Benjamin Robbins Curtis lived from November 4, 1809 to September 15, 1874 and was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1851 to 1857. Curtis was the only Whig justice of the Supreme Court and the first Supreme Court justice to hold a formal law degree, and he is often remembered as one of the two dissenters in the Courts 1857 decision Dred Scott v. Sandford. Curtis resigned from the Supreme Court in 1857 to return to private legal practice in Boston, Massachusetts, and in 1868 he served as President Andrew Johnsons defense lawyer during Johnsons impeachment trial.
Facts
RoleAssociate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (1851-1857) 1 Nationality / Jurisdiction BirthplaceWatertown, Massachusetts 1 Place of Death Classification
Field of Law Role
Role (category) FAQs
Why did Benjamin Robbins Curtis resign from the Supreme Court after only six years?
He resigned in 1857, in part over the bitter atmosphere after Dred Scott, and also over the circuit duties and the salary.
Curtis resigned on September 30, 1857, in part because he was exasperated with the fraught atmosphere on the Court that the Dred Scott case had produced. Other accounts give a temperamental and a financial reason: he disliked riding the circuit, which justices were then required to do, and he did not want to live on a salary of $6,500 per year, much less than he earned in private practice. He returned to his law practice in Boston.
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Source Benjamin Robbins Curtis (Wikipedia)Lead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809 – September 15, 1874) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1851 to 1857.
Sources
1. Benjamin Robbins Curtis (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributorsEarly Life and Education section
Curtis was born November 4, 1809, in Watertown, Massachusetts, the son of Lois Robbins and Benjamin Curtis, the captain of a merchant vessel.
Death and legacy section
Curtis died in Newport, Rhode Island, on September 15, 1874.
Introduction
Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809 - September 15, 1874) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1851 to 1857.
View the Source Wikidata: Benjamin Robbins Curtis
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P31 (instance of): human; QID resolved and verified for this jurist (Benjamin Robbins Curtis)
- In Legal System: Law of the United States, Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809, September 15, 1874) was an American lawyer and judge who served as an associ
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