Justice Samuel Chase
Today’s Justice of the Day is: SAMUEL CHASE. Justice Chase was born on this day, April 17, in 1741.
Justice Chase was born in Somerset County, Maryland, the state from which he would be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Like virtually all men and women, even the most accomplished, he did graduate from a university or college.
In 1764, Justice Chase began a decade-long term as a Member of the Lower House of the Maryland Proprietary Assembly, immediately after which he moved on to serve for two year as a Convention Member of the Maryland Provisional Government and began a four year stint as a Delegate to the Continental Congress (he would return to that body in 1784 and 1785). His service as a Member of the Maryland House of Delegates last from 1777 to 1788, the year he began a career as a Judge of the Baltimore County Criminal Court (located in Maryland), where he would remain until his appointment to the SCUS. Justice Chase also served as Chief Judge of the Maryland Genera Court for a half-decade, starting in 1791.
Justice Chase was nominated by President George Washington on January 26, 1796, to a seat vacated by Justice John Blair, Jr. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 27, and received his commission that day. Justice Chase took the Judicial Oath to officially join the SCUS on February 4, and served on the Ellsworth and Marshall Courts. His service was terminated on June 19, 1811, due to his death.
Justice Chase is perhaps most famous for being the only Member of the SCUS to have ever faced full, formal impeachment proceedings. He was impeached by the United States House of Representatives on March 12, 1804, before being acquitted by the U.S. Senate on March 1, 1805. The impeachment of Justice Chase was seen as an overtly political act by the President at the time, Thomas Jefferson, who despised him for his zealous defense of Federalist views and for being in close alliance with Chief Justice John Marshall. Justice Chase did not help his own cause with his numerous angry, abrasive outbursts and over-the-top opposition to anti-Federalists, though the U.S. Senate ultimately concluded that he simply had not done anything that warranted removal from office. The acquittal ultimately set a hugely important precedent: members of the judiciary may not be stripped of their duties simply because they do not share the beliefs of the President and/or Congress (a principle that even to this day plays an important role in underlying the separation of powers and judicial independence doctrines of the U.S.).