Today in Supreme Court History: December 31

National League of Cities v. Brennan, 419 U.S. 1321 (decided December 31, 1974): The last two days of 1974 were busy. On December 30 a three-judge panel heard arguments made by several cities and states that Fair Labor Standards Act amendments setting wage/hour standards for state and municipal employees (set to take effect on January 1) violated the Tenth Amendment. On December 31 the panel rejected those arguments. Later that day, “after the close of business”, Burger was presented with a motion by plaintiffs for an interim stay pending cert. (Also around that hour Douglas, vacationing in the Bahamas with his newest and youngest wife, suffered a debilitating stroke.) Burger granted the stay; after months of partial awareness Douglas resigned on November 12, 1975; and the Court ended up siding with the cities and states, 429 U.S. 833, 1976. (My Con Law professor called that holding the “temporary resurrection of the Tenth Amendment”, temporary because it was overruled nine years later by Garcia v. San Antonio, 469 U.S. 528 (1985) (holding that the FLSA indeed applies to state and municipal employees).)