Wiley Rutledge

Details

Birth

July 20, 1894 · Cloverport, Kentucky

Death

September 10, 1949

Law school

colorado, university of

Prior experience

U.s. court of appeals judge

Biography

Wiley Blount Rutledge Jr. (1894–1949) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1943 until his death in 1949. Born in Cloverport, Kentucky, Rutledge grew up in a family that moved frequently throughout the South and Midwest. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1914 and later received his law degree from the University of Colorado in 1922. Before entering the legal profession, Rutledge worked as a high school teacher and principal. He practiced law briefly in Colorado before beginning an academic career, serving as a law professor and dean at Washington University in St. Louis and later as dean at the University of Iowa College of Law. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Rutledge to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1939, where he served until his Supreme Court appointment in 1943. As a justice, Rutledge was a strong advocate for civil liberties and individual rights, consistently supporting broad interpretations of the First Amendment and due process protections. He wrote the majority opinion in Everson v. Board of Education (1947), which applied the Establishment Clause to state governments, though he also penned a notable dissent in the same case arguing for stricter separation of church and state. Rutledge was particularly concerned with protecting the rights of criminal defendants and religious minorities. His tenure was cut short when he died of a stroke in 1949 at age 55, after serving only six years on the Court. Despite his brief tenure, Rutledge left a lasting legacy as a champion of civil liberties and constitutional rights, influencing subsequent Court decisions on religious freedom and criminal justice.

Notable opinions

• In re Yamashita
• Wickard v. Filburn