Willis Van Devanter
Encyclopedia
Willis Van Devanter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, January 3, 1911 to June 2, 1937.
, he received a LL.B. from the Cincinnati Law School in 1881. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi
fraternity
and the Knights of Pythias. After three years private practice in Marion, he moved to the Wyoming Territory
where he served as city attorney of Cheyenne, Wyoming
and a member of the territorial legislature. At the age of 30, he was appointed chief judge of the territorial court. Upon statehood, he served as Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court
for four days,. and again took up private practice for seven years, including much work for the Union Pacific and other railroads.
In 1896 he represented the state of Wyoming before the U.S. Supreme Court in Ward v. Race Horse 163 U.S. 504 (1896). At issue was a state poaching charge for hunting out of season, and its purported conflict with an Indian treaty that allowed the activity. The Native Americans
won in the U.S. Federal District Court; the judgment was revised on appeal to the Supreme Court by a 7-1 majority.
In the summer and fall of 1896, Van Devanter was afflicted with typhoid fever
.
From 1896 to 1900 he served in Washington, D.C.
as an assistant attorney general, working in the Department of Interior. He was also a professor at the Columbian University School of Law (now The George Washington University Law School
) from 1897 to 1903.
nominated Van Devanter to a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
created by 32 Stat. 791. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
on February 18, 1903, and received his commission the same day.
In 1910, William Howard Taft
elevated him to the Supreme Court. Taft nominated Van Devanter on December 12, 1910 to the Associate Justice seat vacated by Edward D. White
. Three days later, Van Devanter was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1910, and received his commission the following day. Van Devanter assumed senior status
on June 2, 1937, one of the first Supreme Court Justices to do so. Although no longer on the Court at that point, he technically remained available to hear cases until his death.
s, Indian
questions, water rights, admiralty
, jurisdiction
, and corporate law
, but is best remembered for his opinions defending limited government in the 1920s and 1930s. He served for over twenty-five years, and voted against the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (United States v. Butler
), the National Recovery Administration
(Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
), federal regulation of labor relations
(National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp.), the Railway Pension Act (Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad), unemployment insurance (Steward Machine Co. v. Davis), and the minimum wage
(West Coast Hotel v. Parrish). For his conservatism, he was known as one of the Four Horsemen
, along with Pierce Butler
, James Clark McReynolds
, and George Sutherland
; the four would dominate the Supreme Court for over two decades.
Van Devanter had chronic writer's block
-- even characterized as "pen paralysis" -- and, as a result, he wrote fewer opinions than any of his brethren, averaging three a term during his last decade on the Court. He rarely wrote on constitutional issues. However, he was widely respected as an expert on judicial procedure. He was largely responsible for the 1925 legislation that allowed the Supreme Court greater control over its own docket through the certiorari
procedure.
legislation, and that he depended upon his salary for sustenance. In 1932, five years prior to Van Devanter's retirement, Congress had halved Supreme Court pensions. Congress had been temporarly restored them to full pay in February of 1933, only to see them halved again the next month by the Economy Act
. Van Devanter was replaced by Justice Hugo Black
, appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He died in Washington, DC, and was buried there in Rock Creek Cemetery
. His gravesite is marked by "a stark 'VAN DEVANTER' — nothing else" which tops the family plot.
Van Devanter's personal and judicial papers are archived at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress
, where they are available for research.
Early life and career
Born in Marion, IndianaMarion, Indiana
Marion is a city in Grant County, Indiana, United States. The population was 29,948 as of the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Grant County...
, he received a LL.B. from the Cincinnati Law School in 1881. He is a member of the Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
and the Knights of Pythias. After three years private practice in Marion, he moved to the Wyoming Territory
Wyoming Territory
The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital...
where he served as city attorney of Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
and a member of the territorial legislature. At the age of 30, he was appointed chief judge of the territorial court. Upon statehood, he served as Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court
Wyoming Supreme Court
The Wyoming Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The Court consists of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices. Each Justice is appointed by the Governor of Wyoming for an eight-year term. The five Justices select the Chief Justice from amongst themselves. The person...
for four days,. and again took up private practice for seven years, including much work for the Union Pacific and other railroads.
In 1896 he represented the state of Wyoming before the U.S. Supreme Court in Ward v. Race Horse 163 U.S. 504 (1896). At issue was a state poaching charge for hunting out of season, and its purported conflict with an Indian treaty that allowed the activity. The Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
won in the U.S. Federal District Court; the judgment was revised on appeal to the Supreme Court by a 7-1 majority.
In the summer and fall of 1896, Van Devanter was afflicted with typhoid fever
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...
.
From 1896 to 1900 he served in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
as an assistant attorney general, working in the Department of Interior. He was also a professor at the Columbian University School of Law (now The George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School
The George Washington University Law School, commonly referred to as GW Law, is the law school of The George Washington University. It was founded in 1825 and is the oldest law school in Washington, D.C. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a charter member of the...
) from 1897 to 1903.
