Blatchford, Samuel (b. New York, N.Y., 9 Mar. 1820; d. 7 July 1893, Newport, R.I.; interred Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.), associate justice, 1882–1893. Samuel Blatchford is remembered for his quiet tenacity and close attention to the intricacies of patent and admiralty law. Blatchford was an unassuming centrist who played a pivotal role on the Court in the early 1890s. He wrote the important majority opinion that marked the first clear use of substantive due process, but two years later he also wrote the majority opinion that proclaimed that federal judges ought to use this new constitutional scrutiny of state regulations only in severely limited circumstances.

Blatchford, the son of Richard M. Blatchford, a prominent Whig lawyer and legislator, and Julia Ann Mumford, entered Columbia University when he was thirteen years old and graduated at the head of his class in 1837. He read law in the office of Governor William H. Seward and served as Seward's private secretary before joining his father's prestigious Manhattan legal practice in 1842. After Samuel married Caroline Appleton of Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1844, he moved to Auburn, New York, where he joined Seward's law practice and served in several state legal posts. In 1854, he returned to New York City to practice law and was soon offered, but declined, an appointment to the state supreme court.

Blatchford built a considerable reputation for diligence not only as a lawyer but also as the publisher of admiralty decisions and the decisions of the Circuit Court of the United States for the Second Circuit. Andrew Johnson in 1867 appointed Blatchford a federal district judge in the Southern District of New York and President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878 elevated him to the circuit court. When Ward Hunt resigned from the Supreme Court in 1882, President Chester A. Arthur failed to convince either Roscoe Conkling (whom the Senate had confirmed) or Senator George F. Edmunds of Vermont to accept the post. Arthur then appointed Blatchford, who was quickly confirmed, taking his seat on 13 April 1882.

In his two best known opinions, Blatchford held that it made a constitutional difference whether state legislatures made regulatory decisions themselves or delegated power to do so to agencies or commissions. In Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Co. v. Minnesota (1890), his majority opinion explained that the Constitution required the Court to strike down a Minnesota law that established an independent commission with the final say as to whether railroad rates were “equal and reasonable” (see Rule of Reason). This decision had great significance because it clearly departed from the Court's earlier deference to state economic regulation, as in Munn v. Illinois (1877), in which the business being regulated was said to be “affected with the public interest.” In Budd v. New York (1892), Blatchford again wrote for a divided Court. This time, however, his opinion upheld state power to regulate businesses, such as grain elevators, at least when the state legislature itself set rates.

Many observers argued that the distinction Blatchford attempted did not make sense, and certainly should not make a constitutional difference. Owing in part to the rise of populism, a severe economic depression, and the charged atmosphere of the early 1890s, Blatchford's attempt to find and hold a solid center was strained at best. This may help explain the relatively restrained praise for Blatchford after his death. Seymour D. Thompson, the outspoken editor of the American Law Review, proclaimed, “It is no great disparagement of him to say that he was probably a better reporter than judge.” During the Court's formal memorial service Attorney General Richard Olney said of Blatchford, “If he was not brilliant, he was safe.”

However, Blatchford's lawyerly enthusiasm for procedural detail contributed to his significant civil liberties decision extending the Fifth Amendment privilege against self‐incrimination in Counselman v. Hitchcock (1892). Blatchford's ruling for a unanimous Court emphasized that the Fifth Amendment protected Counselman from giving evidence that could be used in “any criminal case,” including a grand jury proceeding. Blatchford was explicit about moving beyond prior federal and state law, as he relied on the spirit and principle of constitutional guarantees.

Despite Counselman and a few other votes by Blatchford in favor of civil liberties, Blatchford attracted slight public notice; he was most noteworthy for his businesslike approach and his orderly, prosperous, and placid career.

Bibliography

Aviam Soifer , The Paradox of Paternalism and Laissez‐Faire Constitutionalism: United States Supreme Court, 1888–1921, Law and History Review 5 (Spring, 1987): 249–279.

