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The Supreme Court faced unique opportunities for action during the New Deal era, Paul A. Freund, Loeb University Professor Emeritus, told a capacity crowd at the Law School Forum last night.

Freund, who served as a clerk to Justice Louis Brandeis, said that the Court of the 1930s struck down innovative statutes passed during the Roosevelt administration. The Warren and Burger courts, in contrast, reviewed "legislation of an older vintage."

Freund related the rise of concern for civil liberties of the Supreme Court of the 1930s to the rise of Fascism in Europe.

The court's ruling concerning Louisiana Governor Huey Long's attempted supression of the press emphasized this new concern, since Long's move so closely mimicked actions in Europe, Freund said.

The Court will consider issues of "personhood"--which include abortion, freedom of expression and freedom of information--as its primary concern in coming years, Freund added