Melville Fuller

For more information on Melville Weston Fuller, visit Britannica.com.

(b. Augusta, Maine, 11 Feb. 1833; d. Sorrento, Maine, 4 Jul. 1910; interred Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Ill.), chief justice, 1888–1910. Of an old New England family, Fuller grew up surrounded by lawyers. Because of his parents' divorce, he was raised in the household of his maternal grandfather, the chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. After graduating from Bowdoin College in 1853, Fuller read law in his uncles' law offices and briefly attended the Harvard Law School, an experience that later earned him the distinction of being the first chief justice with significant academic legal training. In 1855 he was admitted to the bar in Maine but soon left the state, apparently because of a disappointment in romance. Settling in Chicago, Fuller engaged in a moderately successful law practice. He married in 1858, but his wife died six years later. An active Democrat, he enthusiastically supported Stephen Douglas against Abraham Lincoln. Fuller served in the Illinois constitutional convention in 1861 and for one term (1863–1864) in the state house of representatives. Although close to Copperhead circles during the Civil War, Fuller was never actively disloyal. In 1866 he married Mary Ellen Coolbaugh, securing a boost to business, since his new father‐in‐law headed the largest bank in Chicago. Thereafter Fuller withdrew from politics and devoted himself to making money from his burgeoning law practice and real estate investments.

Increasingly known as a lawyer's lawyer, he specialized in appellate work, particularly in commercial cases, appearing regularly before the United States Supreme Court. On the death of Chief Justice Morrison Waite in March 1888, President Grover Cleveland decided to appoint an Illinoisan in hopes of bettering the Democrats' chances in the November election. When the president's first choice declined the post, Cleveland quickly turned to Fuller, who shared his views in favor of sound money and against protective tariffs.

On the Court, Fuller showed himself a convivial colleague and competent administrator rather than a judicial leader, his slender stock of jurisprudential ideas suiting him for little else (See Chief Justice, Office of the). Himself a man of property, Fuller often appeared to the common man as the defender of wealth, most notably in his opinions for the Court in both rounds of Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), invalidating the federal income tax on the questionable ground of the prohibition against direct taxes unless proportioned to state population (See Property Rights). The result was eventually overturned by the Sixteenth Amendment. In the same term as the income tax case, Fuller also penned the majority opinion in United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895), the prosecution of the Sugar Trust under the Sherman Antitrust Act. Finding in favor of the trust, Fuller held that manufacture for sale is not commerce, a dubious interpretation that was to be steadily eroded by later decisions. In commercial law, Fuller's specialty, he led the Court in Leisy v. Hardin (1890) to adopt his version of the “original package” doctrine, holding that imported goods still in the original package were not subject to state regulation. As applied in Leisy, this invalidated a key part of the Iowa prohibition law. The doctrine survived, but its specific application was promptly eliminated by legislation ending federal protection of interstate traffic in liquor. In In re Rahrer (1891), Fuller wrote the opinion upholding the constitutionality of that statute.

Fuller believed that the Fourteenth Amendment worked “no revolutionary change”; in consequence he could preside comfortably over a Court that turned a blind eye to racial injustice. On other civil rights issues he was unpredictable, dissenting in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which held that the children of Chinese immigrants born in this country were American citizens, and again in Downes v. Bidwell (1901), one of the Insular Cases, which held that the newly acquired island territories were not covered by the Constitution. Concerning the rights of labor, Fuller was also unpredictable, writing the opinion of the Court in the Danbury hatters' case, Loewe v. Lawlor (1908), which held the Sherman Antitrust Act applicable to labor unions, while consistently limiting the fellow‐servant rule, which insulated employers from liability for many injuries to employees (See Labor).

Enjoying the limelight and the break from judicial routine, Fuller accepted appointment to the Venezuelan Boundary Commission in 1897 and served on the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague from 1900 (See Extrajudicial Activities).

Bibliography

• Willard L. King, Melville Weston Fuller (1950).
• James W. Ely, Jr., The Chief Justiceship of Melville W. Fuller, 1888–1910 (1995)

— John V. Orth

• Born: Feb. 11, 1833, Augusta, Maine
• Education: Bowdoin College, B.A., 1853; Harvard Law School, 1853–55
• Previous government service: Illinois Constitutional Convention, 1861; Illinois House of Representatives, 1863–64
• Appointed by President Grover Cleveland Apr. 30, 1888; replaced Morrison R. Waite, who died
• Supreme Court term: confirmed by the Senate July 20, 1888, by a 41–20 vote; served until July 4, 1910
• Died: July 4, 1910, Sorrento, Maine

Melville W. Fuller was an active and loyal member of the Democratic party. He was also a successful lawyer who regularly represented clients in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. When Chief Justice Morrison Waite died in 1888, President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, chose to replace him with Fuller, who seemed to share the President's views about politics and constitutional issues.

