Edward Terry Sanford | |
|---|---|
 Sanford, 1905–1930 | |
| Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States | |
| In office February 19, 1923 – March 8, 1930 | |
| Nominated by | Warren G. Harding |
| Preceded by | Mahlon Pitney |
| Succeeded by | Owen Roberts |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee | |
| In office May 18, 1908 – February 5, 1923 | |
| Nominated by | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | Charles Dickens Clark |
| Succeeded by | Xenophon Hicks |
| United States Assistant Attorney General | |
| In office 1907–1908 | |
| President | Theodore Roosevelt |
| Preceded by | William H. Lewis |
| Succeeded by | James Alexander Fowler |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Terry Sanford (1865-07-23)July 23, 1865 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | March 8, 1930(1930-03-08) (aged 64) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Greenwood Cemetery Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Parent |
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| Relatives | Albert Chavannes |
| Education | University of Tennessee (BA,BPhil) Harvard University (AB,AM,LLB) |
| Signature |  |
Edward Terry Sanford (July 23, 1865 – March 8, 1930) was an Americanjurist who served as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as aUnited States Assistant Attorney General under PresidentTheodore Roosevelt from 1905 to 1907, and as aUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and theUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from 1908 to 1923. As of 2025, he is the last sitting district court judge to be elevated directly to the Supreme Court.
A graduate ofHarvard Law School, Sanford practiced law in his hometown ofKnoxville,Tennessee, during the 1890s and the first decade of the 20th century.[1] As Assistant Attorney General, he rose to national prominence as leadprosecutor during thehigh-profile trial of Joseph Shipp in 1907, which to date is the only criminal trial conducted by the Supreme Court.[2][3]
Sanford is typically viewed as a conservative justice, favoring strict adherence toantitrust laws, and often voted with his mentor, Chief JusticeWilliam Howard Taft.[1] Sanford's most lasting impact on American law is arguably his majority opinion in the landmark caseGitlow v. New York (1925). This case, which introduced theincorporation doctrine, helped pave the way for many of theWarren Court's decisions expanding civil rights and civil liberties in the 1950s and 1960s.[1]
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Edward Terry Sanford was born on July 23, 1865 inKnoxville, Tennessee, the eldest son of prominent Knoxville businessmanEdward J. Sanford (1831–1902) andSwiss immigrant Emma Chavannes. Sanford's father, as president or vice president of nearly a dozen banks and corporations, was one of the primary driving forces behind Knoxville's late-19th century industrial boom.[4] His maternal grandfather, Adrian Chavannes, was the leader of a group of Swiss colonists who arrived in Tennessee in the late 1840s and his uncle,Albert Chavannes, was a noted author andsociologist. In 1891, Sanford married Lutie Mallory Woodruff, the daughter of Knoxville hardware magnate W. W. Woodruff.[4]
Sanford received aBachelor of Arts degree and aBachelor of Philosophy degree from theUniversity of Tennessee in 1883,[5] a Bachelor of Arts degree fromHarvard University in 1885, aMaster of Arts degree from the same institution in 1889, and aBachelor of Laws fromHarvard Law School in 1889. He was in private practice in Knoxville from 1890 to 1907, and was a lecturer at theUniversity of Tennessee School of Law from 1898 to 1907.
One of Sanford's earliest appearances before the Supreme Court came as an attorney representing the appellantKnoxville Iron Company, inKnoxville Iron Company v. Harbison (1901). The Court ruled in favor of Harbison and upheld states' right to ban companies from paying employees inscrip rather than cash.[6]
Sanford first served in the government as a special assistant to theAttorney General of the United States from 1905 to 1907, and then asAssistant Attorney General in 1907 underPresidentTheodore Roosevelt.[7]
As an Assistant Attorney General, he was the lead prosecutor in the high-profile trial inUnited States v. Shipp (1907). This case involved a sheriff, Joseph Shipp, who was convicted of allowing a condemned black prisoner, who was the subject of a United States Supreme Court writ ofhabeas corpus, to belynched. Sanford's conduct of the trial, particularly his exemplaryclosing argument, are said to be part of a "Great American Trial." It is the only criminal trial conducted before the United States Supreme Court in which the court exercisedoriginal jurisdiction (the court typically only hears criminal cases onappeal).[2][8] It was widely followed in the newspapers.[9] Shipp and several others were later convicted.
