Henry Baldwin (judge)

Henry Baldwin ( born January 14, 1780 in New Haven, Connecticut, † April 21, 1844 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ) was an American politician ( Democratic- Republican) and lawyer. He served as Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Biography

After visiting the Hopkins School in New Haven the half-brother of Abraham Baldwin, one of the founding fathers of the United States in 1793 began studying at Yale University, from which he graduated in 1797. After 1798 he was awarded attorney's approval in Pennsylvania, he began working as a lawyer. On March 4, 1817 Masonic Baldwin as the representative of the 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania Member of the House of Representatives of the United States. This mandate he practiced after some re- elections until his resignation on May 8, 1822.

After the death of Bushrod Washington on 26 November 1829 he was appointed as his successor by U.S. President Andrew Jackson on 18 January 1830 assessors judge (Associate Justice) to the Supreme Court of the United States and held this post until his death for 14 years.

During his tenure on the Supreme Court, two important decisions were taken:

• In the process of Worcester v. Georgia in 1832, he represented a dissenting opinion. The method is one of the most important decisions since the Court dealing for the first time to the legal status of indigenous peoples within the United States of America. The court ruled that it is the member states are not allowed to adopt rules on relations with indigenous peoples, but the competence for this lies solely with the federal government is.

• In the process of Barron v. Baltimore in 1833, which was the precedent for the question of whether the Bill of Rights are applicable also in the relationship between citizens and the State, he joined the Chief Justice John Marshall authored by majority opinion.

1837 Baldwin published A General View of the Origin and Nature of the Constitution and Government of the United States. Successor as a judge on the U.S. Supreme Court was only two years after his death, Robert Cooper Grier.