Willis Van Devanter
Willis Van Devanter | |
---|---|
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
In office January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 | |
Nominated by | William Howard Taft |
Preceded by | Edward Douglass White |
Succeeded by | Hugo Black |
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit | |
In office February 4, 1903 – December 16, 1910 | |
Nominated by | Theodore Roosevelt |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Succeeded by | Walter Smith |
Personal details | |
Born | Marion, Indiana, U.S. | April 17, 1859
Died | February 8, 1941 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 81)
Resting place | Rock Creek Cemetery |
Political party | Republican |
Spouse | Delice Burhans |
Children | 2 |
Education | University of Cincinnati (LLB) |
Signature | |
Willis Van Devanter (April 17, 1859 – February 8, 1941) was an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1911 to 1937.[1] He was a staunch conservative and was regarded as a part of the Four Horsemen, the conservative bloc which dominated the Supreme Court during the 1930s.
Early life
Van Devanter was born in
Legal, political and state judicial careers
In 1884, Van Devanter moved to the Wyoming Territory where he became the city attorney of Cheyenne. He served on a commission to revise the statutes of Wyoming Territory in 1886, and as a member of the territorial legislature in 1888.[2] He also served as an attorney to the Wyoming Stock Growers Association during the 1889–93 Johnson County War, managing to strain the local courts' (and county's) budget and delay trials while his clients and their allies worked to make key witnesses and the gunman unavailable, as well as securing favorable press coverage from the state's most influential papers while threatening to sue the Johnson County paper for slander.[3]
He served as chief justice of the
In 1896 Van Devanter represented the state of Wyoming before the U.S. Supreme Court in
From 1897 to 1903 Van Devanter served in
Federal judicial service
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
On February 4, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Van Devanter to a newly created seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 18, 1903, and received his commission the same day.[2]
United States Supreme Court
On December 12, 1910, President
On the court, he made his mark in opinions on
Van Devanter had chronic "pen paralysis",[11] and, as a result, he wrote fewer opinions than the other justices, averaging three a term during his last decade on the Court.[8] He rarely wrote on constitutional issues.[11] However, he was widely respected as an expert on judicial procedure. In December 1921, Chief Justice Taft appointed him, along with Justices McReynolds and Sutherland, to draw up a proposal that would amend the nation's Judicial code and which would define further the jurisdiction of the nation's circuit courts.
Known widely as "the Judges' Bill", it retained mandatory jurisdiction over cases that raised questions regarding federal jurisdiction. It called for the circuit courts of appeal to have appellate jurisdiction to review "by appeal or writ of error" final decisions in the district courts, as well as for the district courts for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
Retirement and final years
Van Devanter's influence began to wane in the early 1930s with the departures of Chief Justice Taft and Justice Sanford and he ultimately
After retirement, he lived on a 700 acres (280 ha) farm near Ellicott City, Maryland.[16][17] He also remained available to hear cases in the lower courts and presided over civil trials.[18]
At the turn of the century, Van Devanter purchased Pate Island in the Woods Bay area along Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada. There he enjoyed hunting and fishing.[19]
Van Devanter died in Washington, D.C., on February 8, 1941,[2] and is buried there in Rock Creek Cemetery.[20] His personal and judicial papers are archived at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
See also
- Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Hughes Court
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court
- List of United States Supreme Court cases by the White Court
References
- ^ a b c "Justices 1789 to Present". Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Van Devanter, Willis". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ISBN 9780525576785. p. 239-240
- ^ a b Made in Wyoming, Willis VanDevanter.[permanent dead link]
- justia.com.
- justia.com.
- ^ McMillion, Barry J. (January 28, 2022). Supreme Court Nominations, 1789 to 2020: Actions by the Senate, the Judiciary Committee, and the President (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 89.
- ^ 231 U.S. 28, 34 S.Ct. 1 (1913).
- ^ See generally Gerald Torres, Who is an Indian?: The Story of United States v. Sandoval in INDIAN LAW STORIES (Goldberg, et al. eds.)
- ^ Oyez.org
- ^ "Roosevelt's New Deal". Archived from the original on December 14, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
- ^ a b Oliver Wendell Holmes: law and the inner self, G. Edward White pg. 469
- ^ McKenna, Marian Cecilia. Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Constitutional War: The Court-Packing Crisis of 1937. New York: Fordham University, 2002, p. 35-36, 335-336.
- ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 93.
- ^ "Van Devanter is 79". The New York Times. April 18, 1938. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Cushman, Clare (August 20, 2013). "What they did on summer vacation". scotusblog.com. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ Barnes, Robert (March 10, 2013). "Retired Supreme Court Justices Still Judge – and Get Judged". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
- ^ " MacMahon, Paul." Island Odyssey A History of the Sans Souci Area of Georgian Bay. Toronto: D. W. Friesen& Sons Ltd., 1990, Pages:236,237
- ^ Christensen, George A. "Here Lies the Supreme Court: Gravesites of the Justices". Yearbook 1983 Supreme Court Historical Society (1983). Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court Historical Society: 17–30. Archived from the original on September 3, 2005. Retrieved February 15, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-19-506557-3.
- ISBN 0-8476-9604-9.
- Cushman, Clare (2001). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.). (ISBN 1-56802-126-7.
- Frank, John P. (1995). Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L. (eds.). The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions. ISBN 0-7910-1377-4.
- Hall, Kermit L., ed. (1992). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505835-6.
- Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990). The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 0-87187-554-3.
- Urofsky, Melvin I. (1994). The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: ISBN 0-8153-1176-1.
- MacMahon, Paul (1990). Island Odyssey A History of the Sans Souci Area of Georgian Bay. Toronto: ISBN 0-9694089-0-0.