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May 17, 2022 | SCOTUS Wraps Up Oral Arguments for the Term

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Owen Roberts

Owen Roberts (1930-1945)

Lived from 1875 to 1955.

Early Years

Owen Roberts was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 2, 1875. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, Roberts went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he graduated at the top of his class in 1898.

Legal Career

After law school, Roberts served as the first assistant district attorney of Philadelphia, a position he held for three years. Roberts then went on to private practice, founding the firm known today as Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP. There, he established a nationally recognized reputation as a gifted trial lawyer. Embodying his academic and studious approach to law, Roberts also held a part time position as a professor at his alma mater for over twenty years.

Appointment to the Supreme Court

At the age of 55, Roberts was appointed to the Supreme Court by President Herbert Hoover and confirmed by the Senate on June 2, 1930. On the highest court in the land, Roberts was often a swing vote. One of the most notable cases in which Roberts’ position was decisive was West Coast Hotel v. Parish in 1937. In West Coast Hotel, Roberts voted to uphold the constitutionality of minimum wage laws, switching his position on the constitutionality of the New Deal. Roberts also authored the majority opinion in New Negro Alliance v. Sanitary Grocery Co., which safeguarded the right to boycott. Later, in Korematsu v. United States, the Court upheld an Executive Order ordering Japanese Americans into internment camps during World War II. Roberts, one of three dissenters, recognized that the defendant was being punished based solely upon his ancestry.

Later Years and Death

Roberts retired from the court in 1945, later serving as the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law school from 1948 to 1951. He died in Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 17, 1955 after a four-month illness.

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The Amendments

  • Amendment1
    • Establishment ClauseFree Exercise Clause
    • Freedom of Speech
    • Freedoms of Press
    • Freedom of Assembly, and Petitition
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  • Amendment2
    • The Right to Bear Arms
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  • Amendment4
    • Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
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  • Amendment5
    • Due Process
    • Eminent Domain
    • Rights of Criminal Defendants
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Preamble to the Bill of Rights

Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

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