truman shocked theco nation wita televised address announcing he was seizing control of the steel plants so as not to interrupt the war effort. within half an hour of that address lawyers for the steel companies had driven to a district court ivjudge s home i washington, d.c. and gotten the judge to set a hearing for the next morning, a hearing as to whether or not a president could actually do that. now, the merits of that case are really interesting. but the reason the steel seizure case matters today is the speed at which it was heard by the supreme court. the issue was so urgent for the steel workers, the unions, the steel companies, the u.s. military, it was so pressing that the case skipped the appeals process, and the supreme court heard oral arguments just ad little over a month after truman s announcement. they decided the case less than a month after that, which is like light speed in supreme court time. and that is why in special counsel jack smith s filing before