Fuller Court

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Supreme Court of the United States
Fuller Court
→ 
White Court
October 10, 1888 – July 4, 1910
(21 years, 267 days)
SeatOld Senate Chamber
Washington, D.C.
No. of positions9
Fuller Court decisions

The Fuller Court refers to the

Morrison R. Waite as Chief Justice after the latter's death, and Fuller served as Chief Justice until his death, at which point Associate Justice Edward Douglass White
was nominated and confirmed as Fuller's replacement.

During the era of the Fuller Court, the Judiciary Act of 1891 was passed, easing the burden of the Supreme Court by creating the United States courts of appeals. The Fuller Court was the first of three consecutive conservative courts, and established the Lochner era.[1]

Membership

The Fuller court began in October 1888, when the Senate confirmed President

Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II
 – who had taken office earlier that year.

Matthews, Miller, and Bradley all died between 1889 and 1892, and President

Rufus Wheeler Peckham
, brother of Wheeler Peckham.

Field retired in 1897, and was replaced by Attorney General Joseph McKenna, the lone appointment made by William McKinley. Gray died in 1902 and Shiras retired in 1903; President Theodore Roosevelt successfully nominated Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and William R. Day to replace them. Brown retired in 1906, and Roosevelt appointed William Henry Moody to the court. Peckham died in 1909 and was succeeded by Horace Harmon Lurton, an appointee of President William Howard Taft.

After Fuller's death, Fuller was replaced as Chief Justice by Associate Justice Edward Douglass White, who was elevated by President Taft. Between the death of Fuller and the elevation of White,

David Josiah Brewer
, who died in 1910. Moody also retired in 1910, shortly before the elevation of White due to a prolonged illness.

Timeline

Bar key:
  Lincoln appointee   Grant appointee   Hayes appointee   Garfield appointee   Arthur appointee   Cleveland appointee   B. Harrison appointee   McKinley appointee   T. Roosevelt appointee   Taft appointee

Other branches

Presidents during this court included

Teddy Roosevelt, and William Howard Taft. Congresses during this court included 50th through the 61st
United States Congresses.

Rulings of the Court

Major rulings of the Fuller Court include:

The Fuller Court in 1899

Judicial philosophy

In contrast with the Waite Court,

laissez faire economy.[1][3] The court struck down several federal regulatory laws and sought to maintain the autonomy of the states, but it also struck down state laws that it saw as impediments to interstate commerce.[4] The Fuller Court ruled more favorably to the government in other cases, most notably Plessy, and granted the government wide latitude in administering colonial territories.[2] The court also declined to extend due process protections into the sphere of criminal procedure.[4] Like many other courts prior to 1941, the Fuller Court had strong consensual norms, which helped to keep the number of dissents to a minimum.[5] No clear ideological blocs emerged during Fuller's tenure,[5] but Justices Holmes, Day, Gray, and Brown tended to favor upholding laws, and Justices Shiras, Harlan, White, and Peckham were the most willing to overrule state legislatures.[6] Justice Harlan was notable for his many dissents, earning him the moniker of the "Great Dissenter."[5] The ideological homogeneity was a product of an era in which Republican presidents dominated, and the lone Democratic president (Cleveland) shared the pro-business views of most Republicans.[7] Fuller himself was regarded as a talented administrator generally in agreement with the court's philosophy, but not a dominant intellectual force.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Galloway, Russell Jr. (1 January 1985). "The Taft Court (1921–29)". Santa Clara Law Review. 25 (1): 1–2. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b Currie, David P. (1985). "The Constitution in the Supreme Court: The Protection of Economic Interests, 1889–1910". University of Chicago Law Review. 52: 325–326. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  3. . Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  4. ^ . Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  5. ^ . Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ^ Pratt, Walter F. "Rhetorical Styles on the Fuller Court". The American Journal of Legal History. 24: 193–195. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  7. ^ Ely, 29–30
  8. ^ Ely, 31

Further reading