George Shiras, Jr.

George Shiras, Jr.
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court
In office October 10 1892 – February 23 1903
Nominated by	Benjamin Harrison
Preceded by	Joseph Philo Bradley
Succeeded by	William R. Day
Born	January 26 1832(1832-01-26) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died	August 2 1924 (aged 92) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

George Shiras, Jr. (January 26, 1832-August 2, 1924), was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was appointed to the Court by President Benjamin Harrison, after 40 years of private legal practice; Shiras had not previously held public office or a judgeship.

George Shiras, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania January 26, 1832. His family was wealthy, which allowed him to attend the Yale Law School in 1853, at the age of 21. He started a legal practice with his brother after finishing his training at a Pennsylvania law office.

Shiras is often blamed for the need to pass the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified in 1913), which gave Congress the power to impose a federal income tax without apportionment among the states. He is believed to have switched his pivotal vote in Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), tilting the previously split Court to rule that the Income Tax of 1894 was unconstitutional.

References

• Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L. (1969). The Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 1789–1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions. New York: Chelsea House.