Willis Van Devanter

Infobox Judge
name = Willis Van Devanter


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office = Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
termstart = January 3 1911
termend = June 2 1937
nominator = William Howard Taft
appointer =
predecessor = Edward Douglass White
successor = Hugo Black
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termend2 =
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birthdate = birth date|1859|4|17|mf=y
birthplace = Marion, Indiana
deathdate = death date and age|1941|02|08|1859|04|17
deathplace = Washington, D.C.
spouse = Delice Burhans

Willis Van Devanter (April 17, 1859 - February 8, 1941) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, January 3, 1911 to June 2, 1937.

Born in Marion, Indiana, he graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1881. After three years private practice in Marion, he moved to the Wyoming Territory where he served as city attorney of Cheyenne, Wyoming, a member of the territorial legislature, as chief judge of the territorial court. Upon statehood, he again took up private practice including much work for the Union Pacific and other railroads. From 1896 to 1900 he served in Washington, D.C. as an assistant attorney general. In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and William Howard Taft elevated him to the Supreme Court in 1910, where he served until 1937.

On the court, he made his mark in opinions on public lands, Indian questions, water rights, admiralty, jurisdiction, and corporate law, but is best remembered for his opinions defending limited government in the 1920s and 1930s. He served for over twenty-five years, [Ball, Howard. Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. Oxford University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 89.] and voted against the Agricultural Adjustment Administration ("United States v. Butler"), the National Recovery Administration ("Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States"), federal regulation of labor relations ("National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp."), the Railway Pension Act ("Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad"), unemployment insurance ("Steward Machine Co. v. Davis"), and the minimum wage ("West Coast Hotel v. Parrish"). For his conservatism, he was known as one of the Four Horsemen, along with Pierce Butler, James Clark McReynolds, and George Sutherland; the four would dominate the Supreme Court for over two decades. [Ball, Howard. Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. Oxford University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 89.]

Van Devanter had chronic writer's block and, as a result, he wrote fewer opinions than any of his brethren, averaging three a term during his last decade on the Court. [cite book |last=Ball |first=Howard |year=1996 |title=Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior |isbn=0-19-507814-4 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |oclc=32511064 |page=89] However, he was widely respected as an expert on judicial procedure. He was largely responsible for the 1925 legislation that allowed the Supreme Court greater control over its own docket through the certiorari procedure.

Van Devanter retired as a Supreme Court Justice on May 18, 1937, [Ball, Howard. Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. Oxford University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 89.] after Congress voted full pay for justices over seventy who retired.Fact|date=August 2008 There has, however, been considerable speculation that Van Devanter actually resigned due to fall-out from Roosevelt's "court-packing" attempt; cf. Judiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937.Fact|date=August 2008 Van Devanter was replaced by Justice Hugo Black, appointed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. [Ball, Howard. Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. Oxford University Press. 2006. ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 93.]

He died in Washington, DC, and was buried there in Rock Creek Cemetery.

Van Devanter's personal and judicial papers are archived at the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress, where they are available for research.

References