Joseph McKenna
Portrait byC. M. Bellc. 1905–1909
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
In office January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925[1]
Nominated by	William McKinley
Preceded by	Stephen Field
Succeeded by	Harlan Stone
42ndUnited States Attorney General
In office March 5, 1897 – January 25, 1898
President	William McKinley
Preceded by	Judson Harmon
Succeeded by	John Griggs
Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office March 17, 1892 – March 5, 1897
Nominated by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Lorenzo Sawyer
Succeeded by	William Morrow
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromCalifornia's3rd district
In office March 4, 1885 – March 28, 1892
Preceded by	Barclay Henley
Succeeded by	Samuel Hilborn
Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the19th district
In office December 6, 1875 – December 3, 1877
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Multi-member district
District Attorney ofSolano County
In office 1866–1868
Personal details
Born	(1843-08-10)August 10, 1843 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	November 21, 1926(1926-11-21) (aged 83) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Amanda Borneman
Education	Saint Joseph's University
Signature

Joseph McKenna (August 10, 1843 – November 21, 1926) was an American politician who served in all three branches of theU.S. federal government as a member of theU.S. House of Representatives, asU.S. Attorney General and as anAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court. He is one of seventeen members of the House of Representatives who subsequently served on the Supreme Court (including two Chief Justices).^[2]

Born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, the son ofIrish Catholic immigrants, he attendedSt. Joseph's College and theCollegiate Institute inBenicia, California. After being admitted to the California bar in 1865, he entered private practice for one year and then becameDistrict Attorney forSolano County and then campaigned for and won a seat in theCalifornia State Assembly for two years (1875–1877). He retired after one term and an unsuccessful bid for Speaker.^[3]

After two unsuccessful attempts, McKenna was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives in 1885 and served for four terms. While in Congress, he was a "vehement proponent" ofChinese exclusion.^[4]

He was appointed to theNinth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1892 byPresidentBenjamin Harrison.^[3]

In 1897 he was appointed the 42ndAttorney General of the United States by PresidentWilliam McKinley, and served in that capacity until 1898.^[5]

McKenna was nominated by President McKinley on December 16, 1897, as anassociate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to succeedStephen Johnson Field. He was confirmed by the Senate on January 21, 1898, by a voice vote.^[6] He then took thejudicial oath of office on January 26, 1898.^[1] Conscious of his limited credentials, McKenna attendedColumbia Law School for about a month between his nomination and Senate confirmation to improve his legal education before taking his seat on the Court.^[7][8][9]

Although he never developed a consistent legal philosophy, McKenna was the author of a number of important decisions. One of the most notable was his opinion in the case ofUnited States v. U.S. Steel Corporation (1920) which held thatantitrust cases would be decided on the "rule of reason" principle—only allegedmonopolistic combinations that are in unreasonablerestraint of trade are illegal.^[10]

He authored 614 majority opinions, and 146 dissenting opinions during his time on the bench.^[11] His passionate rebuttal to the denial of "pecuniary benefit" to a wife whose husband had been killed while working on the railroad was among those which brought a change to the Employer Liability Act. One of his most noteworthy opinions wasHipolite Egg Co. v. United States, 220 U.S. 45 (1911),^[12][13] in which a unanimous Court upheld thePure Food and Drug Act of 1906.

InHoke v. United States (1913), he concurred in upholding theMann Act. However, four years later, he dissented from the Court's opinion inCaminetti v. United States (1917), which held the act applied to private, noncommercial enticements to cross state lines for purposes of a sexual liaison. According to McKenna, the Act regulated only commercial vice,i.e., "immoralities having a mercenary purpose."^[14]

McKenna wroteWilliams v. Mississippi, upholding the state's racist1890 Constitution that disenfranchised nearly every African American in the state through poll taxes and literacy tests, while exempting whites through a grandfather clause.^[15]

While McKenna was generally quite favorable to federal power, he joined the Court'ssubstantive due process jurisprudence and voted with the majority in 1905'sLochner v. New York, which struck down a state maximum-hours law for bakery workers.^[14] This decision carried broader implications for the scope of federal power, at least until theNew Deal and the 1937 switch-in-time-that-saved-nineWest Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish. (SeeJudiciary Reorganization Bill of 1937.)

McKenna resigned from the Court in January 1925 at the suggestion of Chief JusticeWilliam Howard Taft.^[16] McKenna's ability to perform his duties had been diminished significantly by astroke suffered 10 years earlier, and by the end of his tenure McKenna could not be counted on to write coherent opinions.^[16]

McKenna was one of 15 Catholic justices (out of the 116 total through the appointment of JusticeKetanji Brown Jackson) in the history of the Supreme Court.^[17]

McKenna married Amanda Borneman in 1869, and the couple had three daughters and one son.^[14] McKenna died on November 21, 1926.^[14] inWashington, D.C. His remains are interred at the city'sMount Olivet Cemetery.^[18][19]

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
• List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Fuller Court
• List of United States Supreme Court cases by the Taft Court
• List of United States Supreme Court cases by the White Court

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Author: Joseph McKenna

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• 1843 births
• 1926 deaths
• 20th-century American judges
• American people of Irish descent
• Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)
• Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• McKinley administration cabinet members
• Republican Party members of the California State Assembly
• Politicians from Philadelphia
• People from Solano County, California
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from California
• Columbia Law School alumni
• Saint Joseph's University alumni
• Attorneys general of the United States
• United States federal judges appointed by Benjamin Harrison
• United States federal judges appointed by William McKinley
• Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Catholics from California
• Catholics from Pennsylvania
• 19th-century members of the California State Legislature
• 19th-century United States representatives

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