1940's Law and Justice | Shelley v. Kraemer

Supreme Court decision

By: Fred M. Vinson

Date: May 3, 1948

Source: Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948). Reprinted in Leeson, Susan M. and James C. Foster, eds. Constitutional Law: Cases in Context. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992, 384–385.

About the Author: Fred M. Vinson (1890–1953), the son of a Kentucky jailer, became the thirteenth chief justice of the Supreme Court. As a congressional representative from Kentucky in the 1930s he generally supported President Franklin D. Roosevelt's (served 1933–1945) New Deal legislation. Afterward he acted as an advisor to President Harry S. Truman (served 1945–1953), who appointed him chief justice in 1946. His most sensational decision, also his last, was to overturn a stay of execution for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, allowing their executions to proceed in 1953. Vinson died later that year.

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