During his 22 years as chief justice, Fuller guided Supreme Court decisions that supported racial segregation based on the “separate but equal” doctrine. He opposed government regulation of private businesses and of the uses of private property by individuals. In particular, Fuller believed that government had no right to regulate an employer's dealings with workers, such as setting rules about working conditions, payment of wages, or hours of work. These matters, according to Fuller, should be left to free bargaining between employers and workers. In Adair v. United States (1908), Fuller wrote, “The employer and the employee have equality of right, and any legislation that disturbs that equality is an arbitrary interference with liberty of contract, which no government can legally justify in a free land.”

During his term on the Court, Fuller also served on the Venezuela–British Guiana Border Commission and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. In these roles, Fuller worked for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts.

Sources

• Willard L. King, Melville Westin Fuller: Chief Justice of the United States (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950)

Melville Weston Fuller served as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1888 to 1910. Fuller's term as chief justice was marked by many decisions that protected big business from federal laws that sought to regulate interstate commerce. In addition, the Fuller Court's restrictive reading of the Fourteenth Amendment led it to render the infamous "separate-but-equal" racial segregation decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256 (1896).

Fuller was born February 11, 1833, in Augusta, Maine, into an old English family. He grew up in the household of his maternal grandfather, the chief justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Following his graduation from Bowdoin College in 1853, he apprenticed in his uncles' law offices and briefly attended Harvard Law School. Even though he did not receive a law degree, he was the first chief justice of the Supreme Court to serve with significant academic legal preparation. Fuller moved to Chicago in 1856 and set up a law practice. An active member of the Democratic party, he served in the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1861 and for one term (1862-64) in the state house of representatives. He attended as a delegate every national Democratic convention between 1864 and 1880.

Fuller withdrew from day-to-day politics after he married Mary Ellen Coolbaugh, the daughter of a prominent Chicago banker, in 1866. His law practice thrived because of this family connection, and with his new wealth, he invested in real estate. Fuller specialized in appellate practice, appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court many times.

Fuller's appointment to the Supreme Court in 1888 was driven by presidential politics and his long service to the Democratic party. President Grover Cleveland, a Democrat, believing it essential to win the state of Illinois as part of his reelection bid, nominated Fuller as chief justice to replace Morrison R. Waite, who died in March 1888. Fuller and Cleveland were friends and political colleagues. At the time the press described Fuller as "the most obscure man ever appointed Chief Justice" (Baker 1991, 360). Others were more unkind, dubbing him "the fifth best lawyer from the City of Chicago" (review of The Chief Justiceship of Melville W. Fuller 1996, 109).

Fuller's twenty-two-year term as chief justice was distinguished by his skillful handling of often contentious Court conferences. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., thought highly of Fuller's ability to maintain collegiality. At the end of his own legal career, Holmes ranked Fuller as the best chief justice under whom he had served. Fuller was an energetic jurist who also served on the Permanent Court of Arbitration, at The Hague, Netherlands. This international organization, comprising jurists from various countries, ruled on world disputes. In 1899 Fuller arbitrated a boundary dispute between Venezuela and British Guiana.

Fuller was chief justice when the U.S. economy was growing rapidly. This situation led to the concentration of economic power in certain industries by a small number of individuals and corporations. The federal government's efforts to regulate interstate commerce and curtail the power of monopolies and trusts met fierce opposition from both the affected businesses and those who believed in a restricted role for the national government. Opponents of national power argued for continued adherence to the doctrine of federalism. This doctrine has many facets, including a fundamental assumption that the national government must not intrude on the power of the states to handle their affairs.

