[Tom Servo]

The whole problem with Miller was Justice McReynolds. To be as kind as possible, the man was lazy. He wrote as few opinions as he could get away with, and even then, the research (and probably the writing) was done by his clerks. His opinion was a one-page, dashed-off thing to fulfill the most minimal of obligations. It would be one thing if some minor point of tort law were at hand, but the fact that this had major implications for the 2nd Amendment makes it unacceptable.

Adding to that was the fact that Paul Gutensohn, Jack Miller's attorney, had not been paid for his initial representation in Arkansas district court. When the government's appeal was accepted by SCOTUS, Gutensohn only had two weeks to prepare a brief and travel, again without being paid. He asked for an extension but was denied.

So, FDR and Cummings had a perfect setup. With Miller dead and Gutensohn not able to attend, they were able to make their arguments without any rebuttal.