George Sutherland

Details

Birth

March 25, 1862 · Buckinghamshire, England

Death

July 18, 1942

Law school

michigan, university of

Prior experience

Various legal and public service prior to appointment

Biography

George Sutherland (March 25, 1862 – July 18, 1942) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1922 to 1938. Born in Staffordshire, England, Sutherland immigrated to the United States as an infant with his family, settling in Utah Territory. He attended Brigham Young Academy and later studied law at the University of Michigan Law School, graduating in 1883. After establishing a successful law practice in Utah, Sutherland entered politics as a Republican, serving in the Utah House of Representatives and later as a United States Representative from 1901 to 1903 and United States Senator from 1905 to 1917. President Warren G. Harding nominated Sutherland to the Supreme Court in 1922, where he became one of the "Four Horsemen," a conservative bloc that frequently opposed New Deal legislation during the 1930s. Sutherland adhered to a strict constitutional interpretation emphasizing individual economic liberty and limited government intervention in business affairs. His judicial philosophy was rooted in classical liberalism and laissez-faire economics. Among his most significant opinions was Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923), which struck down minimum wage laws for women, and his majority opinion in Carter v. Carter Coal Co. (1936), which invalidated key provisions of the New Deal's coal industry regulations. However, he also authored notable civil liberties decisions, including Powell v. Alabama (1932), which established the right to adequate counsel in capital cases. Sutherland retired from the Court in 1938 and died in 1942. His legacy remains that of a principled conservative jurist whose resistance to government economic regulation reflected early 20th-century constitutional orthodoxy, though his strict adherence to these principles often put him at odds with the changing political landscape of his era.

Notable opinions

• Adkins v. Children's Hospital
• Powell v. Alabama