Justice Stephen Johnson Field
Today’s Justice of the Day is: STEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD. Justice Field was born on this day, November 4, in 1816.
Justice Field was born in Haddam, Connecticut, where he would remain until he left to attend Williams College in Massachusetts, which he graduated from with a B.A. in 1837. He came from a remarkably successful family, one that included a nephew, Justice David Josiah Brewer, who would serve with him on the SCUS during his last seven years in office.
In 1841, Justice Field entered private practice for seven years in New York City, and moved to California, the state from which he would be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, soon afterwards. He had a very brief career as a private attorney in San Francisco in 1850, but moved to Marysville, California that same year to begin yet another seven year stint in private practice. Justice Field also served as an Alcalde, the Spanish word for a municipal magistrate who has both judicial and administrative functions, in Marysville in 1850. He also began a term as a member of the California State Assembly that year, after having been elected as a Democrat, which ended in 1851. Justice Field was later appointed to be a member of the Supreme Court of California, serving from 1857 until his elevation to the SCUS; he became Chief Justice of that court in 1859 and served in that capacity for the duration of his time there.
Justice Field was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln on March 6, 1863, to a newly-created seat on the SCUS. He was chosen despite his having been a Democrat, likely because of his outspoken support for keeping the union together. Justice Field was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 10, 1863, and received his commission that day. He took the Judicial Oath to officially join the SCUS on May 20, and served on the Taney, Chase, Waite and Fuller Courts. Justice Field’s service was terminated on December 1, 1897, due to his retirement.
Justice Field is the second longest serving member of the SCUS to date, and was the first Justice to be appointed from the state of California. Despite the length of his tenure, he did not have an especially noteworthy impact on law. Sadly, Justice Field joined the majority in upholding the odious decision in the most high-profile case of his time, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).