White Court (justices)
The White Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1910 to 1921, when Edward Douglass White served as Chief Justice of the United States. White, an associate justice since 1894, succeeded Melville Fuller as Chief Justice after the latter's death, and White served as Chief Justice until his death a decade later. He was the first sitting associate justice to be elevated to chief justice in the Court's history. He was succeeded by former president William Howard Taft. The White Court was less conservative than the preceding Fuller Court, though conservatism remained a powerful force on the bench (and would remain so until the early 1930s). The most notable legacy of White's chief-justiceship was the development of the rule of reason doctrine, used to interpret the Sherman Antitrust Act, and foundational to United States antitrust law. During this era the Court also established that the Fourteenth Amendment protected the "liberty of contract." On the grounds of the Fourteenth Amendment and other provisions of the Constitution, it controversially overturned many state and federal laws designed to the civil service. Membership The White Court began in December 1910 when President William Howard Taft appointed White to succeed Melville Fuller as Chief Justice. White was the first incumbent associate justice to be appointed as Chief Justice. Earlier in 1910, Taft had appointed Horace Harmon Lurton and Charles Evans Hughes to the Supreme Court. In 1911, Taft appointed Willis Van Devanter and Joseph Rucker Lamar to the court, filling vacancies that had arisen in 1910. The White Court thus began with the five Taft appointees and four veterans of the Fuller Court: John Marshall Harlan, Joseph McKenna, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and William R. Day. Harlan died in 1911, and Taft appointed Mahlon Pitney to replace him. Lurton died in 1914, and President Woodrow Wilson appointed James Clark McReynolds to replace him. In 1916, Lamar died and Hughes resigned to accept the Republican nomination for president. Wilson appointed Louis Brandeis and John Hessin Clarke to replace them. The White Court ended with White's death in 1921; President Warren G. Harding appointed Taft as White's successor. Timeline Other branches Presidents during this court included William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Warren G. Harding. Congresses during this court included 61st through the 67th United States Congresses. Rulings of the Court Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States (1911): In a decision written by Chief Justice White, the court upheld the government's prosecution of Standard Oil as valid under the Commerce Clause and the Sherman Antitrust Act. The decision resulted in the break-up of Standard Oil. United States v. American Tobacco Co. (1911) was decided on the same day for similar reasons, and led to the break-up of American Tobacco Company. Houston East & West Texas Railway Co. v. United States (1914): In a decision written by Justice Hughes, the court allowed the Interstate Commerce Commission to regulate intrastate railroad rates, ruling that the ICC could regulate activity that has a