John Rutledge

Details

Birth

September 18, 1739 · Charleston, South Carolina

Death

July 18, 1800

Law school

middle temple (england)

Prior experience

State trial court judge

Biography

John Rutledge (September 1739 – July 18, 1800) was an American statesman, judge, and Founding Father who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1789 to 1791 and briefly as Chief Justice in 1795. Born into a wealthy planter family in Charleston, South Carolina, Rutledge received his early education locally before studying law at the Middle Temple in London. Upon returning to Charleston in 1761, he established a successful legal practice and quickly became involved in colonial politics, serving in the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly and later as the colony's youngest delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. Rutledge's path to the Supreme Court began with his prominent role in the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention of 1787, where he chaired the Committee of Detail that drafted much of the Constitution's language. President George Washington nominated him as one of the original Associate Justices in 1789, though Rutledge resigned in 1791 to become Chief Justice of South Carolina's Court of Common Pleas. In 1795, Washington appointed him Chief Justice of the United States during a recess appointment, but the Senate later rejected his confirmation due to his vocal opposition to the Jay Treaty and concerns about his mental stability. During his brief tenure on the Court, Rutledge participated in few cases of lasting significance, as the early Supreme Court heard relatively few matters. His legacy rests more on his contributions to the Constitution's creation and his role in establishing the federal judiciary's structure than on specific judicial opinions, though his career illustrates the political tensions and personal struggles faced by early American leaders.

Notable opinions

• Georgia v. Brailsford
• Calder v. Bull