Owen Josephus Roberts (May 2, 1875 – May 17, 1955) was an
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is any member of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1 ...
from 1930 to 1945. He also led two
Roberts Commission
The Roberts Commission is one of two presidentially-appointed commissions. One related to the circumstances of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and another related to the protection of cultural resources during and after World War II. Both were ...
s, the first of which investigated the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, and the second of which focused on works of cultural value during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
.
Born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, Roberts graduated from the
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...
and pursued a legal career. After working as a district attorney in Philadelphia, he was appointed by President
Calvin Coolidge to investigate the
Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomi ...
. After the death of Associate Justice
Edward Terry Sanford
Edward Terry Sanford (July 23, 1865 – March 8, 1930) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as a ...
in March 1930, President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
nominated
John J. Parker
John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885 – March 17, 1958) was an American politician and United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was an unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of the Unite ...
to fill the vacancy on the court. The Senate rejected Parker and Hoover quickly
nominated
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* ...
Roberts as his second choice for the vacancy. Roberts was easily confirmed and took his position on the court in May 1930.
On the
Hughes Court
The Hughes Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1930 to 1941, when Charles Evans Hughes served as Chief Justice of the United States. Hughes succeeded William Howard Taft as Chief Justice after the latter's retirement, an ...
, Roberts was a swing vote positioned between the conservative
Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos.
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...
and the liberal
Three Musketeers
3 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
3, three, or III may also refer to:
* AD 3, the third year of the AD era
* 3 BC, the third year before the AD era
* March, the third month
Books
* '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...
. Along with Chief Justice
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, Roberts's vote often decided whether President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's
New Deal legislation would be upheld. His decision to uphold the constitutionality of a state minimum wage law in ''
West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish
''West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish'', 300 U.S. 379 (1937), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of state minimum wage legislation. The court's decision overturned an earlier holding in ''Adkins v. Child ...
'' has been called "
the switch in time that saved nine
"The switch in time that saved nine" is the phrase, originally a quip by humorist Cal Tinney, about what was perceived in 1937 as the sudden jurisprudential shift by Associate Justice Owen Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1937 case '' ...
." That term references the decision's possible role in the defeat of the
Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937
The Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937, frequently called the "court-packing plan",Epstein, at 451. was a legislative initiative proposed by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court in order t ...
, which would have
expanded the Supreme Court and thus allowed Roosevelt to appoint Justices more sympathetic to his policies. Roberts's motivation for upholding the constitutionality of the New Deal and his role in the defeat of the bill remains a matter of debate.
Though the bill was defeated, Roosevelt's long presidency allowed him to appoint most of the court. By the end of Roberts's tenure, he was the lone Supreme Court Justice who was not appointed by Roosevelt. He was one of three Justices, along with
Robert H. Jackson and
Frank Murphy
William Francis Murphy (April 13, 1890July 19, 1949) was an American politician, lawyer and jurist from Michigan. He was a Democrat who was named to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1940 after a political career that included serving ...
, to vote against Roosevelt's orders for
Japanese American internment camps in ''
Korematsu v. United States'' as well as the lone judge to dissent in the case of ''
Smith v. Allwright
''Smith v. Allwright'', 321 U.S. 649 (1944), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court with regard to voting rights and, by extension, racial desegregation. It overturned the Texas state law that authorized parties to set thei ...
'', which ruled
white primaries
White primaries were primary elections held in the Southern United States in which only white voters were permitted to participate. Statewide white primaries were established by the state Democratic Party units or by state legislatures in South ...
unconstitutional. His relations with his colleagues on the
Stone Court became strained and he retired in 1945. Roberts served as the Dean of his alma mater, the
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...
, from 1948 to 1951. He died in
Chester County, Pennsylvania
Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the Delaware Valley region of the state. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53 ...
in 1955.
Early life and career
Roberts was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
and attended
Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...
and enrolled at the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
at the age of 16 where he studied
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, was elected to
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
and was the editor of ''
The Daily Pennsylvanian
''The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc.'' is the independent student media organization of the University of Pennsylvania. The DP, Inc. publishes The Daily Pennsylvanian newspaper, 34th Street Magazine, and Under the Button, as well as five newslette ...
