Mahlon Pitney | |
|---|---|
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| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922[1] | |
| Nominated by | William Taft |
| Preceded by | John Marshall Harlan |
| Succeeded by | Edward Terry Sanford |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's4th district | |
| In office March 4, 1895 – January 10, 1899 | |
| Preceded by | Johnston Cornish |
| Succeeded by | Joshua Salmon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1858-02-05)February 5, 1858 Morristown,New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | December 9, 1924(1924-12-09) (aged 66) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Evergreen Cemetery in Morristown, New Jersey |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingBeatrice Pitney Lamb |
| Education | Princeton University (BA) |
| Signature | .png) |
Mahlon R. Pitney IV (February 5, 1858 – December 9, 1924) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served in theU.S. House of Representatives for two terms from 1895 to 1899. He later served as anassociate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1912 to 1922.
Pitney was born on February 5, 1858, inMorristown, New Jersey.[2] The American Pitney family dates back to 1720 when two Scots—Johnathan and James Pitney—settled the Pitney farm inMendham Township, New Jersey. James's son, Mahlon Pitney, fought in theAmerican Revolutionary War alongsideGeorge Washington. Mahlon Pitney IV was born inMorristown, the son of Sarah Louise (née Halsted) and Henry Cooper Pitney. He attended the College of New Jersey (nowPrinceton University) where he was a classmate ofWoodrow Wilson and served as manager of the campus baseball team. Upon graduation in 1879, heread law[3] at his father's practice. Pitney passed the bar exam in 1882 and set up a private practice inDover, working for a time in partnership with his brother,John Oliver Halstead Pitney.
He returned to Morristown in 1889 to assume control of his father's law firm, after Henry Pitney was appointed to a judgeship. Pitney married Florence Shelton in 1891. The couple had three children, and both of their sons attended Princeton University and later entered into the field of law. Pitney was the great-grandfather of actorChristopher Reeve on Reeve's mother's side, as well as his step great-grandfather on his father's side. Christopher Reeve's maternal grandmother was Beatrice Pitney, and his paternal grandmother married Mahlon Pitney IV.[4]
In 1894, Pitney ran for theUnited States House of Representatives. He defeated one-term incumbentJohnston Cornish for the seat fromNew Jersey's 4th congressional district, and was reelected to a second term two years later. Pitney served as chairman of the 1895 state Republican convention and pushed for the nomination ofJohn W. Griggs as party gubernatorial candidate. A rising star in state politics, Pitney aspired to be elected as governor.
In order to further improve his local standing, he resigned from the House prior to the end of his second term and ran for election to theNew Jersey Senate; Pitney was victorious in this 1898 race. In the legislature, he took on the role of party floor leader and, after the 1900 election, swayed body control to the Republicans. Later, Pitney became Senate President.
Despite Pitney's desire to become the state's chief executive, GovernorFoster M. Voorhees supported a different candidate as his successor. In 1901 Voorhees offered Pitney a seat on theNew Jersey Supreme Court, which rid Voorhees of a political rival while maintaining party unity. Seven years later, Pitney was elevated to the role of Chancellor of New Jersey, a unique judicial position under the state's 1844 constitution.
Pitney was nominated by PresidentWilliam Howard Taft on February 19, 1912, to be anassociate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States,[5] to succeedJohn Marshall Harlan. He was confirmed by theU.S. Senate on March 13, 1912, by a 50–26 vote,[5] and wassworn into office on March 18, 1912.[1] Although confirmed by a wide margin, the nomination was opposed by progressives. This hostility was particularly due to Pitney's decision while serving as chancellor inJones Glass Co. v. Glass Bottle Blowers Association, which limited the ability of unions to prevent their employers from using strikebreakers.
During his time on the court, Pitney developed a relatively conservative reputation and was an adherent of the judicial philosophy ofsubstantive due process. This belief was exemplified in his majority opinion inCoppage v. Kansas, where, in ruling unconstitutional a Kansas statute banning anti-unionyellow-dog contracts, the court stated that police power could not be legitimately used to ensure equality of bargaining power. Although distrustful of unions, Pitney also feared the rampant expansion of business and supported a broader use of theSherman Antitrust Act.
Justice Pitney authored the majority opinion inNew York Central Railroad Co. v. White, in which the Court upheld a New York state workman's compensation law and laid the foundation for the expansion of these programs nationwide. He also wrote the controversial majority opinion inFrank v. Mangum, which upheld the wrongful 1915 murder conviction ofLeo Frank, a Jewish businessman, in Atlanta, Georgia, over the dissents of Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Charles Evans Hughes.
Pitney resigned from the court in 1922 after suffering astroke. AlongsideWillis Van Devanter, Pitney was one of only two Supreme Court Justices nominated by President Taft who also later served with Taft during Taft's chief justiceship.
Pitney died in 1924 inWashington, D.C., and was interred atEvergreen Cemetery, in Morristown, New Jersey.[6]
When asked which twentieth-century Supreme Court justice "has done the most to protect the core Constitutional values,"Richard Epstein cited Justice Pitney, calling him "a great justice" and "the only consistent near-libertarian on the Supreme Court."[7] His daughterBeatrice Pitney Lamb was a writer on political topics,[8][9] and the grandmother of actorChristopher Reeve.[10]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's 4th congressional district 1895–1899 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of theNew Jersey Senate 1901 | Succeeded by C. Asa Francis |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1912–1922 | Succeeded by |
Justices of theSupreme Court of the United States | |||||||
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