Justice David Davis
Today’s Justice of the Day is: DAVID DAVIS. Justice Davis was born on this day, March 9, in 1815.
Justice Davis was born in Cecil County, Maryland. He graduated from Kenyon College with an A.B. in 1832, and went on to attend Yale Law School.
Justice Davis made his way west to start his career an attorney, eventually working in private practice, first in Pekin (from 1835 to 1836), and then in Bloomington (from 1836 to 1848), both cities in Illinois, the state from which he would be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. He served as a Member of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1844, before he was a Delegate to the Illinois constitutional convention in 1847, where his most significant contribution was introducing a system of popularly elected judges in his adopted home state. Justice Davis began serving as a Judge of the Illinois Circuit Court’s Eighth Judicial Circuit (after being elected under the system he created) in 1848, an office he would hold until his elevation to the SCUS; notably, he served as eventual-President Abraham Lincoln’s campaign manager, playing an important role in his securing the Republican Party’s nomination.
Justice Davis received a recess appointment from President Lincoln on October 17, 1862, to a seat vacated by Justice John Archibald Campbell, and was subsequently nominated to that same position by President Lincoln on December 1. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 8, and received his commission that day. Justice Davis took the Judicial Oath to officially join the SCUS on December 10, and served on the Taney, Chase, and Waite Courts. His service was terminated on March 4, 1877, due to his resignation.
Justice Davis is not especially well-remembered today, and he did not make any particularly notable contributions while on the bench. He seemingly came to realize his ineffectiveness as a Justice, which may have been what prompted his decision to retire and then serve his adopted home state in the U.S. Senate (from 1877 to 1883, after which he retired from public life).