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John Forrest Dillon (December 25, 1831 – May 6, 1914) was an American attorney in
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
and New York, a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit. He authored a highly influential treatise on the power of
states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
over
municipal government A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
s.


Education and career

Born on December 25, 1831, in
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
, (then part of Montgomery County, now part of Fulton County), New York, Dillon received a
Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...
in 1850 from the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
. He read law in 1852. He entered private practice in Davenport,
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
from 1852 to 1853. He was county attorney for Scott County, Iowa from 1853 to 1858. He was a Judge of the Iowa District Court for the Seventh Judicial District from 1858 to 1862. He was a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court from 1862 to 1868.


Federal judicial service

Dillon was nominated by President
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
on December 9, 1869, to the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit, to a new seat authorized by 16 Stat. 44. He was confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
on December 22, 1869, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on September 1, 1879, due to his resignation.


Scholarship and notable ruling

While on the federal bench, Dillon wrote ''Municipal Corporations'' (1872), one of the earliest systematic studies of the subject. He also authored '' Removal of Cases from State Courts to Federal Courts'' and ''Municipal Bonds'', both in 1876. On February 17, 1876, during the
Whiskey Ring The Whiskey Ring took place from 1871 to 1876 centering in St. Louis during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. The ring was an American scandal, broken in May 1875, involving the diversion of tax revenues in a conspiracy among government agent ...
graft prosecutions, Justice Dillon ruled
Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...
's deposition for Orville E. Babcock was admissible in court.


Later career

Following his resignation from the federal bench, Dillon was a professor of law for
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
from 1879 to 1882. He resumed private practice in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, New York from 1882 to 1914. He was the Storrs professor of law at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
from 1891 to 1892, during which time he wrote ''The Laws and Jurisprudence of England and America: Being a Series of Lectures Delivered Before Yale University.'' He died on May 6, 1914, in New York City.


Memorial

A memorial fountain to Dillon was erected in downtown Davenport in 1918, carved of Indiana limestone in Romanesque style, by sculptor Harry Liva.


Family

In 1853, Dillon married Anna Margery Price (born June 19, 1835). They had two sons and a daughter. Anna and their daughter, Mrs. Annie Dillon Oliver, died in the sinking of the French
ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...
in July 1898. Dillon's oldest son, Hiram Price Dillon (1855–1918), became a lawyer in Iowa and a Master of Chancery in federal court. John F. Dillon's sister married John B. Jordan, a merchant. That marriage produced a daughter, Jennie, who married Louis Stengel. Louis and Jennie Stengel were the parents of
Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and Manager (baseball), manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, t ...
, who had a long career as a baseball player and manager.


Dillon's Rule

The theory of state preeminence over local governments was expressed as Dillon's Rule in an 1868 case: "Municipal corporations owe their origin to, and derive their powers and rights wholly from, the legislature. It breathes into them the breath of life, without which they cannot exist. As it creates, so may it destroy. If it may destroy, it may abridge and control". By contrast, the Cooley Doctrine, or the doctrine of
home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
, expressed the theory of an inherent right to local
self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
. In a concurring opinion, Michigan Supreme Court Judge Thomas M. Cooley in 1871 stated, "local government is a matter of absolute right; and the state cannot take it away". In ''Municipal Corporations'' (1872), Dillon contended that in contrast to the powers of states, which are unlimited but for express restrictions under the state or federal constitution,
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
only have the powers that are expressly granted to them by the state, any power necessarily implied by an express power, and those powers essential to a municipality's existence. This formulation of the scope of municipal power came to be known as "Dillon's Rule." 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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
cited ''Municipal Corporations'' and fully adopted Dillon's emphasis on state power over municipalities in '' Hunter v. Pittsburgh'', which upheld the power of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
to consolidate the city of Allegheny into the city of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, despite the objections of a majority of Allegheny's residents. The Court's ruling that states could alter or abolish at will the charters of municipal corporations without infringing upon contract rights relied upon Dillon's distinction between public, municipal corporations and private ones. However, the Court did not prevent states from passing legislation or amending their
constitutions A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
to explicitly allow home rule. This constitutional allowance was reiterated in ''Trenton v. New Jersey'', where the Supreme Court held that "In the absence of state constitutional provisions safeguarding it to them, municipalities have no inherent right of self-government which is beyond the legislative control of the state, but are merely departments of the state, with powers and privileges such as the state has seen fit to grant, held and exercised subject to its sovereign will".
Trenton v. New Jersey
', 262 U.S. 182 (1923)


References


Sources

* Gerald E. Frug ''et al.'', ''Local Government Law'', 3rd ed. pp. 139–158. West Publishing, 2001. * See '' Arlington County v. White'', 528 S.E.2d 706 ( Va. 2000), for a modern use of the Dillon Rule to invalidate municipal action. See ''State v. Hutchison'', 624 P.2d 1116 (
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
1980) for an example of the minority, critical view. * David Y. Miller, ''The Regional Governing of Metropolitan America'', pp. 1–2. Westview Press, 2002. * Robert W. Creamer, "Stengel: His Life and Times," pp. 21–23. * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, John Forrest 1831 births 1914 deaths American legal writers Columbia Law School faculty Iowa lawyers Iowa state court judges Justices of the Iowa Supreme Court Judges of the United States circuit courts People from Northampton, Fulton County, New York United States federal judges appointed by Ulysses S. Grant Writers from Davenport, Iowa Writers from New York (state) Yale Law School faculty United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Presidents of the American Bar Association