Pierce Butler (1923-1939)
Pierce Butler lived from 1866 to 1939.
Early Life and Legal Career
Butler was born on March 17, 1866 in Waterford, Minnesota. He graduated from Carleton College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. Butler read law and was admitted to the bar in 1888. He served as county attorney in Ramsey County in 1892, later joining the law firm of How & Eller in 1896. He eventually accepted an offer to practice in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he focused on railroad-related litigation for James J. Hill.
Appointment to the Supreme Court
Butler was appointed to the Supreme Court as an Associate Justice by President Warren Harding in 1922. During his sixteen years spent on the bench, Butler authored 327 majority opinions and 50 minority opinions. He vigorously opposed regulation of business and implementation of welfare programs by the federal government. Butler is also remembered for being a member of the “Four Horsemen,” a group of conservative Justices that consistently struck down New Deal legislation.
In United States v. Schwimmer, Butler wrote the majority opinion, in which a Hungarian immigrant’s application for citizenship was denied due to her candid refusal to take an oath to “take up arms” for her adopted country. Butler also sided with the majority in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, which held unconstitutional an Oregon state law that prohibited parents from sending their children to private or religious schools.
Death
Butler died on November 16, 1939 at the age of 73. He is buried in the Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Notable Cases
United States v. Schwimmer (1929)
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
