressional politics , enjoying House of Representatives majorities (as in the 65th Congress ) in 15 of the 36 Congresses elected owing largely to their dominance of the Solid South , although only in five of these they formed the majority in the Senate . Furthermore, the Democratic Party was split between the Bourbon Democrats , representing Eastern business interests, and
23940-571: The same way in most cases. Marshall's jurisprudence was pragmatic and drew on his real-world experience. His most influential contribution to constitutional doctrine, the "sliding-scale" approach to the Equal Protection Clause , called on courts to apply a flexible balancing test instead of a more rigid tier-based analysis . He fervently opposed the death penalty , which in his view constituted cruel and unusual punishment ; he and Brennan dissented in more than 1,400 cases in which
24111-475: The scholar Henry J. Abraham . Although the President briefly considered selecting William H. Hastie (an African-American appellate judge from Philadelphia) or a female candidate, he decided to choose Marshall. Johnson announced the nomination in the White House Rose Garden on June 13, declaring that Marshall "deserves the appointment ... I believe that it is the right thing to do,
24282-615: The schools provided for blacks and whites. The Court ruled in Marshall's favor in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1948), ordering that Oklahoma provide Ada Lois Sipuel with a legal education, although the justices declined to order that she be admitted to the state's law school for whites. In 1950, Marshall brought two cases involving education to the Court: McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents , which
24453-532: The spirit of fundamental procedural guarantees", according to Ball. He favored a strict interpretation of the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement and opposed rulings that made exceptions to that provision; in United States v. Ross , for instance, he indignantly dissented when the Court upheld a conviction that was based on evidence discovered during a warrantless search of containers that had been found in an automobile. Marshall felt strongly that
24624-470: The system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, that we hold as fundamental today ... "We the People" no longer enslave, but the credit does not belong to the framers. It belongs to those who refused to acquiesce in outdated notions of "liberty", "justice", and "equality", and who strived to better them ... I plan to celebrate the bicentennial of
24795-533: The university's law school had been rejected on account of his race. In that case— Murray v. Pearson —Judge Eugene O'Dunne ordered that Murray be admitted, and the Maryland Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that it violated equal protection to admit white students to the law school while keeping blacks from being educated in-state. The decision was never appealed to the Supreme Court of
24966-407: The use of sociological data to show that segregation was inherently unequal. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit , where he favored a broad interpretation of constitutional protections. Four years later, Johnson appointed him as the U.S. Solicitor General . In 1967, Johnson nominated Marshall to replace Justice Tom C. Clark on
25137-487: The white farmer it was essential therefore to keep the soil "free"—that is without slavery. In 1852, with a less well known nominee than Van Buren, the free soil movement was much smaller, consisting primarily of former members of the Liberty Party and some abolitionists. It hedged on the question of full equality, as the majority wanted some form of racial separation to allow space for black activism without alienating
25308-486: Was Bleeding Kansas and it shook the nation. A major realignment took place among voters and politicians. The Whig Party fell apart and the new Republican Party was founded in opposition to the expansion of slavery and to the Kansas–Nebraska Act . The new party had little support in the South, but it soon became a majority in the North by pulling together former Whigs and former Free Soil Democrats. The crisis for
25479-471: Was George W. McLaurin 's challenge to unequal treatment at the University of Oklahoma 's graduate school, and Sweatt v. Painter , which was Heman Sweatt 's challenge to his being required to attend a blacks-only law school in Texas. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of both McLaurin and Sweatt on the same day; although the justices did not overrule Plessy and the separate but equal doctrine, they rejected discrimination against African-American students and
25650-403: Was Tom C. Clark , an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Fearing that his son's appointment would create substantial conflicts of interest for him, the elder Clark announced his resignation from the Court. For Johnson, who had long desired to nominate a non-white justice, the choice of a nominee to fill the ensuing vacancy "was as easy as it was obvious", according to
25821-528: Was Woodrow Wilson . Republican Benjamin Harrison won a narrow victory in 1888. The party pushed through a large agenda, and raised the McKinley Tariff and federal spending so high it was used against them as Democrats scored a landslide in the 1890 elections. Harrison was easily defeated for reelection in 1892 by Cleveland. The Bourbons were in power when the Panic of 1893 hit and they took
25992-489: Was "one of the greatest leaders in the history of the African-American struggle for freedom and equality". A 1999 survey of black political scientists listed Marshall as one of the ten greatest African-American leaders in history; panelists described him as the "greatest jurist of the twentieth century" and stated that he "spearheaded the creation of the legal foundations of the civil rights movement". Scholars of
26163-567: Was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union . During that period, he aligned with the faction which favored a more absolutist defense of civil liberties. Most notably, unlike the majority of the Board, he was consistent in his opposition to Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 , which put Japanese Americans into concentration camps. Also, in contrast to most of the Board, Marshall charged that
26334-477: Was a student at Lincoln University. They remained married until her death from cancer in 1955. Marshall married Cecilia "Cissy" Suyat , an NAACP secretary, eleven months later; they had two children: Thurgood Jr. and John . Thurgood Jr. became an attorney and worked in the Clinton administration , and John directed the U.S. Marshals Service and served as Virginia's secretary of public safety . Marshall
26505-460: Was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he was an attorney who fought for civil rights, leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund . Marshall was a prominent figure in the movement to end racial segregation in American public schools. He won 29 of
