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3 SELECTING THE JUSTICES AND INITIAL OPERATIONS On the same day that Ellsworth's judiciary proposals were finally enacted , President Washington nominated a slate of six individuals to serve as the nation's first Supreme Court. He selected John Jay of New York for the leading post of ChiefJustice. In addition, Washington nominated five associate Justices: John Rutledge of South Carolina, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, William Cushing of Massachusetts, Robert H. Harrison of Maryland, and John Blair of Virginia. Senator Izard of South Carolina enthusiastically wrote that these proposed Justices "are chosen from among the most eminent and distinguished characters in America, and I do not believe that any Judiciary in the world is better filled." His fellow senators evidently agreed and formally consented to all six nominations just two days later.l Although the Court was now ready for business, there was very little business ready for the Court. The first session, which took place in February 1790, was anticlimactic. Chief Justice Jay and Justices Wilson, Cushing, and Blair were present; but Justice Rutledge and Justice Harrison , the latter of whom had recently resigned, did not attend. In any event, there was nothing to do other than admit attorneys to practice before the Court, so the Court was adjourned eight days later. A half a year later, the same four Justices, together with Justice Iredell, who filled Harrison's vacancy, met for the August term of 1790. Once more Justice Rutledge did not attend, and again the Court quickly adjourned without having heard a single case. This pattern of virtual inactivity continued for a few years. The Court's docket book, minutes, and surviving case files indicate that no cases were filed in 1790 and only two in '91. In 1792 1. 2 DHFFC 44-45 (Senate Executive Journal); Ralph Izard to Edward Rutledge (Sept. 26, 1789), excerpted in 1 DHSC 668-69. 54 SELECTING THE JUSTICES AND INITIAL OPERATIONS 55 and '93, the Court considered a few significant cases, but its overall caseload was light, with only five filings each year.2 During these early years, the Justices performed virtually all of their official duties while they were serving as trial judges in the circuit courts, a physically arduous task that they found irksome. While riding the southern circuit, Justice Iredell wrote his wife, "I scarcely thought there had been so much barren land in all America as I have passed through." In a letter of resignation to President Washington, Justice Johnson explained , "I cannot resolve to spend six Months in the Year of the few I may have left from my Family, on Roads at Taverns chiefly and often in Situations where the most moderate Desires are disappointed." Chief Justice Jay seriously considered leaving the Court in 1792 because "he had got quite tired of the Circuits." Throughout the 1790s the Justices frequently attempted to persuade Congress to relieve them of their circuit court duties. Their efforts, however, were largely unsuccessful, and at the end of the decade they were still riding circuit.3 The most interesting aspect of the Court's first few years is George Washington's apparent set ofcriteria for selecting his nominees. With his initial run of appointments, the President established many precedents and themes in the appointment process that have endured to the present. The Court might have become a reliquary for political hacks, butWashington's nominations firmly established a contrary tradition. He regarded "the due administration ofJustice as the strongest cement of good government" and therefore "considered the first organization of the Judicial Department as essential to the happiness of our Citizens, and to the stability of our political system." Instead of seeking place-servers , Washington sought "the fittest characters to expound the laws and dispense justice."4 This is not to say that he nominated no mediocre 2. Supreme Court Docket Book, reprinted in 1 DHSC 483-93; Supreme Court Fine Minutes, reprinted in id. 169-219; Supreme Court Case Files, DNA. Significant cases decided by the Court in this early period were Hayburn's Case, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 409 (1792), discussed in chapter 6 at 177-78; and Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419 (1793), discussed in chapter 7 at 188-97. 3. See James Iredell to Hannah Iredell (May 10, 1790), excerpted in 2 DHSC 65-66; Thomas Johnson to George Washington (Jan. 16, 1793), reprinted in 1 DHSC 80; Benjamin Bourne to William Channing (Feb. 21,1792), excerpted in 1 DHSC 733...

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