John McKinley

Details

Birth

May 1, 1780 · Culpepper County, Virginia

Death

July 19, 1852

Law school

Read law (Self taught)

Prior experience

U.s. supreme court justice (recess)

Biography

John McKinley (May 1, 1780 – July 19, 1852) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1837 until his death. Born in Culpeper County, Virginia, McKinley moved to Kentucky as a young man and later settled in Alabama in 1818. Despite having little formal education, he studied law and was admitted to the bar, establishing a successful practice in Huntsville, Alabama. He entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat, serving in the Alabama House of Representatives and later in the United States Senate from 1826 to 1831. McKinley also served a brief term in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1833 to 1835. President Martin Van Buren nominated McKinley to the Supreme Court in 1837 as part of an expansion that increased the Court from seven to nine justices. His appointment was largely political, as Van Buren sought to place loyal Democrats on the Court to counter Chief Justice Roger Taney's influence. McKinley's tenure was marked by his strong support for states' rights and strict constitutional interpretation, aligning with Jacksonian Democratic principles. However, his judicial career was hampered by frequent illness and the demanding circuit-riding duties required of justices at the time, which involved extensive travel throughout the southern and western circuits. McKinley wrote relatively few significant opinions during his fifteen-year tenure, partly due to his poor health and frequent absences from the Court. His most notable decision came in *Bank of Augusta v. Earle* (1839), where he dissented from the majority opinion that allowed out-of-state corporations to do business in other states without explicit permission. McKinley argued for a more restrictive interpretation that would have limited corporate power across state lines. He is generally remembered as one of the less influential justices in Supreme Court history, overshadowed by his more prominent contemporaries and limited by his health problems.

Notable opinions

• Permoli v. First Municipality
• Watson v. Jones