Federal judicial service
On February 4, 1903, President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
nominated Van Devanter to a seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* Eastern District of Arkansas* Western District of Arkansas...
created by 32 Stat. 791. He was confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
on February 18, 1903, and received his commission the same day.
In 1910, William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
elevated him to the Supreme Court. Taft nominated Van Devanter on December 12, 1910 to the Associate Justice seat vacated by Edward D. White
Edward Douglass White
Edward Douglass White, Jr. , American politician and jurist, was a United States senator, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the ninth Chief Justice of the United States. He was best known for formulating the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law. He also sided with the...
. Three days later, Van Devanter was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, 1910, and received his commission the following day. Van Devanter assumed senior status
Senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...
on June 2, 1937, one of the first Supreme Court Justices to do so. Although no longer on the Court at that point, he technically remained available to hear cases until his death.
Supreme Court tenure
On the court, he made his mark in opinions on public landPublic land
In all modern states, some land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land. The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countries...
s, Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
questions, water rights, admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, jurisdiction
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...
, and corporate law
Corporate law
Corporate law is the study of how shareholders, directors, employees, creditors, and other stakeholders such as consumers, the community and the environment interact with one another. Corporate law is a part of a broader companies law...
, but is best remembered for his opinions defending limited government in the 1920s and 1930s. He served for over twenty-five years, and voted against the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (United States v. Butler
United States v. Butler
United States v. Butler, , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the processing taxes instituted under the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act were unconstitutional...
), the National Recovery Administration
National Recovery Administration
The National Recovery Administration was the primary New Deal agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. The goal was to eliminate "cut-throat competition" by bringing industry, labor and government together to create codes of "fair practices" and set prices...
(Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495 , was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that invalidated regulations of the poultry industry according to the nondelegation doctrine and as an invalid use of Congress's power under the commerce clause...
), federal regulation of labor relations
Labor relations
Industrial relations is a multidisciplinary field that studies the employment relationship. Industrial relations is increasingly being called employment relations because of the importance of non-industrial employment relationships. Many outsiders also equate industrial relations to labour relations...
(National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp.), the Railway Pension Act (Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad), unemployment insurance (Steward Machine Co. v. Davis), and the minimum wage
Minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
(West Coast Hotel v. Parrish). For his conservatism, he was known as one of the Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (Supreme Court)
The "Four Horsemen" was the nickname given by the press to four conservative members of the United States Supreme Court during the 1932–1937 terms, who opposed the New Deal agenda of President Franklin Roosevelt. They were Justices Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, George Sutherland,...
, along with Pierce Butler
Pierce Butler (justice)
Pierce Butler was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1923 until his death in 1939...
, James Clark McReynolds
James Clark McReynolds
James Clark McReynolds was an American lawyer and judge who served as United States Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court...
, and George Sutherland
George Sutherland
Alexander George Sutherland was an English-born U.S. jurist and political figure. One of four appointments to the Supreme Court by President Warren G. Harding, he served as an Associate Justice of the U.S...
; the four would dominate the Supreme Court for over two decades.
Van Devanter had chronic writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
-- even characterized as "pen paralysis" -- and, as a result, he wrote fewer opinions than any of his brethren, averaging three a term during his last decade on the Court. He rarely wrote on constitutional issues. However, he was widely respected as an expert on judicial procedure. He was largely responsible for the 1925 legislation that allowed the Supreme Court greater control over its own docket through the certiorari
Certiorari
Certiorari is a type of writ seeking judicial review, recognized in U.S., Roman, English, Philippine, and other law. Certiorari is the present passive infinitive of the Latin certiorare...
procedure.
Retirement and final years
Van Devanter retired as a Supreme Court Justice on May 18, 1937, after Congress voted full pay for justices over seventy who retired. He acknowledged that he might have retired five years earlier due to illness, if not for his concern about New DealNew Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
legislation, and that he depended upon his salary for sustenance. In 1932, five years prior to Van Devanter's retirement, Congress had halved Supreme Court pensions. Congress had been temporarly restored them to full pay in February of 1933, only to see them halved again the next month by the Economy Act
Economy Act
The Economy Act of 1933, officially titled the Act of March 20, 1933 , is an Act of Congress that cut the salaries of federal workers and reduced benefit payments to veterans, moves intended to reduce the federal deficit in the United States....
. Van Devanter was replaced by Justice Hugo Black
Hugo Black
Hugo Lafayette Black was an American politician and jurist. A member of the Democratic Party, Black represented Alabama in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. Black was nominated to the Supreme...
, appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He died in Washington, DC, and was buried there in Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery
Rock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE in Washington, D.C.'s Michigan Park neighborhood, near Washington's Petworth neighborhood...
. His gravesite is marked by "a stark 'VAN DEVANTER' — nothing else" which tops the family plot.
Van Devanter's personal and judicial papers are archived at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
, where they are available for research.
See also
- Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesDemographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesThe demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 112 justices appointed to the Supreme Court. Certain of these characteristics have been raised as an issue since the Court was established in 1789. For its...
- 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 Hughes Court
- United States Supreme Court cases during the Taft Court
- United States Supreme Court cases during the White Court