Fuller believed in federalism and demonstrated this belief in his votes with the conservative majority on the Court. Writing for the majority in United States v. E.C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1, 15 S. Ct. 249, 39 L. Ed. 325 (1895), Fuller took the teeth out of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of July 2, 1890, which declared illegal "every contract, combination in the form of a trust, or conspiracy in restraint of trade and commerce among the several states" (26 Stat. 209, c. 647). Finding in favor of the Sugar Trust, a corporation that controlled virtually all sugar refining, Fuller held that a monopoly of manufacturing was not a monopoly of trade or commerce prohibited by the Sherman Act, as the manufacture of a product for sale is not commerce. It was up to each state, not the federal government, to protect its citizens from monopolistic business practices. The mere fact that goods were transported in interstate commerce was not sufficient to give Congress, under the Commerce Clause, the authority to regulate business. The holding in Knight survived until the New Deal era of the 1930s, when power shifted to the federal government.

Fuller's belief in a limited role for the federal government was also demonstrated in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429, 15 S. Ct. 673, 39 L. Ed. 759 (1895). In Pollock, Fuller ruled invalid a federal law that imposed a two percent tax on incomes of more than $4,000. Article I of the Constitution requires that "direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states … according to their respective numbers." In a 5-4 vote, Fuller's Court held that the new income tax was a direct tax insofar as it was based on incomes derived from land and, as such, had to be apportioned among the states. Since the law did not provide for apportionment, it was unconstitutional.

Decisions such as Knight and Pollock led critics to call Fuller and the conservative members of the Supreme Court tools of business interests and protectors of wealth. In response to Pollock, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified by the states in 1913, authorizing the collection of a federal income tax.

Fuller's most dubious distinction is that he voted with the majority in Plessy to uphold racial segregation in public transportation. At issue in Plessy was an 1890 Louisiana law requiring passenger trains operating within the state to provide "equal but separate" accommodations for the "white and colored races." By a 7-1 vote, with one judge abstaining, the Supreme Court rejected the idea that the Fourteenth Amendment, enacted after the Civil War to preserve the civil rights of newly freed slaves, "could have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political, equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either."

With its focus on a limited national government and support of legally enforced racial segregation, the twenty-two-year period of the Fuller Court has, in the words of legal historian Richard A. Epstein, "often been regarded as a black hole of American Constitutional law." But with the conservative political and legal renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, Fuller has come back into favor. He is now regarded by some legal scholars as a jurist committed to economic development, market institutions, and limited government.

Melville Fuller
8th Chief Justice of the United States
In office October 8, 1888 – July 4, 1910
Nominated by	Grover Cleveland
Preceded by	Morrison Waite
Succeeded by	Edward Douglass White
Born	February 11, 1833(1833-02-11) Augusta, Maine
Died	July 4, 1910 (aged 77) Sorrento, ME
Spouse(s)	Calista Reynolds (1858); Mary Coolbaugh (1866)
Alma mater	Bowdoin College
Religion	Episcopalian
Signature

Melville Weston Fuller (February 11, 1833 – July 4, 1910) was the Chief Justice of the United States between 1888 and 1910.

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Law practice 3 Political career 4 Chief Justice 5 Role Outside the Court 6 Personal 7 Legacy 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links

Early life and education

Fuller was born in Augusta, Maine. Both his maternal grandfather, Nathan Weston and paternal grandfather, Henry Weld Fuller were judges. His father was a well-known lawyer. His parents divorced shortly after his birth, and he was raised by Nathan Weston. He attended college at Harvard University for one year before graduating from Bowdoin College, Phi Beta Kappa^[1] in 1853. He then spent six months at Harvard Law School, leaving without graduating in 1855.

Law practice

Fuller first studied law under the direction of an uncle, in Bangor, Maine. In 1855, he went into partnership with another uncle. He also became the editor of The Age, a leading Democratic newspaper in Augusta, Maine. Soon he tired of Maine and moved to Chicago. In 1860, he managed Democrat Stephen Douglas' campaign for the Presidency of the United States

At the time, Chicago was becoming the gateway to the West. Railroads had just linked it to the east. Fuller built a law practice in Chicago. Within two years, he appeared before the Supreme Court of Illinois in the case of Beach v. Derby. He became a leading attorney in the city. He first appeared before the United States Supreme Court in the case of Traders' Bank v. Campbell. He also argued the case of Tappan v. the Merchants' National Bank of Chicago, which was the first case heard by Chief Justice Morrison Waite, whom he would later replace.

Political career

He was a minor figure in Illinois politics. He spent one term in the Illinois House of Representatives and was a delegate at the national Democratic Conventions of 1864, 1872, 1876, and 1880. In 1876, he made the nominating speech for Thomas Hendricks, for the Democratic electoral vote for President. After his inauguration as President, Grover Cleveland tried to make Fuller chairman of the Civil Service Commission, but he declined. President Grover Cleveland tried to persuade Fuller to be Solicitor General of the United States, but Fuller turned down the second offer for a government job.

