William Paterson

Paterson was one of the most accomplished members of the early Supreme Court. His career encompassed nearly every level of the new American constitutional system: he helped create New Jersey's revolutionary government, represented the state at the Constitutional Convention, served in the U.S. Senate, became governor of New Jersey, and ultimately served thirteen years on the Supreme Court. His judicial opinions are particularly important for understanding early American federalism and the distinction between constitutional law and ordinary legislation.

Paterson was born in Ireland on December 24, 1745, and immigrated with his family to the American colonies while still a child. His family settled in New Jersey, where his father operated a school. Paterson attended the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, graduating in 1763, and subsequently studied law under Richard Stockton.

Paterson was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1768 and quickly entered public life. During the Revolution he served as secretary of New Jersey's Provincial Congress and helped draft the state's first constitution. After independence he served as New Jersey's attorney general, became a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and signed the Constitution. He subsequently served in the U.S. Senate from 1789 to 1790 before becoming governor of New Jersey.

Washington nominated Paterson to the Supreme Court on March 4, 1793, and he took his seat later that year. Paterson became one of the Court's most important early opinion writers. His best-known constitutional opinion came in Calder v. Bull (1798), where the Court considered whether a state legislature's retroactive law violated constitutional limitations. Paterson explained that certain fundamental principles existed beyond the specifically enumerated constitutional restrictions, while also distinguishing between constitutional limitations and ordinary judicial policy preferences. He also wrote the Court's opinion in United States v. La Vengeance and participated in important early cases concerning federal jurisdiction and admiralty.

Paterson remained on the Court for the remainder of his life. His health declined during his final years, and he died near Albany, New York, on September 9, 1806, while still serving as a justice. He was seventy years old.

Paterson helped define the early Court's understanding of the federal government's constitutional structure. His opinions are especially important because they demonstrate that early constitutional interpretation was not limited to literal textualism: Paterson also recognized principles inherent in the constitutional order. His Calder opinion became particularly influential in later debates over substantive constitutional limitations on legislative power.

Constitutional approach: Original/structural constitutionalist with natural-law elements. His jurisprudence combined constitutional text with structural principles and what he regarded as fundamental principles of republican government.

Key Supreme Court cases

Separate opinions: His most famous separate opinion was in Calder v. Bull, where he articulated a broader theory of fundamental constitutional limitations.