Today in Supreme Court History: January 1
Dec 27, 2025
1 min read
Blake v. United States, 103 U.S. 227 (decided January 1, 1880): (Wikipedia has this being decided on January 1 though all Westlaw says is “October Term”.) In those days the President evidently had to appoint every army or navy officer, and an 1862 statute gave him the power to dismiss, but an 1866 statute said the officer could be removed only via court-martial. Here, an army “post-chaplain”‘s resignation was accepted by the President but the man later said he was “insane” at the time. His claim for back pay was held to be time-barred, even taking into account a toll for insanity. This case wins some points for strangeness.
The Emancipation Proclamation wasn't something the Court did, so I didn't list it. But yes, it did play a part in some Supreme Court cases. The Court wasn't going to touch whether the EP itself was legal, but it did rule on contract and inheritance cases arising pre-1863 where the EP played a part, upholding the contract or inheritance but valuing the plantation as if worked (or still worked) by slaves without including the value of the slaves themselves (Clay v. Field, 1891, summarized here on December 1). Then there's Osborn v. Nicholson, 1871, where it held that the seller of slaves who were later emancipated was still entitled to the sale price.
Perhaps part of the strangeness was deciding it on January 1. The most important thing to happen on this date was the Emancipation Proclamation, which I think did result in a few cases.