This article is about James Iredell, the United States Supreme Court justice. For his son, governor and senator from North Carolina, see James Iredell, Jr..

James Iredell (October 5, 1751 – October 20, 1799) was one of the original Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed by President George Washington and served from 1790 until his death in 1799. His son, James Iredell, Jr., became governor of North Carolina. Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States. ... May 12 is the 132nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (133rd in leap years). ... Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was later elected the first president of the United States under the U.S. Constitution. ... Alfred Moore (May 21, 1755 - 1810) was a distinguished North Carolina judge and eventually a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (279th in leap years). ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... Statistics Population: 16,000 Location OS grid reference: TQ414101 Administration District: Lewes Shire county: East Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: East Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Fire and rescue: East Sussex Ambulance: South East Coast Post... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Edenton is a town in Chowan County, North Carolina, United States. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ... Gov. ... October 5 is the 278th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (279th in leap years). ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Counties, Cities, and Towns Other countries Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest judicial body in the... For the pop band, see Presidents of the United States of America. ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was later elected the first president of the United States under the U.S. Constitution. ... Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Gov. ... A governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

Early life

James Iredell was born in Lewes, England, the oldest of five children of a Bristol merchant. The failure of his father's business (and health) impelled James to immigrate to the Colonies in 1767 at the age of 17. Relatives assisted him in obtaining a position in the customs service as deputy collector, or comptroller, of the port of Edenton, North Carolina. Statistics Population: 16,000 Location OS grid reference: TQ414101 Administration District: Lewes Shire county: East Sussex Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: East Sussex Historic county: Sussex Services Police force: Sussex Police Fire and rescue: East Sussex Ambulance: South East Coast Post... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... 1767 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Edenton is a town located in Chowan County, North Carolina. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ...

While working at the customs house, Iredell read law under Samuel Johnston (later governor of North Carolina), began the practice of law and was admitted to the bar in 1771. The grandson of a clergyman, he was a devout Anglican throughout his life and his writings display an interest in spirituality and metaphysics beyond a simple attachment to organized religion. This article is about Samuel Johnston, North Carolina governor. ... For other uses, see Governor (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 150 miles (240 km)  - Length 560[1] miles (901 km)  - % water 9. ... 1771 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1773, Iredell married Johnston's sister Hannah and the two had four children, yet only 3 survived. The following year (1774) he was made collector for the port. 1773 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ...

Roles in the Revolution

Although employed by the British government, Iredell was a strong supporter of independence and the revolution. In 1774 he wrote To the Inhabitants of Great Britain in which he laid out arguments opposing the concept of Parliamentary supremacy over America. This essay established Iredell, at the age of 23, as the most influential political essayist in North Carolina at that time. His treatise Principles of an American Whig predates and echoes themes and ideas of the Declaration of Independence. Chesma Column in Tsarskoe Selo, commemorating the end of the Russo-Turkish War. ... Go to american revolution at wiki to get the same information provided below! This article concerns Patriots in the Revolutionary War. ... A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. ...

After the revolution began, Iredell helped organize the court system of North Carolina, and was elected a judge of the superior court in 1778. His career advanced through a number of political and judicial posts in the state, including that of attorney general from 1779�1781. In 1787 the state assembly appointed him commissioner and charged him with compiling and revising the laws of North Carolina. His work was published in 1791 as Iredell's Revisal. 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The attorney general of North Carolina is the head of the states Department of Justice and provides legal representation and advice to all state agencies. ... 1779 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1781 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1791 (MDCCXCI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 11-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

Iredell was a leader of the Federalists in North Carolina, and a strong supporter of the proposed Constitution. In the 1788 convention at Hillsborough he argued unsuccessfully in favor of its adoption. (North Carolina later ratified the Constitution after Congress amended it through the addition of the Bill of Rights.) This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... 1788 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Hillsborough is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States. ... This article is about the general concept of a bill of rights. ...

Supreme Court Justice

On February 10, 1790, George Washington nominated James Iredell to the post of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and he was confirmed by the Senate two days later. At the age of 38, he was the youngest of the original Supreme Court Justices. February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)[1] led Americas Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and was later elected the first president of the United States under the U.S. Constitution. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ...

The case load of the first Supreme Court was light. In fact, the court did not hear its first case until 1792. The Justices gathered to hear arguments only twice a year, and we have only a handful of opinions written by Justice Iredell in his years on the court. Of those, two of the most significant are:

• Chisholm v. Georgia (1793): At issue was whether the citizens of one state (South Carolina) could sue another state (Georgia) for repayment of Revolutionary War bills. Iredell was the lone dissent from the majority opinion that held that a state may be sued in federal court without its consent to the suit.

• Calder v. Bull (1798): At issue was whether an act of the Connecticut legislature violated the Constitution because it was an ex post facto law, forbidden pursuant to Article I, Section 9, Clause 3.

