Graph 2 below shows the number of amendment proposals relating to the judiciary by the House and Senate for the years 1890-1935. There seems to be a spike in proposals in both houses of Congress around 1900–1915, especially in the House, which then peters off by about 1915, remaining low through 1935. Many of these proposals (examples below) included differing means of curbing the power of the judiciary through limiting judicial supremacy.
Proposals Related to Judiciary
About 50% of the amendment proposals between 1900–1920 relating to the judiciary concern the selection of judges, in which members of Congress attempted to establish their power to elect Supreme Court Justices and federal judges. This includes proposals such one made by Senator Reed of Missouri on April 7th, 1913: “The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices for a term of twelve years ... No Act of Congress or of the general assembly of any State shall be held by the Supreme Court to be unconstitutional or invalid unless the decision be concurred in by two-thirds of all of the members of the court.” Under the terms of this proposal, Congress would claim the power to set term limits for judges and limit the courts’ power to declare laws unconstitutional, securely establishing their jurisdiction over the branch.
Other proposals imagined a radically different judicial system, such as in this proposal made by Congressman Lamar of Florida on December 9th, 1907: “Congress shall divide the United States into nine circuits for each of which a justice of the Supreme Court shall be elected. They shall choose a chief justice from their own number. The judges of the Supreme Court and all other courts shall hold for eight years and be elected for their respective circuits and districts by the voters qualified to vote for Members of the House of Representatives.” These proposals turned the judiciary into an electoral system based geographically, following the model of the circuit court system. The judiciary's power would come more securely from the people (in their election) and each Justice's power would be limited due to a term of eight years.