“He’s not listening to us, he’s listening to Big Money. That’s why we’re here at his yacht in D.C.”

JAKE JOHNSON

Article III of the Constitution establishes the federal judiciary. Article III, Section I states that “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” Although the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it. Congress first exercised this power in the Judiciary Act of 1789. This Act created a Supreme Court with six justices. It also established the lower federal court system.

The Justices

Over the years, various Acts of Congress have altered the number of seats on the Supreme Court, from a low of five to a high of 10. Shortly after the Civil War, the number of seats on the Court was fixed at nine. Today, there is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices of the United States Supreme Court. Like all federal judges, justices are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. They, typically, hold office for life. The salaries of the justices cannot be decreased during their term of office. These restrictions are meant to protect the independence of the judiciary from the political branches of government.

The Court’s Jurisdiction

Article III, Section II of the Constitution establishes the jurisdiction (legal ability to hear a case) of the Supreme Court. The Court has original jurisdiction (a case is tried before the Court) over certain cases, e.g., suits between two or more states and/or cases involving ambassadors and other public ministers. The Court has appellate jurisdiction (the Court can hear the case on appeal) on almost any other case that involves a point of constitutional and/or federal law. Some examples include cases to which the United States is a party, cases involving Treaties, and cases involving ships on the high seas and navigable waterways (admiralty cases).

uscourts.gov For the complete article

The importance of the field office was known from the earliest days of social security. On December 2nd, 1935, the social security board appointed a field office committee to determine optimal locations for offices to provide direct public service. E.J. McCormick chairman for the field office committee stated that regardless of the construction of the act, there remains the obvious fact that its administration, particularly in the field, will either make or defeat the entire program.

In selecting sites for the field offices, the committee considered such factors as ease in administration, convenience to the public, and uniformity in the distribution of the workloads. The committee studied population and population densities, it addressed questions of accessibility in different geographical areas, and considered trading zones, and shopping areas that people frequently traveled. It also considered the number of wage earners living in that area, transportation facilities available, nature of employment and the availability of space and costs. In January 1936, the committee presented a plan to the SSB calling for the establishment of 89 district offices and 517 branch offices. However, due to budget constraints the total number was reduced from 606 to 397 offices. Each of the 397 offices were assigned to one of 12 geographic regions that made up the field organization. The first field offices were the 12 regional offices. These would service command centers across the U.S. With the task of sharing the workload of enrollment so that the SSB administrative headquarters in Washington, D.C. Would not be overwhelmed. By the end of 1936, 12 regional offices were open in Boston, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Birmingham, Minneapolis, Kansas City, San Antonio, Denver, and San Francisco. There were also two territorial offices. One in Honolulu Hawaii and the other in Juneau, Alaska.

The first field office properly known as a district office opened in Austin, Texas on October 14th, 1936. Why Austin Texas? To understand this decision we need to go back to august 1935. Following the passage of the social security act, the budget appropriation bill was filibustered in the senate by senator Huey Long, a democrat from Louisiana. Long was a staunch opponent of president Roosevelt and the social security act. Congress adjourned without approving a budget for social security. As soon as the new session of congress convened in January 1936, house appropriations committee chairman, James Buchanan, a democrat from Texas, raised questions regarding the social security board’s budget estimates. SSB chairman John Winant met with congressman Buchanan; and much to his surprise, learned that the representative wanted to cut the SSB’s budget by 25%. Toward the end of the meeting, Buchanan raised the issue of the placement of the SSB’s 12 regional offices. Chairman Buchanan informed Winant that he wanted one of the regional offices to be placed in the chairman’s hometown of Austin, Texas. The congressman made it clear that if Winant wanted his help on the SSB’s budget request that this was the quid pro quo that he had in mind. This presented a problem for Winant since the board had already selected San Antonio as the regional office for the southwest and had made a hiring commitment to the individual who would serve as the regional director. Eventually, SSB executive director Frank Bane stepped in and negotiated a compromise. The deal agreed upon was that Buchanan would stop his insistence that a regional office be located in Austin in exchange for the placement of the first field office in Austin. The final social security appropriation passed and was reduced by slightly less than 20%. Former foreign service employee Fred Rogers completed his training in Washington, D.C. And was named district manager for Austin. When Fred turned the key to the old post office building on October 14, 1936 he found a musty interior and equipment that consisted solely of dilapidated desks and chairs left behind by the post office. Three people visited the Austin office on opening day, including two reporters and congressman, James Buchanan. Fred spent more than a month as the sole employee before a staff of 50 was eventually hired.

For the complete article

ssa.gov

White House, drawing by James Hoban

Drawing of the elevation of the White House by James Hoban, 1792; in the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore.Courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore

For an African American, it was a challenge to patent an invention, especially in the late 1800s.  However, Isaac R. Johnson succeeded in this challenge when he patent the bicycle frame on October 10, 1899.^[1]

Isaac R. Johnson was born in New York sometime during 1812.  While he was not the first person to invent the bicycle frame, he was the first African American to invent and patent the bicycle frame, especially a frame which could be folded or taken apart for easy storage.

In fact, Isaac Johnson’s version of the bicycle frame is similar to the version we ride today as the bicycles we use today have the same pattern, they just do not fold up.  Johnson’s version was a frame which could be folded and stored in small places, it was often used while traveling and on vacation.^[2]

Isaac R. Johnson originally filed for the patent in April of 1899 and it was given the publication number: US634823 A. The only information we really have about Isaac R. Johnson is from the information he filled out when he filed his patent.

Through this paperwork, we know that he lived in Manhattan, New York.  The paperwork also states that this bicycle frame is an improved version from any previous bicycle frames due to its ability to be taken apart and placed in a truck or other small storage area.

The bicycle also came with instructions, which would describe each piece of the bicycle frame, such as figure 1 was a side elevation of a bicycle of vehicle and figure 2 was the sectional side elevation of figure 1.^[3]

urbanintellectuals.com