In the Chisholm case, public and political opinion agreed with Iredell against the other Justices. The outcry and strong reaction of people against the Chisholm decision would lead to its reversal by the adoption of the Eleventh Amendment in 1798. {| cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 border=1 align=right style=margin-left: 0. ... 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston(1670-1789) Columbia(1790-present) Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32°430N to 35... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article be split into multiple articles. ... An ex post facto law (Latin for from a thing done afterward), also known as a retrospective law, is a law that is retroactive, i. ... Amendment XI (the Eleventh Amendment) of the United States Constitution was passed by the U.S. Congress on March 4, 1794 and was ratified on February 7, 1795. ... 1798 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

In the unanimous decision in Calder, the Court held that the Clause applied to criminal cases only, deciding that the legislature's act was not unconstitutional. More importantly, Calder raised the question of whether "principles of natural justice" constituted law. Iredell's opinion indicated that only those actions of a state that explicitly violated a textual provision of the Constitution could be declared void. He stated: "The principles of natural justice are regulated by no fixed standard; the ablest and the purest men have differed upon the subject; and all the court could properly say, in such an event, would be, that the legislature (possessed of an equal right of opinion) had passed an act which, in the opinion of the judges, was inconsistent with the abstract principles of natural justice."

Justice Iredell's opinion in Calder helped establish the principle of judicial review five years before it was tested in Marbury v. Madison (1803). The Supreme Court has followed Iredell's approach throughout its subsequent history. Holding Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789 is unconstitutional to the extent it purports to enlarge the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court beyond that permitted by the Constitution. ... 1803 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

His charge to the federal grand jury in Fries Case is commonly cited as evidence that the Framers' Intent was to limit the scope of the First Amendment to freedom from prior restraint. He praised Sir William Blackstone's narrow interpretation of freedom of the press, noted that the Framers were very familiar with Blackstone's work, and observed that "unless his explanation had been satisfactory, I presume the amendment would have been more particularly worded, to guard against any possible mistake." The first ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up the Bill of Rights. ... Prior restraint is a legal term referring to a governments actions that prevent materials from being published. ... Sir William Blackstone, (July 10, 1723 - February 14, 1780) was an English jurist and professor who produced the historical treatise on the common law called Commentaries on the Laws of England, first published in four volumes over 1765–1769. ... Freedom of the press (or press freedom) is the guarantee by a government of free public press for its citizens and their associations, extended to members of news gathering organizations, and their published reporting. ...

Later years

The Judiciary Act of 1789 divided the United States into 13 districts, each district having a court in one of 13 major cities. It also established three circuits, or appeals courts -- one each in the eastern, central and southern United States. The Supreme Court Justices were required to "ride circuit," or travel to the various circuits and hear cases, twice each year. Partially as a result of the heavy travel burden, Justice Iredell's health failed and he died suddenly on October 20, 1799. He was 48. October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 72 days remaining. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Quotations

• It would be not only useless, but dangerous, to enumerate a number of rights which are not intended to be given up; because it would be implying, in the strongest manner, that every right not included in the exception might be impaired by the government without usurption; and it would be impossible to enumerate every one. Let any one make what collection or enumeration of rights he pleases, I will immediately mention twenty or thirty more rights not contained in it.

• Had Congress undertaken to guarantee religious freedom, or any particular species of it, they would then have had a pretense to interfere in a subject they have nothing to do with. Each state, so far as the clause in question does not interfere, must be left to the operation of its own principles.

• [Congress] certainly [has] no authority to interfere in the establishment of any religion whatsoever...Is there any power given to Congress in matters of religion? Can they pass a single act to impair our religious liberties? If they could, it would be a just cause of alarm...If any future Congress should pass an act concerning the religion of the country, it would be an act which they are not authorized to pass, by the Constitution, and which the people would not obey.

• How is it possible to exclude any set of men, without taking away that principle of religious freedom which we ourselves so warmly contend for? ... It is never to be supposed that the people of America will trust their dearest rights to persons who have no religion at all, or a religion materially different from their own...Let religion be permitted to take its own course; the divine author of our religion never wished for its support by worldly authority.

• I think the Christian religion is a Divine institution; and I pray to God that I may never forget the precepts of His religion or suffer the appearance of an inconsistency in my principle and practice.

• Prudence, indeed will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

• The power of impeachment is given by this Constitution, to bring great offenders to punishment. It is calculated to bring them to punishment for crimes which it is not easy to describe, but which every one must be convinced is a high crime and misdemeanor against the government.

• If they were punishable for exercising their own judgment, and not that of their constituents, no man who regarded his reputation would accept the office either of a Senator or President. Whatever mistake a man may make, he ought not to be punished for it, nor his posterity rendered infamous. But if a man be a villain, and wilfully abuses his trust, he is to be held up as a public offender, and ignominiously punished.

• A public officer ought not to act from a principle of fear. Were he punishable for want of judgment, he would be continually in dread. But when he knows that nothing but real guilt can disgrace him, he may do his duty firmly if he be an honest man, and if he be not, a just fear of disgrace, may perhaps, as to the public, have nearly the effect of an intrinsic principle of virtue. According to these principles, I suppose the only instances in which the President would be liable to impeachment, would be where he had received a bribe, or had acted from some corrupt motive or other.

External link

• James Iredell, Charge to Grand Jury, in Case of Fries
• North Carolina History Project

The Jay Court
1789–1792:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Rutledge | J. Iredell
1792–1793:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Th. Johnson
1793–1795:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson
The Rutledge Court
1795:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Blair | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson
The Ellsworth Court
1796–1798:	J. Wilson | Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase
1798–February 1799:	Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase
February–October 1799:	Wm. Cushing | J. Iredell | Wm. Paterson | S. Chase | B. Washington