FDR wanted the average age of the members of the supreme court to be what?

Answer 1

President Franklin D. Roosevelt never suggested the sitting Supreme Court justices should be of a specific average age; he simply hoped packing the court with younger, more progressive, men would dilute the impact of the older, conservative justices who formed a majority opposing his New Deal legislation. If Roosevelt had his way, the average age on the Court would have been well below 70 years.

At the time Roosevelt assumed office, six of the nine justices, whom Roosevelt referred to as the "Nine Old Men," were over the age of 70. These justices were a holdover from what is commonly termed the Lochner Era, a period where the Court struck down many attempts to regulate wages, working hours, and working conditions as unconstitutional. Their perspective could easily be termed anti-labor, which meant they opposed government interventions that protected the working class from corporate exploitation.

Four justices: James McReynolds, George Sutherland, Willis Van Devanter and Pierce Butler, whom the press referred to as "The Four Horsemen," were particularly hostile to Roosevelt's New Deal.

Roosevelt sought to address this problem by drafting the Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937 (popularly known as the "Court-Packing Plan") which, in addition to restructuring and modernizing the federal court system, contained a provision granting the President the ability to appointed one new Supreme Court justice for every sitting justice over the age of 70.5, to a maximum of six new justices. Roosevelt hoped to stop the Court from overturning so much of his New Deal legislation by infusing the Court younger, more liberal justices he knew supported his plans.

Ironically, the idea originated with Justice James McReynolds (one of the Four Horsemen), who was US Attorney General prior to joining the bench. In his Annual Report of the Attorney General for 1913, McReynolds wrote:

"Judges of the US courts, at the age of seventy, after having served ten years, may retire upon full pay. In the past, many judges have availed themselves of this privilege. Some, however, have remained on the bench long beyond the time when they were capable of adequately discharging their duties, and in consequence the administration of justice has suffered. The power of Congress to correct this condition is limited by the provision of the Constitution that judges shall hold their offices during good behavior."

"I suggest an act providing when any judge of a Federal court below the Supreme Court fails to avail himself of the privilege of retiring now granted by law, that the President be required, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint another judge, who shall preside over the affairs of the court and have precendence over the older one. This will insure at all times the presence of a judge sufficiently active to discharge promptly and adequately the duties of the court."

(McReynolds retired from the US Supreme Court at the age of 79.)

Unfortunately for Roosevelt, Congress and the American public saw his transparent scheme for what it was - an attempt to gain control over the judicial branch of government - and stripped the provision from the bill.

Answer 2

FDR was upset by the fact that so many Supreme Court justices were over the age of 70. He felt they were out of touch with the current problems of the world and would hinder progress. Instead, he wanted the average age to be closer to 40, as it was amongst the men who drafted the Constitution. They would better represent the issues of men and women from their 20's to 60's, the majority of the voting class.

Answer 3

below 70