Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar

Details

Birth

September 17, 1825 · Eatonton, Georgia

Death

January 23, 1893

Law school

emory university; read law (Chappel, Absalom)

Prior experience

Various legal and public service prior to appointment

Biography

Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II (1825–1893) was an American politician, diplomat, and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1888 until his death. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, Lamar graduated from Emory College in 1845 and studied law at the University of Georgia before establishing a legal practice in Mississippi. He served multiple terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from Mississippi during the 1850s and was a prominent advocate for states' rights and Southern interests. During the Civil War, Lamar served as a Confederate diplomat to Russia and France, later holding the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army. Following Reconstruction, Lamar returned to national politics, serving again in the House of Representatives from 1873 to 1877 and in the U.S. Senate from 1877 to 1885. He gained national recognition for his eloquent eulogy of Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner in 1874, which helped foster sectional reconciliation. President Grover Cleveland appointed him Secretary of the Interior in 1885, and subsequently nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1887. Despite significant opposition due to his Confederate past, Lamar was confirmed by a narrow Senate vote of 32–28, becoming the first former Confederate to serve on the Court. As a justice, Lamar generally supported federal authority and took a pragmatic approach to constitutional interpretation. His most notable opinion came in Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Minnesota (1890), where he dissented from the majority's expansion of substantive due process rights. Lamar's appointment marked an important step in national healing and the reintegration of the South into American political life.

Notable opinions

• Neagle, In re
• United States v. Kagama