Chief Justice

See also: List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Fuller Court

President Grover Cleveland nominated him for the Chief Justice position when Morrison Waite died in 1888. Fuller was not the first man to be mentioned as a possible Supreme Court nominee; the former ambassador to Great Britain, Edward J. Phelps, was perceived as the front-runner for the nomination. Fuller's nomination was tepidly received in the Senate. However, he was eventually confirmed by a vote of 41 to 20, with nine Republicans voting with the Democrats to confirm him.

Chief Justice Fuller administering the oath to William McKinley as president in 1897. Outgoing president Grover Cleveland stands to the right.

On the bench, he oversaw a number of memorable or important opinions. The famous phrase "Equal Justice Under Law" apparently paraphrases his opinion in Caldwell v. Texas, 137 U.S. 692 (1891) where Fuller discussed "equal and impartial justice under the law."^[2]. The equally famous, and much criticised, phrase "separate but equal", justifying segregation in the South was made famous by the case of Plessy v. Ferguson.

The Court under Fuller declared the income tax law unconstitutional in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U.S. 429.^[3] In Western Union Telegraph Company v. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 128 U.S. 39^[4] the Court ruled that states could not tax interstate telegraph messages. The Court through his opinion struck a blow against government antitrust legislation with the 1895 case United States v. E. C. Knight Co..^[5] In Fuller's majority decision, the court found that the refining of sugar by a company within the boundaries of one state could not be held to be in restraint of interstate commerce under the terms of the 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act, regardless of the product's final market share. (E.C. Knight Company's owner, the American Sugar Refining Company, controlled more than 90% of sugar production at the time). In his opinion the court sided with the 7-man majority, Justice David J. Brewer did not participate, ruling in favor of "separate but equal" segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. On immigration, Fuller, speaking for the court, ruled in 1904 that under the immigration laws Puerto Ricans were not aliens, and therefore could not be denied entry into the United States. The Court however declined to declare that Puerto Ricans were U.S. citizens. The question of the citizenship status of the inhabitants of the new island territories, their situation remained confusing, ambiguous, and contested. Puerto Ricans came to be known as something in between: "noncitizen nationals".^[6] In this famous immigration case, Isabel Gonzalez arrived from Puerto Rico at Ellis Island in August 1902. Immigration Commissioner William Williams held her as an "illegal" with plans to deport Gonzalez back to San Juan, Puerto Rico. She appealed her case, whereby the Court ruled in favor of Gonzalez and allowed her to remain in the US. Fuller's opinion did not go so far as to claim that she was automatically a US citizen, however, he recognized that Puerto Rico was a territory of the US (as of the 1898 Spanish American War), and therefore Isabel had the right to remain in the US. This paved the way for future Puerto Ricans to freely immigrate to the US. Later, in 1917 the Jones Act was passed by Congress which provided for even more immigration/citizenship rights to Puerto Ricans.

Role Outside the Court

In 1893, he turned down an offer from President-Elect Grover Cleveland to serve as Secretary of State; it was the third time he turned down a government job offer from Cleveland.

He also served on the Arbitration Commission in Paris in 1899 to resolve a boundary dispute between the United Kingdom and Venezuela.

Personal

He was said to closely resemble Mark Twain. Once, when the humorist was stopped on the street, a passerby demanded the Chief Justice's autograph. Twain supposedly wrote:

It is delicious to be full, but it is heavenly to be Fuller. I am cordially yours, Melville W. Fuller.

He was married twice. He married Calista Reynolds in 1858; she died in 1864. He married Mary Coolbaugh in 1866. He had six daughters.

Legacy

According to one study, while on the Supreme Court, Fuller voted in favor of civil rights for African Americans in 15.15% (5 of 33) of the cases before him and voted in favor of civil rights for Asian Americans in 24.14% (7 of 29) of cases before him. Both percentages were below the average for the Supreme Court as a whole.^[7]

As Chief Justice, he administered the oath of office to five Presidents (Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft)

See also

Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States Fuller Park, a community area of Chicago, named for him. List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States

List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States List of United States Chief Justices by time in office List of U.S. Supreme Court Justices by time in office United States Supreme Court cases during the Fuller Court

