Justice Joseph Rucker Lamar
Today’s Justice of the Day is: JOSEPH RUCKER LAMAR. Justice Lamar was born on this day, October 15, in 1857.
Justice Lamar was born in Cedar Grove, Georgia, the son of a prominent Southern family and a cousin of another Member of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Lucius Q. C. Lamar II. He was raised near Augusta, Georgia, and attended the University of Georgia before transferring to Bethany College in West Virginia, where he earned a B.A. in 1877. Justice Lamar went on to study at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.
In 1879, Justice Lamar returned to Bethany College as a Professor of Latin, before returning to his home town of Augusta to enter private practice in 1880. During this time, he also served as a Member of both the Georgia House of Representatives (from 1886 to 1889) and later the Commission to Recodify the Laws of Georgia (from 1893 to 1895). Justice Lamar left his career in private practice in 1903 to become an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia for a two year term, before returning to work as a private attorney until his appointment to the SCUS.
Justice Lamar was nominated by President William Howard Taft on December 12, 1910, to a seat vacated by Justice William Henry Moody. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 15, and received his commission two days later. Justice Lamar took the Judicial Oath to officially join the SCUS on January 3, 1911, and served out his entire tenure on the White Court. His service was terminated on January 2, 1916, due to his death.
Justice Lamar is not a particularly well-remembered Member of the SCUS today, which is perhaps mostly a function of the fact that his career as a Justice was cut short by his relatively early death.