 Manton encountered opposition led by Chief Justice William Howard Taft, and Harding ultimately appointed Justice Pierce Butler to the seat.During the 1930s, Manton's seniority made him the Senior Circuit Judge of the Court (the rough equivalent of the Chief Judge position today).He wrote a memorable dissenting opinion in the obscenity litigation instigated by Bennett Cerf concerning the book "Ulysses" by James Joyce, "United States v. One Book Entitled Ulysses", 72 F.2d 705 (2d Cir.