John Forrest Dillon

American judge (1831–1914)

John Forrest Dillon (December 25, 1831 – May 6, 1914) was an American attorney in Iowa and New York , a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit . He authored a highly influential treatise on the power of states over municipal governments .

Education and career

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Born on December 25, 1831, in Northampton , (then part of Montgomery County , now part of Fulton County ), New York , Dillon received a Doctor of Medicine in 1850 from the University of Iowa . He read law in 1852. He entered private practice in Davenport , Iowa from 1852 to 1853. He was county attorney for Scott County , Iowa from 1853 to 1858. He was a Judge of the Iowa District Court for the Seventh Judicial District from 1858 to 1862. He was a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court from 1862 to 1868.

Federal judicial service

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Dillon was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant on December 9, 1869, to the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit , to a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 44. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 22, 1869, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on September 1, 1879, due to his resignation.

Scholarship and notable ruling

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While on the federal bench, Dillon wrote Municipal Corporations (1872), one of the earliest systematic studies of the subject.[_citation needed
] He also authored Removal of Cases from State Courts to Federal Courts and Municipal Bonds, both in 1876.[citation needed
_] On February 17, 1876, during the Whiskey Ring graft prosecutions, Justice Dillon ruled Ulysses S. Grant 's deposition for Orville E. Babcock was admissible in court.

Later career

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Following his resignation from the federal bench, Dillon was a professor of law for Columbia University from 1879 to 1882. He resumed private practice in New York City , New York from 1882 to 1914. He was the Storrs professor of law at Yale University from 1891 to 1892, during which time he wrote The Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America: Being a Series of Lectures Delivered Before Yale University. He died on May 6, 1914, in New York City.

Memorial

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Dillon Memorial in Davenport, Iowa

The Dillon Family monument in Oakdale Memorial Gardens in Davenport, Iowa where Dillon is buried.

A memorial fountain to Dillon was erected in downtown Davenport in 1918, carved of Indiana limestone in Romanesque style, by sculptor Harry Liva.[_citation needed
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Family

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In 1853, Dillon married Anna Margery Price (born June 19, 1835). They had two sons and a daughter. Anna and their daughter, Mrs. Annie Dillon Oliver, died in the sinking of the French ocean liner La Bourgogne in July 1898. Dillon's oldest son, Hiram Price Dillon (1855–1918), became a lawyer in Iowa and a Master of Chancery in federal court.

John F. Dillon's sister married John B. Jordan, a merchant. That marriage produced a daughter, Jennie, who married Louis Stengel. Louis and Jennie Stengel were the parents of Casey Stengel , who had a long career as a baseball player and manager.

Dillon's Rule

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The theory of state preeminence over local governments was expressed as Dillon's Rule in an 1868 case: "Municipal corporations owe their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from, the legislature. It breathes into them the breath of life, without which they cannot exist. As it creates, so may it destroy. If it may destroy, it may abridge and control". By contrast, the Cooley Doctrine , or the doctrine of home rule , expressed the theory of an inherent right to local self-determination . In a concurring opinion, Michigan Supreme Court Judge Thomas M. Cooley in 1871 stated, "local government is a matter of absolute right; and the state cannot take it away".

In Municipal Corporations (1872), Dillon contended that in contrast to the powers of states, which are unlimited but for express restrictions under the state or federal constitution, [municipalities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipalities "Munic

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