Today in Supreme Court History: September 11

Smith v. United States, 423 U.S. 1303 (decided September 11, 1975): Douglas, in a wheelchair, stays order requiring federal grand jury records to be handed over to state prosecutor (this was the public appearance which showed the world that Douglas was never going to recover from the stroke he had suffered on the last day of 1974; he stared into the air blankly, declared that there would be a lunch break at 12:30 when it was already 1:00, and after oral argument was over, everyone waited uncomfortably while he sat in silence for ten minutes, before finally thanking the lawyers “for a spirited argument”) (he resisted resignation not just because he was stubborn and ornery but because Gerald Ford, who as a Congressman had led an attempt to impeach him, would pick his successor; he finally resigned on November 12) (the written opinion, though dated the same day as the hearing, was not handed out to the full Court until it met for the new Term on September 30; it is unnecessarily detailed and seemed intended to prove he was still in full possession of his faculties; upon reconsideration the full Court vacated the stay with Douglas dissenting, 423 U.S. 810, Oct. 6, 1975)