Previously, Balladeer’s Blog examined the first six Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court when six was the full roster on that court. For subsequent Justices click HERE.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE WILLIAM PATERSON
Served: March 11th, 1793 – September 9th, 1806 (Died)
Brethren on the Court: Chief Justices: John Jay, John Rutledge, Oliver Ellsworth and John Marshall. Associate Justices: William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, Samuel Chase, Bushrod Washington, Alfred Moore and William Johnson.
Some Highlights: Paterson helped write the U.S. Constitution in 1787. This made him one of the very few Supreme Court Justices qualified to weigh in on the “original intent” of the framers.
While riding his Circuit, William presided over the trials of the people indicted for treason for participating in the Whiskey Rebellion. He wrote the Court’s decision in Penhall v Doane’s Administrators (1795), which ruled that America’s current federal courts had jurisdiction over Prize Cases, not any of the American courts which preceded the U.S. Constitution. Continue reading
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