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Feb 2024
27m 27s

Why Nine Justices? The Democrat Who Chal...

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About this episode

On this episode of Our American Stories, despite being a member of President Roosevelt's New Deal team, Hatton Sumners—a name most people don't know today—put his political career on the line to prevent FDR from packing the Supreme Court. Here's Josiah Daniel with the remarkable story of why there are still 9 Supreme Court justices today.

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