Republican Fortunes: Down But Not Out - FRIDAY FLASHES - September 9+

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher

Republican Fortunes: Down But Not Out presents a club event program and political commentary surrounding John J. Rhodes, including details for an advance ticket reception and reservations. It also features “Shapiro Discusses Debate About Judicial Activism” with an extended explanation of how judges inevitably engage in lawmaking through statutory interpretation, contrasting attitudes from the New Deal era to later developments in administrative law and governance. Finally, it includes an In Memoriam tribute for Dr. Edgar Eugene Robinson.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time14 min

AccessFree to download

Republican Fortunes: Down But Not Out

Advance Ticket Sale Reception

Shapiro Discusses Debate About Judicial Activism

New Deal Attitude

Litigation - Routine Concommitant

In Memoriam

Dr. Edgar Eugene Robinson

Tickets $6.75 at door 4:45-6:15 P.M. THURSDAY,OCTOBER 6th The HonorableJOHN J.RHODES Minority Leader,House of Representatives # "Republican Fortunes:Down But Not Out" While some political observers believe the Republican Party has taken the ten-count,othersin the Party's structure ready themselves for the next electoral struggle.Minority LeaderRhodes will comment on current Party woes,with an optimistic forecast for the future. # ADVANCE TICKET SALE RECEPTION ANN LANDERS Syndicated Columnist Special Advance Tickets—$2.00 for Club members;$3.00 for MEMBERS GUESTS.NoHost Cocktail Reception.Mail a check and self-addressed,stamped envelope to Com-monwealth Club,681 Market St.,S.F.94105,or call 362-4903 for reservations.All un-paid reservations will be canceled Tuesday,October 4th at 4:30 p.m.No refunds there-after. KENNETH NEWKIRK,Quarterly Chairman SHERATON-PALACE HOTELGOLD BALLROOM FAIRMONT HOTELTERRACE ROOM / 71一38 # SHAPIRO DISCUSSES DEBATE ABOUT JUDICIAL ACTIVISM FRIDAY FLASHES-SEPTEMBER 9+h From Address byDR.MARTIN SHAPIROProfessor of Law and Society,U.C.Berkeley "My subject is judicial activism.If wemean by judicial activism law or policymaking by judges,then activism is alwayswith us.Even in legal systems that de-nigrate judicial law making,judges invari-ably and inevitably make law.They mustdo so because no legislative body can everwrite statutes of such clarity,detail andcompleteness as to automatically and pre-cisely resolve all of the legal conflicts thatappear in the cases that judges must de-cide.In order to decide,the judge mustapply the general words of the statute tothe particulars of the case before him.Hemust interpret the statute.Statutory in-terpretation is judicial law making.Themore general and vaguely worded thestatute,the more judicial law makingthere will be,even when there is supposedto be none. # New Deal Attitude Thus the debate about judicial activismis not about whether it does or should ex-ist,but about how much of it there shouldbe.Levels of judicial activity have prob-ably waxed and waned in American his-tory,Certainly public attitudes towardthat activity have.One of the low pointsin public support for judicial activism oc-curred during the New Deal.The Norris-LaGuardia Act,severely restricting theuse of the injunction by federal courts SE16 77 in labor matters,was a major symbol ofthis New Deal attitude.Indeed,the NewDeal distrust of courts as impartial arbi-ters of labor management disputes was sogreat that it simply set up a new court ofits own to handle such matters,the National Labor Relations Board,and packedit with pro-labor judges. The New Deal brought to fruition thefaith of Twentieth Century Americans ingovernment by technocrat.It created thenew Washington agencies and staffedthem with experts in everything from soilchemistry to international finance. Today,the expression post-industrial ismuch in fashion.That expression is itselfa symptom of a certain malaise,or loss ofconfidence both in the goals and tech-niques of technocratic government.Oneof the first signs of this malaise was therather widespread feeling of the 1950sthat the federal bureaucracy had lost itsNew Deal snap,had become middle-aged,pessimistic and lacking in self-confidenceabout its ability to solve real problems. Litigation-Routine Concommitant In administrative law,there was a slightdampening of enthusiasm for judicial de-ference to administrative decisions.It waseven suggested that judicial interventionsmight be justified on precisely the groundsthat had previously been offered in favorof judicial deference,namely that the ad-ministrators were technical specialists andthe judges were not.Once it was recog-nized that the virtues of technical speciali-(Continued an page 372) | OFFICERS OF THE CLUB
Davld J.McDanlel___ ___Presldent
The Commonwealth
Bradley B.Garretson ___Vice President
Renee Rubln____Chmn.ExecCommittee
Publlshed every Monday

FAQs

What does “Republican Fortunes: Down But Not Out” discuss, and who is slated to comment?

It addresses political observers’ views that Republicans have faced a setback while preparing for the next electoral struggle. Minority Leader John J. Rhodes is scheduled to comment on current party problems with an optimistic outlook.

How does the text explain judicial activism?

It argues that judicial activism is unavoidable because judges must interpret statutes to resolve legal conflicts in specific cases. The more general and vaguely worded the statute, the more lawmaking occurs through interpretation.

Who is honored in the “In Memoriam” section, and what roles did he hold?

Dr. Edgar Eugene Robinson (1887–1977) is memorialized. The text notes he served as a past club president and held major academic leadership roles at Stanford, including chairmanship in history and founding directorship related to American history.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Cipher