The Formal Distinction

Chief Justice Hughes’Letter on Court-Packing

“…The Senators left in jubilation, assuming that Hughes would testify with Brandeis and Van Devanter, as he had two years before against a bill aimed at changing the Court's appellate procedure, This time, however, Hughes found that Brandeis stood fast against an appearance in which the Justices would ''testify on a matter affecting their own integrity." 24 Hughes thereupon suggested that he might, in response to a request from the committee, write a letter stating the facts of the court's work. That idea Brandeis accepted and so, Hughes found, did Van D e~a n t e r .~~ On Friday morning, therefore, Hughes called Senator King at his home to tell him that there was a strong feeling that the Court should not enter the controversy "in any direct or even indirect way."…”