Rutledge Court

Rutledge Court
Chief Justice John Rutledge
Established	1795
Dissolved	1795
Country	United States
Location	Old City Hall Philadelphia, PA
Number of positions	6

The Rutledge Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from June 1795 to December 1795, when John Rutledge served as the second Chief Justice of the United States. Rutledge took office as a recess appointment of President George Washington to succeed John Jay. However, Rutledge was denied confirmation by the Senate, partly due to his attacks on the Jay Treaty.^[1] Rutledge was succeeded in office by Oliver Ellsworth. Rutledge remains the only Chief Justice to take office via recess appointment, as well as the Chief Justice with the shortest tenure. The court only decided a couple of relatively minor cases during its tenure.

Membership

The Rutledge Court consisted of Rutledge and five Associate Justices from the Jay Court: William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, Jr., James Iredell, and William Paterson.

References

1. Schwartz, Bernard (1993). A History of the Supreme Court. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 27–28.