The abolishment of the Emergency Court of Appeals (April 18, 1962)

2011-08-10T20:50:54-07:00

One of the coming features at CourtListener is an API for the law. Part of that feature is going to be some basic information about the courts themselves, so I spent some time over the weekend researching courts that served a special purpose but were since abolished.

One such court was the Emergency Court of Appeals. It was created during World War II to set prices, and, naturally, was the court of appeals for many cases. The creation date of the court is prominently published in various places on the Internet, but the abolishment history of the court was very difficult to find. After researching online for some time, and learning that my library card had expired (sigh), I put in a query with the Library of Congress, which provides free research of these types of things.

Within a couple days, the provided me with this amazing response, which I’m sharing here, and on the above Wikipedia article:

As stated in the Legislative Notes to 50 U.S. Code Appendix § 921 to 926, as posted at http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50a/usc_sec_50a_00000921——000-notes.html, the following explanation is given regarding the amendment and repeal of Act of Jan. 30, 1942, ch. 26, title II, § 204, 56 Stat. 23, 31-33:

“Section 924, acts Jan. 30, 1942, ch. 26, title II, § 204, 56 Stat. 31; June 30, 1944, ch. 325, title I, § 107, 58 Stat. 639; June 30, 1945, ch. 214, § 6, 59 Stat. 308; July 30, 1947, ch. 361, title I, § 101, 61 Stat. 619; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 32(a), 62 Stat. 991; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 127, 63 Stat. 107, authorized review of orders of the Office of Price Administrator under the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, and created the Emergency Court of Appeals for this purpose. The Emergency Price Control Act of 1942 terminated on June 30, 1947, under the provisions of act July 25, 1946, ch. 671, § 1, 60 Stat. 664. The Housing and Rent Act of 1948, act Mar. 30, 1948, ch. 161, 62 Stat. 93, classified to section 1881 of this Appendix, continued the Court for the purpose of reviewing recommendations of local advisory boards for the decontrol or adjustment of maximum rents. Later, the Defense Production Act of 1950, act Sept. 8, 1950, ch. 932, 64 Stat. 798, classified to sections 2061 to 2166 of this Appendix, continued the Court to review regulations and orders relating to price control. The Housing and Rent Act of 1948 and the Defense Production Act of 1950 both terminated, however, the Court remained in existence “to complete the adjudication of rights and liabilities incurred prior to their termination dates.” (Transcript of Proceedings of the Final Session of the Court, 299 F.2d 1.) The final decision of the Court, Rosenzweig v. General Services Administration, 1961, 299 F.2d 22, was decided on Dec. 6, 1961. A petition for rehearing was denied on Jan. 2, 1962, and a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States was denied on Mar. 19, 1962, 82 S. Ct. 830.

The order of Chief Judge Albert B. Maris, set forth in 299 F.2d 20, provided:

The business of this Court having been completed, it is ordered that at the expiration of 30 days from this date, if a petition for certiorari has not been filed in the Supreme Court in Case No. 676 [Rosenzweig v. General Services Administration], just decided, the acting clerk shall deliver the records and papers of the Court in his office to the General Services Administration for permanent custody as records of the Government, and shall thereupon inform the Chief Justice of the United States that the work of the Court has been completed and that the designations of the judges of the Court may therefore appropriately be terminated.

If a petition for certiorari is filed in Case No. 676 this order shall take effect and be carried out at the expiration of 30 days after the final disposition of Case No. 676.

In accordance with the terms of this order, the petition for certiorari having been filed, and denied Mar. 19, 1962, the Court terminated on Apr. 18, 1962.”

Pretty fantastic research. And for free! Thanks LOC.

Michael Jay Lissner

The abolishment of the Emergency Court of Appeals (April 18, 1962)