Melville Weston Fuller
(born Feb. 11, 1833, Augusta, Me., U.S. — died July 4, 1910, Sorrento) U.S. jurist. After graduating from Bowdoin College and Harvard Law School, he built a major legal practice in Chicago (from 1856), where he became prominent in Democratic Party politics. Although unknown nationally, he was appointed chief justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1888 by Pres.
Grover Cleveland; he would remain on the Court until his death. His colleagues included
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and
John Marshall Harlan. He wrote the Court's opinion in
Pollock v. Farmers' Loan and Trust Co., which declared a federal income tax unconstitutional. He also served on the Hague Court of International Arbitration (1900 – 10).
For more information on Melville Weston Fuller, visit Britannica.com.
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.