''. He completed his bachelor's degree in 1895 and went on to graduate ''
summa cum laude'' and first in his class from the
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and oldes ...
in 1898. On March 1, 1912, Roberts and fellow Philadelphia lawyers William W. Montgomery, Jr. and
Charles L. McKeehan, founded the law firm Roberts, Montgomery & McKeehan, the predecessor of the law firm Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP.
He first gained notice as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. He was appointed by President
Calvin Coolidge to investigate
oil
An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
reserve scandals, known as the
Teapot Dome scandal
The Teapot Dome scandal was a bribery scandal involving the administration of United States President Warren G. Harding from 1921 to 1923. Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyomi ...
. This led to the prosecution and conviction of
Albert B. Fall
Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861November 30, 1944) was a United States senator from New Mexico and the Secretary of the Interior under President Warren G. Harding, infamous for his involvement in the Teapot Dome scandal; he was the only pers ...
, the former
Secretary of the Interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to:
* Secretary of the Interior (Mexico)
* Interior Secretary of Pakistan
* Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines)
* United States Secretary of the Interior
See also
*Interior ministry ...
, for bribe-taking.
Supreme Court
Roberts was
nominated
A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example:
* to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs.
* ...
by President
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...
on May 9, 1930, as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of the Supreme Court, to succeed
Edward Terry Sanford
Edward Terry Sanford (July 23, 1865 – March 8, 1930) was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as a ...
. Hoover selected Roberts after his previous nominee,
John J. Parker
John Johnston Parker (November 20, 1885 – March 17, 1958) was an American politician and United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He was an unsuccessful nominee for associate justice of the Unite ...
, had been rejected by the Senate. In contrast to Parker, Roberts was confirmed by voice vote on May 20, 1930.
He took the judicial oath of office on June 2, 1930.
[
On the Court, Roberts was a swing vote between those, led by Justices Louis Brandeis, ]Benjamin Cardozo
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's th ...
, and Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to:
Surname
* Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive
*Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver
*Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician
* Byron ...
, as well as Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
, who would allow a broader interpretation of the Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause describes an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution ( Article I, Section 8, Clause 3). The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and amon ...
to allow Congress to pass New Deal legislation that would provide for a more active federal role in the national economy, and the Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos.
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand tha ...
(Justices James Clark McReynolds
James Clark McReynolds (February 3, 1862 – August 24, 1946) was an American lawyer and judge from Tennessee who served as United States Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Unite ...
, Pierce Butler Pierce or Piers Butler may refer to:
*Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormond (c. 1467 – 26 August 1539), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland
*Piers Butler, 3rd Viscount Galmoye (1652–1740), Anglo-Irish nobleman in the Peerage of Ireland
* P ...
, George Sutherland
George Alexander Sutherland (March 25, 1862July 18, 1942) was an English-born American jurist and politician. He served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court between 1922 and 1938. As a member of the Republican Party, he also repre ...
, and Willis Van Devanter
Willis Van Devanter (April 17, 1859 – February 8, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1911 to 1937. He was a staunch conservative and was regarded as a part of the Four ...
) who favored a narrower interpretation of the Commerce Clause and believed that the Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause protected a strong "liberty of contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
."
In 1936's ''United States v. Butler
''United States v. Butler'', 297 U.S. 1 (1936), is a U.S. Supreme Court case that held that the U.S. Congress has not only the power to lay taxes to the level necessary to carry out its other powers enumerated in Article I of the U.S. Constituti ...
'', Roberts sided with the Four Horsemen and wrote an opinion striking down the Agricultural Adjustment Act
The Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was a United States federal law of the New Deal era designed to boost agricultural prices by reducing surpluses. The government bought livestock for slaughter and paid farmers subsidies not to plant on par ...
as beyond Congress's taxing and spending powers.
"Switch in Time that Saved Nine"
Roberts switched his position on the constitutionality of the New Deal in late 1936, and the Supreme Court handed down ''West Coast Hotel v. Parrish
''West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish'', 300 U.S. 379 (1937), was a decision by the United States Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of state minimum wage legislation. The court's decision overturned an earlier holding in '' Adkins v. Chi ...
'' in 1937, upholding the constitutionality of minimum wage laws. Subsequently, the Court would vote to uphold all New Deal programs. Since President Roosevelt's plan to appoint several new justices as part of his "Court-packing
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point of ...
