Charles Pinckney James (May 11, 1818 – August 9, 1899) was an

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of the

Supreme Court of the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the High Court of American ...

Education and career

Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, James graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1838. He was in private practice in Cincinnati from 1840 to 1850, and was a Professor of law at Cincinnati College (now the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

) from 1850 to 1856. He was Judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati from 1856 to 1864. He was in private practice in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

from 1864 to 1879, also working as a Professor of law at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

from 1870 to 1874.

Contribution to the Revised Statutes

James substantially contributed to the ''

Revised Statutes of the United States The Revised Statutes of the United States (in citations, Rev. Stat.) was the first official codification of the Acts of Congress. It was enacted into law in 1874. The purpose of the ''Revised Statutes'' was to make it easier to research federal ...

'' during the 1870s. He was appointed by President

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

in 1866 and re-appointed by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in 1870 as one of three commissioners tasked to revise and consolidate existing federal statutes. The first edition of the ''Revised Statutes'' was adopted by Congress in 1874. In 1877, commissioner George S. Boutwell prepared the second edition of the ''Revised Statutes'' with the assistance of James.Introduction to the ''Revised Statutes of the United States'', 1878. James appears to have been the only person to have worked on both the first and second editions of the ''Revised Statutes''.

Federal judicial service

James received a

recess appointment In the United States, a recess appointment is an appointment by the President of the United States, president of a Officer of the United States, federal official when the United States Senate, U.S. Senate is in Recess (motion), recess. Under the ...

from President

Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes (; October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th president of the United States, serving from 1877 to 1881. Hayes served as Cincinnati's city solicitor from 1858 to 1861. He was a staunch Abolitionism in the Un ...

on July 24, 1879, to an Associate Justice seat on the

(now the

United States District Court for the District of Columbia The United States District Court for the District of Columbia (in case citations, D.D.C.) is a United States district court, federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and ...

) vacated by Associate Justice David Campbell Humphreys. He was nominated to the same position by President Hayes on December 1, 1879. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on December 10, 1879, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on December 1, 1892, due to his retirement.

Death

James died on August 9, 1899, in Leesburg,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Publications

* James, Charles Pinckney. ''Address delivered at Camp McRae: before the Citizens' Guards of Cincinnati, on their fourth anniversary, July 4th, 1842''. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1842. * James, Charles Pinckney, and C. A. L. Richards. ''Oration and Poem, delivered before the Cincinnati Literary Club, July 4th, 1853''. Cincinnati: Truman & Spofford, 1853. (''oration by James; poem by Richards'') * James, Charles Pinckney. ''Address to the class of 1872 Law Department of the University of Georgetown, June 4, 1872''. Washington .C. Cunningham & McIntosh, 1872. * James, Charles Pinckney. ''Oration delivered before the Philodemic Society of Georgetown College, June 24, 1874''. Washington .C. Joseph L. Pearson, 1874. * James, Charles Pinckney. ''The power of Congress to punish contempts and breaches of privilege''. Washington .C. W. H. & O. H. Morrison, 1879.

References

Sources

External links

First edition of the ''Revised Statutes of the United States'' (1873)

Second edition of the ''Revised Statutes of the United States'' (1878)
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Charles Pinckney 1818 births 1899 deaths Harvard College alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia United States federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes Judges of the Superior Court of Cincinnati University of Cincinnati College of Law faculty Politicians from Cincinnati Superior court judges in the United States Deans of Georgetown University Law Center