Robert Cooper Grier

United States Supreme Court justice (1794-1870)

Robert Cooper Grier (March 5, 1794 – September 25, 1870) was an American judge who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1846 to 1870.

He was a member of the Taney Court and along with Samuel Nelson , was one of two "doughfaces ", or Northern Democrats, on the court that were anti-abolitionists and voted in support of slavery. He concurred with the majority in the _Dred Scott v. Sandford _ decision that the portion of the Missouri Compromise that prohibited slavery north and west of the federal territory was unconstitutional and that Congress had no authority to regulate slavery in the territories. Grier was pressured by President-elect James Buchanan to join the Southern majority in an attempt to prevent the appearance that the decision was made along sectional lines.

Despite his pro-slavery votes, he was opposed to secession of the Confederate States of America . In 1863, Grier wrote the majority opinion in the _Prize Cases _, that confirmed Abraham Lincoln 's presidential power to institute Union blockades of Confederate ports during the American Civil War .

Early life and education

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Grier was born March 5, 1794, in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania , the oldest of eleven children to Elizabeth Cooper Grier and Isaac Grier. Both of his parents were members of the Presbyterian clergy. His father tutored him in a classical education

and he excelled in Latin and Greek.

In 1806, the family moved to Northumberland, Pennsylvania , where his father managed three churches and a private school. Grier entered Dickinson College in 1811 as a junior and graduated in 1812. He remained there as an instructor until taking a position at a school run by his father. He studied law under his father until his death in 1815. He worked at his father's school as an administrator and teacher and continued his law education under Charles Hall. He was admitted to the bar in 1817.

Career

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He practiced law for 15 years, first in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania , and then Danville, Pennsylvania . He supported his mother and paid for the education of his ten siblings. He was a Jacksonian Democrat

and supported Andrew Jackson in his presidential campaign.

A new district court for Allegheny County was opened and there was political maneuvering for appointees. Through a series of backroom deals, Grier was offered the judgeship with the expectation that he would decline. However he accepted the role and moved to Pittsburgh. He served in that role for 13 years and developed an excellent reputation.

In 1848, Grier was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society .

Supreme Court justice

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Engraving of Grier while serving as a Supreme Court justice, c. 1850

Supreme Court Justice Henry Baldwin died in April 1844, during the presidency of John Tyler . Tyler attempted to fill the vacancy twice, nominating first Edward King and then John M. Read – both were rejected by the United States Senate . As a result, the seat was still vacant when James K. Polk became president in March 1845.

Polk's first nominee for the seat, George Washington Woodward , was also rejected. Polk approached James Buchannan for consideration to be nominated, but he declined. Four congressmen from the slave state of Maryland recommended to Polk that he select Grier. They wrote that he was one who "acknowledges the right of the master to his slave and will enforce it irrespective of the clogs from time to time attempted to be thrown around by state legislation."

On August 3, 1846, Polk nominated Grier and the Senate unanimously confirmed him the following day. He was sworn into office on August 10, 1846. There had been an 841 day-long gap between the death of Henry Baldwin (April 21, 1844) and Robert Grier's swearing-in, which is the longest vacancy in the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to Grier joining the Taney Court, it had been granting increasing power to the states to regulate interstate commerce. Grier was solidly in the middle of the opposing factions of this argument. He sided with the majority in 1849 on the _Passenger Cases _, that determined a state tax on immigrants was a violation of the commerce power of Congress, and in 1852 on _Cooley v. Board of Wardens _,

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