Eisenhower’s Court Appointments

President Eisenhower’s appointment of Earl Warren as chief justice of the United States was one of the most enduring legacies of his presidency. A judicial activist of great political skill, Warren brought greater cohesion and direction to the Court than it had experienced during the Vinson years. He led the Court and indeed the nation through historic changes in racial, political, and social dynamics during times of deep unrest.

Desegregating Public Education

The work of the Vinson Court prepared the way for the total dismantling of racial segregation. When the Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in Brown, Chief Justice Warren made sure that the justices spoke unanimously in order to make clear that no other outcome was possible. The opinion of the Court spoke directly to the nation; it was brief, readable, and easily understood. Recognizing that the nation needed time to dismantle segregated school systems, the lower federal courts were directed to implement the decision with “all deliberate speed.” When southern states resisted implementation of the decision, President Eisenhower sent federal troops in to enforce desegregation. The Court, for its part, spoke forcefully in dealing with resistance to a desegregation order. “The time has not come when an order of a Federal Court must be whittled away, watered down, or shamefully withdrawn in the face of violent and unlawful acts of individual citizens.”

Anticommunism and the Court

The Warren Court brought some of the worst abuses of the House Un-American Activities Committee to a stop. In the 1955 Quinn and Emspak cases, the Court held that witnesses before the committee had a right to invoke the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, frustrating the bullying tactics of investigators. The Court went on to overturn statutes allowing states to dismiss employees who invoked the Fifth Amendment as violations of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The biggest blow to HUAC came when the Court ruled in Watkins (1957) that the investigative powers of Congress extend only to its legislative functions, thereby curtailing the fishing expeditions with which HUAC had ruined countless lives.

The Smith Act and the Courts

In Pennsylvania v. Nelson (1947) the Warren Court ended the prosecution of Communist Party members under state sedition laws. Individuals who had been prosecuted under the Smith Act by the federal government were frequently also prosecuted by state authorities under state sedition laws. Sequential state and federal prosecutions for the same offense are constitutional under United States v. Lanza (1922), but in Nelson the Court held that federal sedition law preempts state sedition law.

Eviscerating the Smith Act

In Yates v. United States (1957) the Court all but overturned the Smith Act. Applying a very narrow interpretation, the Court held that the statute barred advocating or teaching the violent overthrow of government only with respect to concrete action and not as an abstract principle. In addition, the Court held that the organizing section of the law applied only to the initial formation of the postwar Communist Party in 1945. Because of the three-year statute of limitations on criminal prosecutions, it became impossible to prosecute defendants under the provision.

Loyalty Programs and Due Process

The Warren Court issued a series of rulings extending due process rights that the Vinson Court had denied to federal employees accused of subversion. Government departments were held accountable to their own internal rules, and the accused were given opportunities to refute the charges against them. No longer could they be discharged on the basis of unproved and anonymous accusations.

Military Courts and Civilians

The expansion of United States military bases abroad in the wake of World War II raised questions about the constitutional rights of personnel deployed abroad and the rights of their family members. The Court held that military personnel do not have the same rights as civilians. Their rights are governed by military law and by the status of forces agreements in effect between the United States and the host country. But neither treaties nor status of forces agreements can deprive civilians with United States citizenship of their constitutional rights with respect to criminal proceedings on overseas bases.

Fair Trial and Full Disclosure

In Jencks v. United States (1957) the Warren Court held that defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to examine the pretrial statements made by government witnesses against them.

Free Speech and Political Advocacy

In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) the Court overturned the conviction of a Ku Klux Klan member for a speech he delivered at a cross-burning ceremony. The Court affirmed the clear and present danger standard, ruling that the First Amendment protects the right to advocate freely in the presence of a hostile audience.