26676-544: Was an active member of the Episcopal Church and served as a delegate to its 1964 convention, walking out after a resolution to recognize a right to disobey immoral segregation laws was voted down. He was a Prince Hall Mason , attending meetings and participating in rituals. He refused to attend the Supreme Court's annual Christmas party believing that it infringed upon the separation of church and state. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor , who served with Marshall on
26847-519: Was biased against Marshall and engaged in unjustifiable delay. The subcommittee held several hearings between May and August 1962; Marshall faced harsh questioning from the Southerners over what the scholar Howard Ball described as "marginal issues at best". After further delays from the subcommittee, the full Judiciary Committee bypassed it and, by an 11–4 vote on September 7, endorsed Marshall's nomination. Following five hours of floor debate,
27018-414: Was buried at Arlington National Cemetery . According to the scholar Daniel Moak, Marshall "profoundly shaped the political direction of the United States", "transformed constitutional law", and "opened up new facets of citizenship to black Americans". For Tushnet, he was "probably the most important American lawyer of the twentieth century"; in the view of the political scientist Robert C. Smith , he
27189-468: Was gaining strength. The most intense anti-war elements were the Copperheads. The Democratic Party did well in the 1862 congressional elections , but in 1864 it nominated General George McClellan (a War Democrat) on a peace platform and lost badly because many War Democrats bolted to National Union candidate Abraham Lincoln. Many former Douglas Democrats became Republicans, especially soldiers such as generals Ulysses S. Grant and John A. Logan . In
27360-477: Was in the pro-slavery South), split the party on the issue of slavery in Kansas when he attempted to pass a federal slave code as demanded by the South. Most Democrats in the North rallied to Senator Douglas, who preached " Popular Sovereignty " and believed that a Federal slave code would be undemocratic. In 1860 , the Democrats split over the choice of a successor to President Buchanan along Northern and Southern lines. Some Southern Democratic delegates followed
27531-424: Was inherently harmful to African-American children. Marshall helped to try the South Carolina case. He called numerous social scientists and other expert witnesses to testify regarding the harms of segregation; these included the psychology professor Ken Clark , who testified that segregation in schools caused self-hatred among African-American students and inflicted damage that was "likely to endure as long as
27702-439: Was known for its populism. Historian Frank Towers has specified an important ideological divide: Democrats stood for the 'sovereignty of the people' as expressed in popular demonstrations, constitutional conventions, and majority rule as a general principle of governing, whereas Whigs advocated the rule of law, written and unchanging constitutions, and protections for minority interests against majority tyranny. At its inception,
27873-555: Was not as conservative as some observers had anticipated, but the task of constructing liberal majorities case-by-case was left primarily to Brennan; Marshall's most consequential contributions to constitutional law came in dissent. The justice left much of his work to his law clerks , preferring to determine the outcome of the case and then allow the clerks to draft the opinion themselves. He took umbrage at frequent claims that he did no work and spent his time watching daytime soap operas ; according to Tushnet, who clerked for Marshall,
28044-554: Was open to the public—a decision that was effectively overruled (over Marshall's dissent) four years later in Lloyd Corporation v. Tanner . He emphasized equality in his free speech opinions, writing in Chicago Police Dept. v. Mosley that "above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its messages, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content". Making comparisons to earlier civil rights protests, Marshall vigorously dissented in Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence ,
28215-432: Was papered over at the 1852 and 1856 conventions by selecting men who had little involvement in sectionalism, but they made matters worse. Historian Roy F. Nichols explains why Franklin Pierce was not up to the challenges a Democratic president had to face: In 1854, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois—a key Democratic leader in the Senate—pushed the Kansas–Nebraska Act through Congress. President Franklin Pierce signed
28386-426: Was ranked as the seventeenth-greatest justice of the Supreme Court—a rating that, while still lower than that of his fellow liberal justices, was substantially higher than was recorded in an earlier survey. Marshall has received numerous tributes. The state of Maryland renamed Baltimore's airport the Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in 2005, and the University of Maryland's law library
28557-447: Was responsible for raising money, managing the Inc Fund, and conducting public-relations work. Marshall litigated a number of cases involving unequal salaries for African Americans, winning nearly all of them; by 1945, he had ended salary disparities in major Southern cities and earned a reputation as a prominent figure in the civil rights movement. He also defended individuals who had been charged with crimes before both trial courts and
28728-406: Was similar to that of its leaders, Chief Justice Warren and Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Although he wrote few major opinions during this period due to his lack of seniority, he was typically in the majority. As a result of four Supreme Court appointments by President Richard Nixon , however, the liberal coalition vanished. The Court under Chief Justice Warren Burger (the Burger Court )
28899-446: Was the first at which the party adopted a platform. Delegates reaffirmed their belief that the Constitution was the primary guide for each state's political affairs. To them, this meant that all roles of the federal government not specifically defined fell to each respective state government, including such responsibilities as debt created by local projects. Decentralized power and states' rights pervaded each and every resolution adopted at
29070-408: Was unconstitutional because it sent "a plain and powerful symbolic message" to blacks "that because of their race, they are to stay out of the all-white enclave ... and should instead take the long way around". Marshall felt that affirmative action was both necessary and constitutional; in an opinion in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke , he commented that it was "more than
29241-433: Was weakest in New England , but strong everywhere else and won most national elections thanks to strength in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia (by far the most populous states at the time) and the American frontier . Democrats opposed elites and aristocrats, the Bank of the United States and the whiggish modernizing programs that would build up industry at the expense of the yeoman or independent small farmer. The party
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