Presidential Papers, Doc#111 To Frederick Moore Vinson, 27 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower
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Document #111; March 27, 1953
To Frederick Moore Vinson
Series: EM, AWF, Administration Series: Supreme Court-Chief Justice
The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, Volume XIV - The Presidency: The Middle Way
Part I: Charting a New Course; January 1953 to April 1953
Chapter 2: "A number of misunderstandings": Party and International Struggles

 

Dear Mr. Chief Justice:1 Thank you very much for your letter containing the suggestion about calling a conference to study possible steps to remedy certain difficulties in the functioning of our courts.2 I have already conferred with the Attorney General about it, and will take action as soon as he is ready to move in the matter. Certainly all of us should take great interest in speeding up the administration of justice.

With renewed thanks for your helpfulness, Very sincerely

1 Vinson (LL.B. Centre College 1911) had served as Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization during World War II and in the federal judiciary until 1946, when President Truman named him Chief Justice. He was among the few friends Eisenhower had met with during a brief U.S. visit in November 1951 (Galambos, NATO and the Campaign of 1952, no. 457).

2 Writing on March 24 (AWF/A), Vinson had reported on discussions of overloaded courts at the 1951 meeting of the Judicial Conference, a consortium of chief judges of federal circuit courts and the Supreme Court Chief Justice. As impediments to speedy justice the conference had cited unnecessary delays, high expenses, and the volume of records "in certain classes of cases, including some which reach the courts from the executive departments and administrative agencies." Vinson recommended that Eisenhower sponsor a conference of government representatives and members of the bar and judiciary to study the problem.

Eisenhower favored both increasing the number of federal judges and raising their pay. The subject of judicial salaries would come up at legislative meetings on May 12 and again on July 20, when Senator Bridges and Congressman Halleck urged establishment of a commission to recommend salaries for judges and members of Congress alike (AWF/LM). For developments see no. 399.

Bibliographic reference to this document:
Eisenhower, Dwight D. To Frederick Moore Vinson, 27 March 1953. In The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower, ed. L. Galambos and D. van Ee, doc. 111. World Wide Web facsimile by The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission of the print edition; Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, http://www.eisenhowermemorial.org/presidential-papers/first-term/documents/111.cfm

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