Pierce Butler (March 17, 1866 – November 16, 1939) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1923 until his death in 1939. He is notable for being the first Supreme Court justice from Minnesota, and for being a Democrat appointed by a Republican president. He was a staunch conservative and was regarded as a part of the Four Horsemen, the conservative bloc that dominated the Supreme Court during the 1930s. A devout Catholic, he was also the sole dissenter in the case Buck v. Bell, though he did not write an opinion.
Pierce Butler
Supreme Court of the United States
Born 1866 in Dakota County, MN
Died 1939 in Washington, DC
FJC ID: 335
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 12/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 688/year
Supreme Court of the United States · 1922–1939
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- White
Prior employment
- Private practice, Ramsey County, Minnesota1897–1922
- Ramsey County, MinnesotaCounty attorney · 1893–1896
- Ramsey County, MinnesotaAssistant county attorney · 1891–1892
Appointments
1922–1939 · Appointed by Warren G. Harding (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
- Read law1888
- Carleton CollegeB.S. · 1887