Inquiry -- how about William Marbury and friends?

[Aynes,Richard L]

Well, I think we generally do think about Marbury being appointed to "a federal judgeship", but a closer look indicates that Act in question created Justices of the Peace for the District of Columbia. This was the commission Marbury was seeking, not that of a Judge.

Traditionally, a Justice of the Peace was not a lawyer.  For example, in the case of Justice Samuel Miller (previously mentioned), he was a Justice of the Peace in Kentucky before he admitted to the bar.  Maybe no other state has this, but this was rather analogous to  Ohio's Mayor's Courts, where the Mayor of a City can hold court on certain minor matters (largely traffic offenses now) without being a lawyer.

Richard Aynes
U. of Akron

From: Paul Finkelman [mailto:paul.finkelman at yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 06, 2010 4:30 PM
To: Aynes,Richard L; Bezanson, Randall P; Conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu
Subject: Re: Inquiry -- how about William Marbury and friends?

William Marbury was appointed to a federal judgeship but of course never served.  He was not a lawyer.  Some of the others appointed with him were also non-lawyers, and they did get their commissions.  I guess maybe the original question was meant to be about Art. III judges, but who knows.

I suspect the place to look for non-lawyers would be in the federal territories as well.

The question also raises the issue of what constitutes a "lawyer."   I assume "passed the bar" is the text. (so for example, James Madison was NOT a lawyer even though he had  as good a legal education as many lawyers).

----
Paul Finkelman
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Albany Law School
80 New Scotland Avenue
Albany, NY 12208
518-445-3386 (p)
518-445-3363 (f)

paul.finkelman at albanylaw.edu

www.paulfinkelman.com<http://www.paulfinkelman.com>


________________________________





-----Original Message-----
From: On Behalf Of Ilya Somin
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 2:15 PM
To: Robert Bradley
Cc: conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu<mailto:conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu>
Subject: Inquiry

I was wondering if anyone on the list happens to know whether there has ever been a federal judge who was not a lawyer.

Thanks!

Ilya Somin
Associate Professor of Law
Editor, Supreme Court Economic Review
George Mason University School of Law
3301 Fairfax Dr.
Arlington, VA 22201
ph: 703-993-8069
fax: 703-993-8202
e-mail: isomin at gmu.edu<mailto:isomin at gmu.edu>
Website: http://mason.gmu.edu/~isomin/<http://mason.gmu.edu/%7Eisomin/>
SSRN Page: http://ssrn.com/author=333339



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