Today in Supreme Court History: October 19, 1789

10/19/1789: Chief Justice John Jay takes oath.

Chief Justice John Jay

Comments

[Dan Schiavetta]

He later quit because there was nothing to do. It was three years before they got their first case.

[Andy P]

Actually, he did write the opinion in Chisholm v. Georgia -- but that was quickly overturned by the enactment of the Eleventh Amendment. Possibly the fastest that a SCT opinion has been overturned, at least by an amendment! (statutory reversals may have happened faster).

[Andy P]

To answer my own question, Ledbetter v. Goodyear was a loss for the plaintiff, but then reversed in the next Congressional session as the very first Public Law signed by Obama, so that may have been a faster reversal than the 11th Amendment vis-à-vis Chisholm v. Georgia.