U.S.+v.+Butler

The case title is **U.S.** **vs. Butler.**

The date of hearing was Monday, December 9, 1935. The case was over by January 6, 1936. The Supreme Court Justice of this case was Justice Owen Roberts. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1875 and was the main oppose **??** of this case. Justice Roberts was primarily a Republican, and was appointed by Herbert Hoover **when?**. He was an associate Justice in the Supreme Court for 15 years. He also helped with the investigation on the attack on Pearl Harbor. During WW II, he was the only Republican judge in the Supreme Court, and voted against Japanese American internment camps in the case Korematsu vs. the US. // ***Justice Owen Roberts, 1935*** // The documents/amendments that were relevant to this case were Amendment 10 **(what's in this amendment that they argued with?)**; Agricultural Adjustment Act. The Court found the Act unconstitutional because it attempted to regulate and control agricultural production, an arena reserved to the states, thus, violating the 10th amendment. **What about presidential and Congressional powers?**

Summary: This case was implemented during the agricultural crisis in 1933, and it stated that taxes on farmer’s goods and commodities would be cut down if they chose to reduce their acreage. The Court found the act **AAA?** unconstitutional because it tried to regulate and control agricultural production. The Justice declared that while the American government did have the power to regulate taxes and costs, this was “means to an unconstitutional end”. The Agricultural Adjustment Act authorized the setting of limits on the production of certain crops and the imposition of taxes on crops produced in excess of these limits. **So explain why this is bad, according to the justices. Also, who is Butler? What led up to this?** // ***Farmers just trying to make ends-meet in 1935, during the Agricultural Adjustment Act*** // The main issue of the case was that the Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional. It was declared this because it regulated farmer’s crops too much and there was unfair taxation on the crops.

The decision rendered by court: Roberts decided the Agricultural Adjustment Act was unconstitutional (beyond Congress's Commerce powers). There were six votes for Butler, and three against. It was decided by the Hughes Court in 1932-1937. The majority of the members of the court (below), who voted for Butler included, Roberts, Hughes, Van Devanter, McReynolds, Sutherland, and Butler. Those against Butler included Stone, Brandeis, and Cardozo. The members of the court included the Chief Justice, Charles E. Hughes, and the associate justices: Willis Van Devanter, James C. McReynolds, Louis Brandeis, George Sutherland, Pierce Butler, Harlan F. Stone, Owen J. Roberts, and Benjamin N. Cardozo. The case lasted from December 9, 1935, to January 6, 1936. **How long were each of these guys on the court??**

//***Supreme Court Justices***// In my personal opinion, I’m glad that the case went to trial. It showed the unfair regulation of prices that was going on, and how it was hurting the farmers, a large summation of the economy at that time. Industry was the main catcher**??**, but agriculture supplied the main source of food for the nation. The American government attempted to regulate farmer’s production and increase profit on taxes. An attempt like this seemed radical, almost Marxist. During the time when this took place, the Great Depression had just begun to relieve its hold, but the Dust Bowl refused to quit. The Dust Bowl was a major dry-out in the plains just around the mid 1930’s due to improper soil nutrition. The Government was in a bind, but in their feeble attempt to regain any sort of agricultural certainty, they hurt the people they needed to help most: the farmers. They regulated their production (or what little of they had) and expected to get more funds in taxes. This case really demonstrates the benefits of democracy, of the people having the ability to present themselves to the government. Butler was a well-known man in his community, but outside of that, no one knew who he was. But he was persistent, and Butler fought against something that he thought was wrong. By doing so, he was able to make it all the way to the Ultimate Governing Power themselves. In short, this case was a hands-down success in my book.

// ***Image dating back to 1935 of a town getting hit by a dust storm during the Dust Bowl*** // Had Butler lost the case? Had the Agricultural Adjustment Act continued? What a scary thought. There’s a high chance that we would have not been structurally stable to bring ourselves out of the Great Depression until a much later period in time. Think about it: the farmers are what supplied the food for the country. Could we Import food from other countries? It was incredibly rare - and it was so expensive to do - that it had a small customer base in the US. These farmers were the backbone of our society. They were small, but they provided the essential source: the food. I cannot say for sure, but all logic states that if you limit the source of food, prices inflate, then people can’t afford to buy it. That is when farmers run out of money to grow and maintain the crops. Thus, the farmers stop growing food, and when there is no source of food, people starve. America was on the cusp of a famine, and judging by the size of the “bullet” they dodged with the US v. Butler case, it was going to be an extremely large-scale famine. As I said, it cannot be told for certain, but that is just what logic states. __ Citation: __ Colb, Sherry F. "United States v. Butler - 297 U.S. 1 (1936) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center." //US Law, Case Law, Codes, Statutes & Regulations :: Justia US Supreme Court Center//. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. [].

"United States v. Butler | Course-Notes.Org." //Free AP Notes, Outlines, Vocab and Practice Exams | Course-Notes.Org//. Web. 08 Feb. 2012. []. "United States v. Butler | The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law." //The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law | A Multimedia Archive of the Supreme Court of the United States//. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. []. "United States v. Butler | Casebriefs." //Law Cases & Case Briefs for Students//. Web. 13 Feb. 2012. []. 7/7 Biblio 23/28 - Content -- more explanation needed, more description of the case. 5/5 Organization -- good job.

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