Leander John Monks (July 10, 1843 – April 19, 1919) was a justice of the Indiana Supreme Court from January 7, 1895 to January 7, 1913.

Early life and education

Monks was born in Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana, to George W. Monks and Mary A. Irvin. His father was twice elected county clerk, and served in the

Indiana General Assembly The Indiana General Assembly is the state legislature, or legislative branch, of the state of Indiana. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the Indiana House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Indiana Senate. Th ...

for the 1855 session. Men of progress, Indiana : a selected list of biographical sketches and portraits of the leaders in business, professional and official life, together with brief notes of the history and character of Indiana
(via

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) Monks was educated in the common schools,"The Supreme Court", ''Indiana Law Journal'', Vol. III, No. 2 (February 1899), p. 47-49. and attended

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from 1861 to 1863, gaining admission to the bar in Indiana in 1865,Minde C. Browning, Richard Humphrey, and Bruce Kleinschmidt,
Biographical Sketches of Indiana Supreme Court Justices
, ''

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'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (1997), section reproduced i
Indiana Courts Justice Biographies page
and entering the practice of law in 1866.

Legal and political career

Monks practiced with various attorneys, and, developing a fondness for politics, was made county chairman of the Republican Party, serving in that capacity through the campaigns of 1870 and 1872. He became a member of the Republican State Committee and the Executive Committee in 1874. He served on these committees during the campaigns of 1874 and 1876, resigning from them to become a candidate for circuit judge in 1878. He was elected as a circuit judge, and was twice re-elected, in 1884 and 1890. He served his first two terms as judge of the Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit, consisting of Randolph and Delaware counties. Before the beginning of his third term the circuit was divided, and in 1890 he was elected judge of a circuit consisting of Randolph county alone. In 1894, he was elected to the Indiana Supreme Court. Monks wrote a number of noted opinions. In ''Pomeroy v. Beach'', he wrote an opinion construing the garnishee law of 1897 to require the filing of an affidavit in attachment before a writ of garnishment could issue. In ''Board of Commissioners v. Allman'', he wrote an opinion overruling a large number of earlier decisions to the effect that counties are liable for injuries caused by detective bridges. In ''Baton v. Thomas'', he wrote an opinion holding that usurious interest may be recovered back. In ''Louisville, N. A. & C. Railway Co. v. Bates'',''Louisville, N. A. & C. Railway Co. v. Bates'', 146 Ind. 564, 45 N. E. 108 (1896). he wrote an opinion holding that a railroad company is bound to inspect foreign cars received from other roads in the ordinary course of business, before setting its own servants at work operating them. In 1899, the

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's ''

Indiana Law Journal The ''Indiana Law Journal'' is a general law review founded in 1925. It is published quarterly by students of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law at the flagship Bloomington campus. One of the ten most-cited law review articles of all ti ...

'' said of Monks: After leaving the bench, Monks returned to the practice of law in Indianapolis, and wrote the well-regarded book, ''Courts and Lawyers of Indiana''. Monks died in Indianapolis.

Personal life

In 1865, Monks married Lizzie W. White; they had four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monks, Leander Justices of the Indiana Supreme Court 1843 births 1919 deaths Indiana Republicans People from Winchester, Indiana Indiana University alumni 19th-century American judges