26b. "One...to be Called New Hampshire District"

"One...to be Called New Hampshire District"

President George Washington appointed Revolutionary General John Sullivan as New Hampshire’s first district judge, who in turn tapped his son-in-law, Jonathan Steele, to serve as the first Clerk of Court. Several of the District Court’s early sessions were called to order and then adjourned, “there appearing to be no business before the court.” On June 7, 1791, Judge Sullivan decided the first and only case of his judicial career, a dispute over accounting for imported coffee, which he ordered auctioned and disbursed. Such rarity of district court business turned out to be a fortunate reality, as by 1792 the judge was ill and unable to attend any district or circuit court sessions. Upon Judge Sullivan’s death in 1795, President Washington appointed the highly respected (but already ailing) New Hampshire Superior Court Chief Justice, John Pickering, to the less busy federal district post.

Ultimately, Judge Pickering’s tenure was impacted by a dispute between America’s first two political parties -- John Adams’ Federalists and Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans. Shortly before ceding the presidency to Jefferson, President Adams pushed Congress to adopt the Judiciary Act of 1801, a revision that, among other changes, dramatically altered the appellate structure of the federal courts. The new law created numerous federal circuit judgeships, many of which Adams proceeded to fill with Federalist judges. (Three of these “midnight judges” – so-called due to their appointments so late in Adams’ term – would preside over New Hampshire’s circuit court sessions in 1801 and 1802.) By mid-1802, President Jefferson secured the repeal of the controversial law (thus relieving the “midnight judges” of their positions) and set about finding ways to seat trial judges of his own party. By this time, Judge Pickering’s mental health had deteriorated. Not surprisingly, his questionable fitness for office, and his party affiliation, made him a prime target for replacement.

Early in 1803, President Jefferson was informed of the conduct of Judge Pickering in a Portsmouth revenue case tried the previous November that pitted a Federalist ship owner against Democratic-Republican United States Attorney (and Revolutionary War amputee) John Samuel Sherburne. Judge Pickering’s tirades against Sherburne included hurling profanities from the bench and refusing to hear any witnesses for the government before ruling against its tax claim. Adjourning the first day’s session, Pickering declared, “I shall be sober tomorrow. I am now damned drunk.” On the second day, the judge yelled at Sherburne, “You may bring 40 thousand [witnesses] and they will not alter the decree!”

President Jefferson personally referred the matter to Congress for its first-ever impeachment trial. Alarmed Federalists fervently argued that the judge’s untoward behavior fell short of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors,” the constitutional requirement for a federal official’s impeachment. Vice President Aaron Burr’s summons for Judge Pickering’s appearance before the United States Senate elicited an impassioned response from the judge’s adult son. Conceding his father’s recent “insanity” as well as his “indecorous and improper expressions,” the younger Pickering defended the judge’s lifetime of admirable public service and argued against assigning malicious intent in the circumstance of mental incapacity. The highly charged saga ended with the Senate’s party-line vote of conviction on March 12, 1804.

In a move that prolonged the political drama, President Jefferson immediately appointed Attorney Sherburne as New Hampshire’s third district judge. Sherburne’s congressional testimony had propelled Judge Pickering’s ouster, and he was widely criticized as an opportunist. Ironically, the court’s only judgeship was essentially vacant from 1826 until Judge Sherburne’s death in 1830, due to his own mental decline toward the end of his career.

Despite the inauspicious start, New Hampshire’s federal district and circuit courts became reliable and highly regarded tribunals of justice. District Judges Matthew Harvey and Daniel Clark, men whose terms spanned most of the remainder of the 1800s, each brought a wealth of legal and political experience to the district and circuit court benches. Just as Congress intended, maintaining these courts within the borders of each state ensured a direct connection with local concerns. A shared court seal for official documents (see reproduction, above) contained a blank space for New Hampshire’s clerk to fill in: District or Circuit; fittingly illustrating the courts’ tandem management of federal claims.

For almost 70 years after the “midnight judges” episode, Congress refused to create permanent circuit judgeships (reportedly due to its tight hold on the purse strings of the federal judiciary). Finally, in 1869, Congress’s establishment of circuit judgeships relieved most of the onerous circuit-riding responsibilities of Supreme Court Justices. The last recorded attendance by a Supreme Court Justice on New Hampshire’s circuit court occurred in 1886.

In 1891, Congress created a new Circuit Court of Appeals for each judicial circuit (by then, there were nine), and eliminated the original circuit court’s appellate functions. The district and circuit courts remained in service as separate trial courts. In 1911, the circuit courts were finally abolished, resulting in a simplified three-tiered federal structure: the United States District Courts (trial courts of original jurisdiction), Circuit Courts of Appeals, and Supreme Court. The Circuit Courts of Appeals were renamed United States Courts of Appeals in 1945.

The United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire has consistently developed its services and capabilities to effectively carry out its duties under federal law. Important changes to the court in the twentieth century included the introduction of probation for federal criminal offenders in 1925, and the related development of investigative and support services, culminating in the 1982 institution of the Probation and Pretrial Services system; and the authorization of the United States Bankruptcy Court and designation of bankruptcy judges, operating as an independent unit of the district court since 1984.