Vinson Court Signed Photograph

Fantastic vintage matte-finish 13.75 x 11 photo of the Vinson Supreme Court, circa 1946-1949, signed in the wide lower border in fountain pen by all nine Justices: Fred M. Vinson, Hugo L. Black, Stanley Reed, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Frank Murphy, Robert H. Jackson, Wiley Rutledge, and Harold Burton. Affixed to a same-size mount. In fine condition, with some light corner creases.

Vinson's most dramatic dissent was when the court voided President Truman's seizure of the steel industry during a strike in a June 3, 1952 decision, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer. The major issues his court dealt with included racial segregation, labor unions, communism and loyalty oaths. On racial segregation, he wrote that states practicing the separate but equal doctrine must provide facilities that were truly equal. The case of Brown v. Board of Education was before the Court at the time of his death. Vinson, not wanting a 5-4 decision, had ordered a second hearing of the case. He died before the case could be reheard, at which time Earl Warren was appointed to the Court and the case was heard again.