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John Forrest Dillon | |
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| Judge of theUnited States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit | |
| In office December 22, 1869 – September 1, 1879 | |
| Appointed by | Ulysses S. Grant |
| Preceded by | Seat established by 16 Stat. 44 |
| Succeeded by | George W. McCrary |
| 10th Chief Justice of theIowa Supreme Court | |
| In office 1868–1869 | |
| Preceded by | Ralph P. Lowe |
| Succeeded by | Chester C. Cole |
| Associate Justice of theIowa Supreme Court | |
| In office 1864–1870 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Forrest Dillon (1831-12-25)December 25, 1831 |
| Died | May 6, 1914(1914-05-06) (aged 82) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | University of Iowa (MD) read law |
John Forrest Dillon (December 25, 1831 – May 6, 1914) was an Americanattorney inIowa andNew York, a justice of theIowa Supreme Court and aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit. He authored a highly influential treatise on the power ofstates overmunicipal governments.
Born on December 25, 1831, inNorthampton, (then part ofMontgomery County, now part ofFulton County),New York,[1] Dillon received aDoctor of Medicine in 1850 from theUniversity of Iowa.[1] Heread law in 1852.[1] He entered private practice inDavenport,Iowa from 1852 to 1853.[1] He was county attorney forScott County, Iowa from 1853 to 1858.[1] He was a Judge of theIowa District Court for the Seventh Judicial District from 1858 to 1862.[1] He was a justice of theIowa Supreme Court from 1862 to 1868.[1]
Dillon was nominated by PresidentUlysses S. Grant on December 9, 1869, to theUnited States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 44.[1] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on December 22, 1869, and received his commission the same day.[1] His service terminated on September 1, 1879, due to his resignation.[1]
While on the federal bench, Dillon wroteMunicipal Corporations (1872), one of the earliest systematic studies of the subject.[citation needed] He also authoredRemoval of Cases from State Courts to Federal Courts andMunicipal Bonds, both in 1876.[citation needed] On February 17, 1876, during theWhiskey Ring graft prosecutions, Justice Dillon ruledUlysses S. Grant's deposition forOrville E. Babcock was admissible in court.[2]
Following his resignation from the federal bench, Dillon was a professor of law forColumbia University from 1879 to 1882.[1] He resumed private practice inNew York City, New York from 1882 to 1914.[1] He was the Storrs professor of law atYale University from 1891 to 1892,[1] during which time he wroteThe Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America: Being a Series of Lectures Delivered Before Yale University.[3] He died on May 6, 1914, in New York City.[1]
Amemorial fountain to Dillon was erected in downtown Davenport in 1918, carved of Indiana limestone in Romanesque style, by sculptor Harry Liva.[citation needed]
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In 1853, Dillon married Anna Margery Price (born June 19, 1835). They had two sons and a daughter. Anna and their daughter, Mrs. Annie Dillon Oliver, died in the sinking of the Frenchocean linerLa Bourgogne in July 1898. Dillon's oldest son, Hiram Price Dillon (1855–1918), became a lawyer in Iowa and a Master ofChancery in federal court.
John F. Dillon's sister married John B. Jordan, a merchant. That marriage produced a daughter, Jennie, who married Louis Stengel. Louis and Jennie Stengel were the parents ofCasey Stengel, who had a long career as a baseball player and manager.
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The theory of state preeminence over local governments was expressed as Dillon's Rule in an 1868 case: "Municipal corporations owe their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from, the legislature. It breathes into them the breath of life, without which they cannot exist. As it creates, so may it destroy. If it may destroy, it may abridge and control".[4] By contrast, theCooley Doctrine, or the doctrine ofhome rule, expressed the theory of an inherent right to localself-determination. In a concurring opinion, Michigan Supreme Court JudgeThomas M. Cooley in 1871 stated, "local government is a matter of absolute right; and the state cannot take it away".[5]
InMunicipal Corporations (1872), Dillon contended that in contrast to the powers of states, which are unlimited but for express restrictions under the state or federal constitution,municipalities only have the powers that are expressly granted to them by the state, any power necessarily implied by an express power, and those powers essential to a municipality's existence. This formulation of the scope of municipal power came to be known as "Dillon's Rule."[6]
TheSupreme Court of the United States citedMunicipal Corporations and fully adopted Dillon's emphasis on state power over municipalities inHunter v. Pittsburgh,[7] which upheld the power ofPennsylvania to consolidate the city ofAllegheny into the city ofPittsburgh, despite the objections of a majority of Allegheny's residents. The Court's ruling that states could alter or abolish at will the charters of municipal corporations without infringing upon contract rights relied upon Dillon's distinction between public, municipal corporations and private ones. However, the Court did not prevent states from passing legislation or amending theirconstitutions to explicitly allow home rule. This constitutional allowance was reiterated inTrenton v. New Jersey, where the Supreme Court held that "In the absence of state constitutional provisions safeguarding it to them, municipalities have no inherent right of self-government which is beyond the legislative control of the state, but are merely departments of the state, with powers and privileges such as the state has seen fit to grant, held and exercised subject to its sovereign will".[8]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Seat established by 16 Stat. 44 | Judge of theUnited States Circuit Courts for the Eighth Circuit 1869–1879 | Succeeded by |