Sanford was nominated by PresidentTheodore Roosevelt on May 14, 1908, to a joint seat on theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and theUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee vacated by JudgeCharles Dickens Clark.[7] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on May 18, 1908, and received his commission the same day.[7] His service terminated on February 5, 1923, due to his elevation to the Supreme Court.[7]
PresidentWarren Harding nominated Sanford as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on January 24, 1923, to succeedMahlon Pitney. Sanford was confirmed by the Senate by a voice vote on January 29, 1923.[10] Sanford took the judicial oath of office on February 19, 1923.[11] He was Circuit Justice for the Fifth Circuit throughout his tenure on the Court.[7]
Sanford wrote 130 opinions during his seven years on the Court. His most well-known[12] was the majority opinion inGitlow v. New York.[1][13] While upholding a state law banninganarchist literature, the opinion inGitlow implied that some provisions of theBill of Rights (here the First Amendment's free speech provisions) apply with equal force to the states via theDue Process Clause of theFourteenth Amendment (commonly called "incorporation"). That had "extraordinary consequences for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights during the era of theWarren Court," which later used similar reasoning to incorporate other amendments and expand civil liberties.[13][14]Gitlow has been cited as precedent in cases such asNear v. Minnesota (1931),[15] which incorporated the guarantee offreedom of the press,Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), which recognized the constitutionalright to privacy,[16] and more recently,McDonald v. Chicago (2010),[17] which incorporated the right to bear arms.
Sanford authored the majority opinion inOkanogan Indians v. United States, commonly called the "Pocket Veto Case," which upheld the power of the President's "pocket veto." Other noteworthy opinions by him areCorrigan v. Buckley, 271 U.S. 323 (1926), which upheld the right of property sellers to discriminate based on race,Taylor v. Voss, 271 U.S. 176 (1926) andFiske v. Kansas, 274 U.S. 380 (1927).[12]
Sanford voted with the majority inMyers v. United States (1926), which upheld the President's authority to remove executive branch officials without the Senate's consent, and inEx parte Grossman (1925), which recognized the President's pardoning power to extend toconviction forcontempt of court.[18] Sanford concurred with Taft's dissent inAdkins v. Children's Hospital (1923).[18]
Chief Justice Taft is considered by some to have been Justice Sanford's mentor.[1] They routinely sided together in decisions[1] and were a part of the Court's conservative "inner club" that regularly met at the Chief Justice's house for libations and conviviality on Sundays.[14]
Justice Sanford unexpectedly died on March 8, 1930, ofuremic poisoning following adental extraction inWashington, D.C.,[19] just a few hours before Chief JusticeWilliam Howard Taft, who had retired five weeks earlier. As it was customary for members of the Court to attend the funeral of deceased members, that posed a "logistical nightmare" because of the immediate travel from Knoxville for Sanford's funeral to Washington for Taft's funeral.[20][21] As had been the case in their careers, Taft's death overshadowed Sanford's demise.[1] Sanford is interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Knoxville.[20]
In 1894, Sanford was chosen to deliver the centennial address at hisalma mater, theUniversity of Tennessee. The address, which discussed the institution's history, was published the following year asBlount College and the University of Tennessee: An Historical Address.[4] Sanford's papers are located at various institutions in Tennessee.[7][12] Sanford was an active member ofCivitan International.[22] And he may have been the inspiration forErnest Lawrence Thayer's poetical tragic hero inCasey at the Bat.[23] He is one of six Tennesseans who have served on the Supreme Court.[24]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | United States Assistant Attorney General 1907–1908 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee 1908–1923 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States 1923–1930 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| Other | |