" plan of 1937 coincided with the Court's favorable decision in Parrish, many people called Roberts's vote in that case "The switch in time that saved nine
"The switch in time that saved nine" is the phrase, originally a quip by humorist Cal Tinney, about what was perceived in 1937 as the sudden jurisprudential shift by Associate Justice Owen Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1937 case '' ...
," although Roberts's vote in ''Parrish'' occurred several months before announcement of the Court-packing plan. While Roberts is often accused of inconsistency in his jurisprudential stance towards the New Deal, legal scholars note that he had previously argued for a broad interpretation of government power in the 1934 case of ''Nebbia v. New York
''Nebbia v. New York'', 291 U.S. 502 (1934), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States decided that New York State could regulate the price of milk for dairy farmers, dealers, and retailers.
History
New York State dairy farmers ...
'', and so his later vote in ''Parrish'' was not a complete reversal. Roberts, however, had sided with the four conservative justices in finding a similar state minimum wage in New York unconstitutional in June 1936. Because the announcement of the Parrish decision took place in March 1937, one month after Roosevelt announced his plan to pack the court, it created speculation that Roberts had voted in favor of Washington's state minimum wage law because he had succumbed to political pressure.
However, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
contended in his autobiographical notes that Roosevelt's attempt to pack the court "had not the slightest effect" on the Court's ruling in the Parrish case and records showed that Roberts indicated his desire to uphold Washington state's minimum wage law two months prior to Roosevelt's court-packing announcement in December 1936. On December 19, 1936, two days after oral arguments ended for the Parrish case, Roberts voted in favor of Washington's state minimum wage law, but the Supreme Court was divided 4–4 because pro-New Deal Associate Justice Harlan Fiske Stone
Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to:
Surname
* Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive
*Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver
*Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician
* Byron ...
was absent due to an illness; Hughes contended that this long delay in the Parrish case's announcement led to false speculation that Roosevelt's court packing plan intimidated the Court into ruling in favor of the New Deal. Roberts and Hughes both acknowledged that because of the overwhelming support that had been shown for the New Deal through Roosevelt's re-election in November 1936, Hughes was able to persuade Roberts to no longer base his votes on his own political beliefs and side with him during future votes on New Deal related policies. In one of his notes from 1936, Hughes wrote that Roosevelt's re-election forced the court to depart from "its fortress in public opinion" and severely weakened its capability to base its rulings on personal or political beliefs.
Other rulings and Roberts Commissions
Roberts wrote the majority opinion in the landmark case of '' New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co.'', , which safeguarded the right to boycott in the context of the struggle by African Americans against discriminatory hiring practices. He also wrote the majority opinion sustaining provisions of the second Agricultural Adjustment Act applied to the marketing of tobacco in '' Mulford v. Smith'', .
Roberts was appointed by Roosevelt to head the commission investigating the attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
; his report was published in 1942 and was highly critical of the US military
The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...
. An antiwar journalist, John T. Flynn, wrote at the time that Roosevelt's appointment of Roberts
was a master stroke. What the public overlooked was that Roberts had been one of the most clamorous among those screaming for an open declaration of war. He had doffed his robes, taken to the platform in his frantic apprehensions and demanded that we immediately unite with Great Britain in a single nation. The Pearl Harbor incident had given him what he had been yelling for – America's entrance into the war. On the war issue he was one of the President's most impressive allies. Now he had his wish. He could be depended on not to cast any stain upon it in its infancy.
Perhaps influenced by his work on the Pearl Harbor commission, Roberts dissented from the Court's decision upholding internment of Japanese-Americans along the West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
in 1944's '' Korematsu v. United States''.
The second Roberts Commission
The Roberts Commission is one of two presidentially-appointed commissions. One related to the circumstances of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and another related to the protection of cultural resources during and after World War II. Both were ...
was established in 1943 to consolidate earlier efforts on a national basis with the US Army to help protect monuments, fine arts, and archives in war zones. The commission ran until 1946, when its activities were consolidated into the State Department
Roberts also played a key role in the creation of the OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) which investigated and documented Nazi plunder networks in Europe.
In his later years on the bench, Roberts was the only Justice on the Supreme Court who was not appointed (or, in the case of Stone, who had become Chief Justice, promoted) by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
. Roberts became frustrated with the willingness of the new justices to overturn precedent and with what he saw as their result-oriented liberalism as judges. Roberts dissented bitterly in the 1944 case of ''Smith v. Allwright
''Smith v. Allwright'', 321 U.S. 649 (1944), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court with regard to voting rights and, by extension, racial desegregation. It overturned the Texas state law that authorized parties to set thei ...