References

1. ^ Supreme Court Justices Who Are Phi Beta Kappa Members, Phi Beta Kappa website, accessed Oct 4, 2009
2. ^ Caldwell v. Texas, 137 U. S. 692 (1891) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez at supreme.justia.com
3. ^ Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co., 157 U. S. 429 (1895) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez at supreme.justia.com
4. ^ Western Union Telegraph Co. v. Pennsylvania, 128 U. S. 39 (1888) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez at supreme.justia.com
5. ^ United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U. S. 1 (1895) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez at supreme.justia.com
6. ^ Gonzales v. Williams, 192 U. S. 1 (1904) -- US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez at supreme.justia.com
7. ^ The First Justice Harlan by the Numbers: Just How Great was "The Great Dissenter?" 32 Akron L. Rev. 629 (1999)

Further reading

• Abraham, Henry J. (1992). Justices and Presidents: A Political History of Appointments to the Supreme Court (3rd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-506557-3. 
• Cushman, Clare (2001). The Supreme Court Justices: Illustrated Biographies, 1789–1995 (2nd ed.). (Supreme Court Historical Society, Congressional Quarterly Books). ISBN 1568021267. 
• Frank, John P. (1995). Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L.. eds. The Justices of the United States Supreme Court: Their Lives and Major Opinions. Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 0791013774. 
• Furer, Howard B., ed (1986). The Fuller Court, 1888-1910. (The Supreme Court in American Life Series.). New York: Associated Faculty Press, Inc.. ISBN 0867330600; ISBN 9780867330601. .
• Hall, Kermit L., ed (1992). The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195058356. 
• King, Willard L. (1950). Melville Weston Fuller: Chief Justice of the United States 1888-1910. New York: The Macmillan Company. 
• Martin, Fenton S.; Goehlert, Robert U. (1990). The U.S. Supreme Court: A Bibliography. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Books. ISBN 0871875543. 
• Urofsky, Melvin I. (1994). The Supreme Court Justices: A Biographical Dictionary. New York: Garland Publishing. pp. 590. ISBN 0815311761. 

External links

• Ariens, Michael, Melville Fuller.
• History of the Court, The Fuller Court 1888-1910, Supreme Court Historical Society.
• Oyez Project Melvin W. Fuller Biography, U.S. Supreme Court media..
• Melvin Weston Fuller, 1888-1910, Biography, Supreme Court Historical Society.
• Orth, John V., Melville Fuller, Answers.com.

Legal offices
Preceded by Morrison Waite	Chief Justice of the United States 1888-1910	Succeeded by Edward Douglass White

v • d • e Chief Justices of the United States Jay • Rutledge • Ellsworth • Marshall • Taney • Chase • Waite • Fuller • White • Taft • Hughes • Stone • Vinson • Warren • Burger • Rehnquist • Roberts

Supreme Court of the United States

The Fuller Court Chief Justice: Melville Weston Fuller (1888–1910) 1888–1889: S.F. Miller | S.J. Field | J.P. Bradley | J.M. Harlan | S. Matthews | H. Gray | S. Blatchford | L.Q.C. Lamar II 1890–1891: S.J. Field | J.P. Bradley | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | S. Blatchford | L.Q.C. Lamar II | D.J. Brewer 1891–1892: S.J. Field | J.P. Bradley | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | S. Blatchford | L.Q.C. Lamar II | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown 1892–1893: S.J. Field | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | S. Blatchford | L.Q.C. Lamar II | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. 1893: S.J. Field | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | S. Blatchford | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. | H.E. Jackson 1894–1895: S.J. Field | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. | H.E. Jackson | E.D. White 1896–1897: S.J. Field | J.M. Harlan | H. Gray | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. | E.D. White | R.W. Peckham 1898–1902: J. M. Harlan | H. Gray | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. | E.D. White | R.W. Peckham | J. McKenna 1902–1903: J. M. Harlan | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | Geo. Shiras, Jr. | E.D. White | R.W. Peckham | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes 1903–1906: J. M. Harlan | D.J. Brewer | H.B. Brown | E.D. White | R.W. Peckham | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day 1906–1909: J. M. Harlan | D.J. Brewer | E.D. White | R.W. Peckham | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | Wm. H. Moody Jan–Mar 1910: J. M. Harlan | D.J. Brewer | E.D. White | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | Wm. H. Moody | H.H. Lurton Mar–Jul 1910: J. M. Harlan | E.D. White | J. McKenna | O.W. Holmes | Wm. R. Day | Wm. H. Moody | H.H. Lurton

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