Charles Merrill Hough (May 18, 1858 – April 22, 1927) was a

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. Cou ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...

and previously was a United States District Judge of the

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...

Education and career

Born on May 18, 1858, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Hough received an

Artium Baccalaureus Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in 1879 from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

and

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under the ...

in 1883. He entered private practice in

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from 1884 to 1906.

Federal judicial service

Hough was nominated by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

on June 20, 1906, to the

(S.D.N.Y.), to a new seat authorized by 34 Stat. 202. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 27, 1906, and received his commission the same day. Hough's most historically memorable judicial ruling came in 1908 in ''United States vs. Press Publishing Co.'' Hough quashed a libel suit brought by the federal government on behalf of President Roosevelt against a newspaper, the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...

'', that had been critical of the way the administration handled the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

startup. The

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

unanimously upheld Hough’s ruling in 1911. In 1909, Hough ruled in favor of the

Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM), began as the Manufacturer's Mutual Association (MMA), an organization originally formed to challenge the litigation of the fledgling automobile industry by George B. Selden and the Elec ...

(ALAM) against the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, regarding an automobile patent issued to

George B. Selden George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.Flink, p. 51 ''Probably the most absurd action in the history of patent law was the granting ...

that ALAM was using to collect royalties. Hough's ruling was overturned on appeal in 1911, allowing Ford (and other manufacturers) to produce automobiles without paying a royalty. Hough's service with S.D.N.Y. terminated on September 5, 1916, due to his elevation to the Second Circuit. Hough was nominated by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

on August 15, 1916, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Emile Henry Lacombe Emile Henry Lacombe (January 29, 1846 – November 28, 1924) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and of the United States Circuit Courts for the Second Circuit. Education and career Bo ...

. Hough was confirmed by the Senate on August 21, 1916, and received his commission the same day. He was a member of the

Conference of Senior Circuit Judges The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

(now the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial cour ...

) in 1926. His service terminated on April 22, 1927, due to his death in New York City.

Personal life

Hough was the son of brigadier general Alfred Lacey Hough (1826–1908) and Mary Jane Merrill. He married Ethel Powers in 1906. They bore two children, Helen Anastasia Hough (1905–1978) and John Newbold Hough (1906–2000).

Notes

Sources

References

External links

United States v. Press Publishing Co., 219 U.S. 1 (1911)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hough, Charles Merrill 1858 births 1927 deaths Dartmouth College alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York United States court of appeals judges appointed by Woodrow Wilson United States district court judges appointed by Theodore Roosevelt 20th-century American judges United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law