State

Justice Iredell Dissents He was \orlli Carolina's first iiioiiiIht on llie Supremo Court of tlie I'niteil Stales anil plavoil »n important part in a ii.iinlior of leg'islntivf» battles of liis ilay anil lime. CAROLINA’S first member of the Supreme Court of the United States, James Iredell, was born in England in 1750. Me emigrated to Carolina when only seventeen and read law under Gov¬ ernor Samuel Johnston, whose sis¬ ter he married. He came to the Bar in 1776. and when the legislature elected the first Superior Court Judges to be chosen after the adoption of the State Constitution in 1776, Iredell was one of the three chosen. He did not remain long upon the bench, and after his resignation was named Attorney General. This о filcc he likewise resigned after but a short service. Bayard vs. Singleton The most famous case in which Iredell appeared while at the Bar was that of Bayard vs. Singleton. which is the first reported case where an American court held that the courts possessed the inherent l>owcr to declare an act of the legislature void if it was in conflict with the Constitution. It is a most singular fact that all five of the counsel who appeared in that famous case had Carolina counties named in their honor, these being Samuel Johnston, William R. Davie, James Iredell, who ap- K-ared for the plaintiff; Abner ash and Alfred Moore who ap¬ peared for the defendant. A county was likewise named in honor of one of the judges who heard the case — Samuel Ashe. The court went about the matter cautiously, carrying the case over a term to give the legislature an opportunity to change the law which the court felt was unconstitutional. But as the legislature made no change, the court courageously stuck to its guns and handed down its opinion declaring the act void. Threats of impeachment followed, but these melted away, and upon a show¬ down the judges were completely vindicated— the legislature not only refusing to impeach but adopting a resolution thanking the judges for their “faithful service." The Philadelphia convention had adopted the Federal Constitution. Hi/ II. C. LAWRENCE and the question came on whether this document should be ratified by North Carolina. Opposition to ratification was bitter, and Iredell, as perhaps the most able of the Federalists, became its stay and defender before the Hillsboro con¬ vention which was called to con¬ sider the question. With Iredell, favoring ratification, stood William R. Davie and Dr. Hugh Williamson, whose name is signed to that im¬ mortal instrument. Opposed were Willie Jones of Halifax, Timothy Bloodworth, of Wilmington ( blacksmith who was thereafter to become United States Senator), the famous and influential Rev. David Caldwell and other notables. A Bitter Fight To read an account of the pub¬ licity just prior to the Convention one would think the absentee bal¬ lot was under consideration, or that Deane ns. Burgin was pending to decide who was entitled to the nomination for Congress. Willie Jones was placed in such an em¬ barrassing position that he felt impelled to make public denial of the allegation that he had called the "members of the Grand Con¬ vention generally, and General Washington and Colonel Davie in Kticular. scoundrels." No doubt nd Jones was like the preacher who said over and over again "thank God if I did think it. I didn’t say it." Thomas Person, in whose honor our county of Person is named, thrust in an oar and came out with a statement given wide publicity, in which he averred that Washington was a "damned rascal and traitor to his country for put¬ ting his hand to such an infamous paper as the new Constitution." Things were warming up. When the Convention came on to be held, the opponents of the Constitution strenuously opposed the clause in the preamble. "We the people.” contending it should have read "We the States." They opposed giving the Federal gov¬ ernment the power to levy direct taxes; they doubted the advisa¬ bility of a Federal judiciary; they opposed the clauses prohibiting a State from issuing bills of credit, passing ex post facto laws, or laws impairing the obligations of a con¬ tract. Yet other limitations on the powers of the sovereign States were opposed. Much was made of the failure to include a bill of rights in the document. Iredell conceded that the Consti¬ tution might need amending but his contention was ratify first, amend afterward. Ratification failed by a vote of 184 to 84. In 1789 another convention was held at Fayetteville to again consider ratification, and this time the ad¬ vocates of ratification were in the large majority. It is often said that this change was due to the adoption of the first ten amend¬ ments. but such is not the case. The ten amendments had been proposed by Congress but had not been adopted by a single State. However. Carolina had been kept out of the Union long enough to prevent her vote from being cast for Washington for President. On the Supreme Court In 1790 without his knowledge (think of it) President Washing¬ ton named Iredell as a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The court was not then held in as high favor as now, nor was its position so influential in the councils of government. Wash¬ ington named no less than four chief justices. One justice resigned to accept a seat on the Supreme Court of South Carolina; another to accept appointment as Comp¬ troller of New Jersey. In 1791, (he distinguished Carolina lawyer, William R. Davie, expressed the opinion "the Federal Judiciary act of 1789 would disgrace the compo¬ sition of the meanest legislature of the States.” United States Senator Johnston in a letter to Iredell announced his firm determi- ( Continued on page 17)