The Annotated Bobblehead Justice Stanley Reed

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Stanley Reed, 1938-1957

After a stint as a Kentucky politician, Stanley Reed practiced law at Worthington, Cochran, Browning, and Reed. He was later named general counsel of the Federal Farm Board and general counsel of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.

Reed argued frequently before the Supreme Court, including as special assistant to United States Attorney General Homer Cummings during the Gold Clause Cases (two of these are Nortz v. United States and Perry v. United States), in which the New Deal monetary policy that devalued the dollar to avoid financial disaster was narrowly upheld. As Solicitor General, Reed defended the constitutionality of President Roosevelt's New Deal legislation before the Court, and enjoyed a string of successes.

Reed was a considered a fairly moderate voice on the court. His opinion in U.S. v. Appalachian Electric Power Co., 311 U.S. 377 (1940), expanded federal authority over the nation's inland waterways, and he joined the majority in Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), to give the Court's decision maximum impact, despite apprehension about the Court's role in desegregating public schools.