'', which found the white primary unconstitutional and overruled an opinion that had been written by Roberts himself a mere nine years earlier. He coined in that dissent the oft-quoted phrase that the frequent overruling of decisions "tends to bring adjudications of this tribunal into the same class as a restricted railroad ticket, good for this day and train only."
Retirement
Roberts retired from the Court the following year, in 1945; Roberts's relations with his colleagues had become so strained that fellow Justice Hugo Black refused to sign the customary letter acknowledging Roberts's service on his retirement. Other justices refused to sign a modified letter that would have been acceptable to Black, and in the end, no letter was ever sent.
Shortly after leaving the Court, Roberts reportedly burned all of his legal and judicial papers. As a result, there is no significant collection of Roberts's manuscript papers, as there is for most other modern Justices. Roberts did prepare a short memorandum discussing his alleged change of stance around the time of the court-packing effort, which he left in the hands of Justice Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...
.
Later life
In 1946, Roberts was the first layperson elected to serve as President of the House of Deputies for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop ...
. He served for one convention.
While in retirement Roberts, along with Robert P. Bass
Robert Perkins Bass (September 1, 1873July 29, 1960) was an American farmer, forestry expert, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Peterborough, New Hampshire, Peterborough, New Hampshire. He served in both houses of t ...
, convened the Dublin Declaration
A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) is a proposed addition to the United Nations System that would allow for greater participation and voice for members of parliament. The idea was raised at the founding of the League of Nations in ...
, a plan to change the U.N. General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
into a world legislature with "limited but definite and adequate power for the prevention of war."
Roberts served as the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1948 to 1951.
He died at his Chester County Chester County may refer to:
* Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States
* Chester County, South Carolina, United States
* Chester County, Tennessee
Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, th ...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, farm known as the Strickland-Roberts Homestead after a four-month illness.[ ''Note:'' This includes ] He was survived by his wife, Elizabeth Caldwell Rogers, and daughter, Elizabeth Hamilton.
Germantown Academy
Germantown Academy, informally known as GA and originally known as the Union School, is the oldest nonsectarian day school in the United States. The school was founded on December 6, 1759, by a group of prominent Germantown citizens in the Gree ...
named its debate society after Owen J. Roberts in his honor. In addition, a school district near Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the Owen J. Roberts School District, was named after him.
See also
*List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of ...
*
*List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office
A total of 116 people have served on the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest judicial body in the United States, since it was established in 1789. Supreme Court justices have life tenure, and so they serve until they die, resign, reti ...
* United States Supreme Court cases during the Hughes Court
* United States Supreme Court cases during the Stone Court
Notes
Citations
References
*
*"The Roberts Commission and Pearl Harbor," in Kenneth Kitts
''Presidential Commissions and National Security''
(Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006).
*Germantown Academy
Clubs and Organizations
Sources
*
Further reading
*Abraham, Henry J., ''Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court. 3d. ed.'' (New York: Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1992). .
*Cushman, Clare, ''The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies,1789-1995'' (2nd ed.) (Supreme Court Historical Society), (Congressional Quarterly
Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combined ...
Books, 2001) ; .
*Frank, John P., ''The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions'' (Leon Friedman and Fred L. Israel, editors) (Chelsea House
Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includi ...
Publishers: 1995) , .
*Martin, Fenton S. and Goehlert, Robert U., ''The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography'', (Congressional Quarterly Books, 1990). .
*Urofsky, Melvin I., ''The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary'' (New York: Garland Publishing
Garland Science was a publishing group that specialized in developing textbooks in a wide range of life sciences subjects, including cell and molecular biology, immunology, protein chemistry, genetics, and bioinformatics. It was a subsidiary o ...
1994). 590 pp. ; .
External links
Owen J. Roberts profile by historian Rob Lukens
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Owen Josephus
1875 births
1955 deaths
20th-century American judges
American Episcopalians
Deans of University of Pennsylvania Law School
The Daily Pennsylvanian people
Germantown Academy alumni
Deans of law schools in the United States
Lawyers from Philadelphia
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Pennsylvania Republicans
United States federal judges appointed by Herbert Hoover
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni
Special prosecutors