The appointment during the past year of Supreme Court Justice Arthur J.Goldberg, replacing Justice Felix Frankfurter, has swung the balance of the United States Supreme Court more sharply to the liberal side, according to the annual summary and analysis of the Court’s decisions, issued today by the Commission on Law and Social Action of the American Jewish Congress.
The summary, which was released on the eve of the beginning tomorrow of the new term of the Supreme Court, noted that, during its last term, the Court decided a higher percentage of cases in favor of individuals exercising their constitutional freedoms than ever before in its history.
Justice Goldberg’s role in shifting the center of the Court more strongly to the liberal side was shown by an analysis of the record of the Court before and since his appointment. During the five years before his appointment, the Court decided 128 out of 213 civil rights and civil liberties cases favorably, or 60.1 percent. During the two years that Justice Goldberg has served on the bench, the Court’s record in such cases was 67 favorable and 15 unfavorable, or 80.4 percent, the AJC stated.
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