Aviam Soifer

BLATCHFORD, SAMUEL

Samuel Blatchford was an astute and conscientious jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1882 to 1893. He was known primarily for his maritime and patent expertise and for his remarkable productivity. During his eleven-year tenure on the High Court he wrote 430 opinions and two dissents. His most noteworthy opinions, Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Co. v. Minnesota, 134 U.S. 418, 10 S. Ct. 462, 33 L. Ed. 970 (1890), and Budd v. People of New York, 143 U.S. 517, 12 S. Ct. 468, 36 L. Ed. 247 (1892), were roundly criticized for their apparently contradictory conclusions about due process under the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Blatchford was born in New York City on March 9, 1820, the son of Richard Blatchford, a lawyer, and Julia Ann Mumford. He attended Columbia College (renamed Columbia University), and graduated with honors at age seventeen in 1837. Blatchford served as a trustee of Columbia from 1867 to 1893.

After graduation Blatchford became the private secretary of Governor William H. Seward of New York, a family friend. Blatchford studied law, was admitted to the New York bar in 1842, and practiced for three years with his father in Manhattan. Blatchford then joined Seward's law firm in Auburn, New York. He married Caroline Appleton in 1844.

In 1854 Blatchford started his own law firm and he eventually became a respected authority on international, maritime, and patent law. Because of his extensive knowledge of patent law he was asked by lawmakers to help write key federal statutes governing patent infringement.

Blatchford made a significant contribution to the legal profession by organizing a reporting system for federal case law. During much of the nineteenth century federal opinions were not compiled or readily accessible to practicing lawyers. In 1852 Blatchford collected and published federal court admiralty decisions in Blatchford's Circuit Court Reports, a series that grew to twenty-four volumes. He also produced Blatchford's and Howland's Reports, a volume of admiralty cases from the District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Blatchford's Prize Cases, a collection of cases from circuit and district courts. His case reporting is credited with improving legal research.

Although Blatchford turned down an opportunity to sit on the New York Supreme Court in 1855, he eventually accepted another court appointment and rose through the ranks of the judiciary. In 1867 he was appointed by President andrew johnson as district judge of the Southern District of New York. Nine years later President rutherford b. hayes named him circuit judge for the second judicial circuit.

"The importance of a learned, [and] high-toned bar, to the proper discharge of the functions of the bench, cannot be too highly estimated. The stream can never rise higher than the fountain."
—Samuel Blatchford

Blatchford reached the pinnacle of his career in 1882, when President chester a.arthur nominated him to the U.S. Supreme Court. Blatch-ford was Arthur's third choice for the seat vacated by ward hunt. Although the U.S. Senate had already confirmed New York politician roscoe conkling, Arthur's first choice, Conkling declined to serve. Arthur's second choice, Senator George F. Edmunds, of Vermont, also turned down the honor. Known as a hardworking and

capable lawyer and judge, Blatchford accepted the nomination and was easily confirmed.

In 1890, Blatchford wrote Chicago, Milwaukee, an opinion that shielded business from public regulation. The Court ruled that the reasonableness of railroad rates could not be decided by an independent commission established by the Minnesota Legislature. The state law establishing the commission was ruled unconstitutional because it did not allow for court review and therefore violated the railway's right to due process. Two years later, in Budd, Blatchford changed course and the Court held that the state legislature could determine business rates affecting the public interest. The inconsistency between the two cases produced widespread criticism.

Blatchford wrote one significant civil liberties opinion, Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U.S. 547, 12 S. Ct. 195, 35 L. Ed. 1110 (1892), a case that strengthened the constitutional right against self-incrimination. Blatchford held that under the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, a witness could not be ordered to testify unless the state promised never to use the information against her or him.

Blatchford died in 1893 in Newport, Rhode Island, at age seventy-three.

further readings

Congressional Quarterly. 1989. Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly.

Leon, Friedman, and Fred L. Israel, eds. 1969. The Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 1789–1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions. New York: Chelsea House.