Day 21: Joseph McKenna
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  Constitution and Law (Moderator: World politics is up Schmitt creek)
  Day 21: Joseph McKenna
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Author Topic: Day 21: Joseph McKenna  (Read 1036 times)
A18
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« on: December 15, 2006, 12:16:42 AM »

Discuss.
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MaC
Milk_and_cereal
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2006, 03:32:42 AM »

wiki doesn't really say crap-do you or Emsworth know any good sites I could get a better understanding of these justices-yet not have to read 10 pages.

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Emsworth
Junior Chimp
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« Reply #2 on: December 15, 2006, 01:38:42 PM »

McKenna was an adherent of the substantive due process doctrine, voting with the majority in Lochner v. New York, Meyer v. Nebraska, and Adkins v. Children's Hospital. At the same time, he was the author of the court's opinion in Bunting v. Oregon. His jurisprudence on the commerce clause was largely unsound. He opposed Hammer v. Dagenhart and Adair v. United States, but voted with the majority in Champion v. Ames and the Shreveport Rate Case.

Marginal HP.
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A18
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Posts: 23,794
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« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2006, 02:45:10 PM »

McKenna's votes and the reasoning behind them were often inconsistent, making it a bit difficult to sum up his career. The best summary of his tenure on the court is that he took a broad view of congressional authority, but was somewhat more suspicious of state power. This meant an obsessively lenient interpretation of the Commerce Clause and occasional invocations of "substantive due process," his votes in the latter category being the ones hard to reconcile.

The truth is that there's not a single memorable opinion (good or bad) with his name on it. On balance, he led an undistinguished career.

In his later years on the bench, McKenna became mentally decrepit, but refused to retire. In 1924, his colleagues agreed not to decide any cases where his vote would be decisive. He finally stepped down in 1925, leaving no discernable (certainly not enduring) mark on the law. Those opinions of his that are not completely forgotten simply applied settled law without much controversy.
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