Rufus Wheeler Peckham This article is about the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; for Justice Peckham's father of the same name who served in the U.S. House of Representatives, see Rufus Wheeler Peckham (1809-1873). Justice Rufus Wheeler Peckham Rufus Wheeler Peckham (November 8, 1838 - October 24, 1909) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1895 until 1909. He was known for his strong use of substantive due process to invalidate regulations of business and property. Peckham's namesake father was also a lawyer and judge, and a congressman. His brother, Wheeler Hazard Peckham, was a lawyer as well, and a failed nominee to the Supreme Court. Peckham was born in Albany, New York. He followed in his father's footsteps as a lawyer, being admitted to the bar in Albany in 1859 after teaching himself law by studying in his father's office. After a decade of private practice, Peckham served as the Albany district attorney from 1869 from 1872. Peckham then returned to private legal practice and served as counsel to the City of Albany, until being elected as a trial judge on the New York Supreme Court in 1883. In 1886, Peckham was elected to the New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state. This was the third position that Peckham had held after his father, who had also served as the Albany D.A., and on the New York Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, until his death in a mid-ocean collision between two ships in 1873. Peckham was active in local Democratic politics, and served as a New York delegate to the 1876 Democratic National Convention. He was also a confidant to such tycoons as J. Pierpont Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and John D. Rockefeller. Many believed these relationships predisposed Peckham to favor business interests while on the Supreme Court. Rufus Peckham's brother Wheeler was a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Grover Cleveland, in 1894. However, this nomination was caught in the middle of a political tug-of-war between Cleveland and New York Senator David Hill, and Wheeler was the second nominee of Cleveland's that Hill managed to block; Senator Edward Douglass White was instead confirmed to the Court. By the time another seat on the Court was vacant after the death of Howell E. Jackson in 1895, Hill was weakened politically and Cleveland turned to Rufus Peckham, who was confirmed within six days on December of that year and took his oath of office in January of 1896. Peckham's stint on the Court has been called by many scholars the height of "laissez-faire" constitutionalism, during which the Court regularly struck down efforts to regulate labor standards and relations. Peckham's most notorious opinion was in Lochner v. New York (1905), in which he invalidated a limitation on bakers' working hours to sixty per week as being contrary to the individual right to freely contract, and as being unnecessary to protect health or safety. Peckham also silently joined the majority in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Peckham served on the Court until his death on October 24, 1909, at age 70. He was buried with his wife, Harriette M. Arnold (1839 - 1917), in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York. External links Gravesite of Rufus Wheeler Peckham Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufus_Wheeler_Peckham