# George Sutherland *British-born American jurist and politician; associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1922–1938* George Alexander Sutherland (March 25, 1862 – July 18, 1942) sat on the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] as an associate justice from 1922 until 1938. Before that he was a Utah member of Congress for the [[Republican Party (United States)]]. He held a seat in the [[United States House of Representatives]] from 1901 to 1903 and in the [[United States Senate]] from 1905 to 1917.[^1] Sutherland was born in Buckinghamshire, England, and came to the United States with his family as a young child in the 1860s. He attended the University of Michigan Law School, practised law in Provo, Utah, and served in the Utah State Senate. He won the House seat in 1900 and the Senate seat in 1904.[^1] In Congress he backed several progressive measures but generally sided with the party's conservative wing. He was re-elected in 1910 and lost in 1916 to Democrat William H. King.[^1] On the Court he was one of the "Four Horsemen," a group of conservative justices who often voted to strike down New Deal legislation. He wrote the Court's majority opinions in cases including *Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.*, *Powell v. Alabama*, *Carter v. Carter Coal Co.*, *Adkins v. Children's Hospital*, *Blockburger v. United States* and *U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.* He retired in 1938, and [[Stanley Forman Reed]] succeeded him.[^1] ## Early life Sutherland was born in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, on March 25, 1862. His father, Alexander George Sutherland, was Scottish, and his mother, Frances (née Slater), was English.[^2] Alexander had recently joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the summer of 1863 he took the family to the Utah Territory and settled first in Springville. After some years prospecting in Montana, he brought the family back to Utah Territory in 1869.[^2] The family left the Church during the 1870s, and George was never baptized into it.[^2] Family finances forced him out of school at 12. He worked first as a clerk in a clothing store and then as an agent of the Wells Fargo Company.[^2] By 1879 he had saved enough to enter Brigham Young Academy. There his teacher Karl G. Maeser introduced him to the ideas of Herbert Spencer, which remained part of Sutherland's philosophy.[^2] He graduated in 1881 and spent a little over a year with the Rio Grande Western Railroad. He then enrolled at the University of Michigan Law School, where Thomas M. Cooley was among his teachers. He left without completing the degree.[^2] ## Early career Sutherland was admitted to the Michigan bar. In 1883 he married Rosamond Lee, and they had two daughters and a son.[^3] Back in Utah Territory, he practised in Provo in partnership with his father, who had also become a lawyer. That partnership was dissolved in 1886. Sutherland then joined Samuel R. Thurman, later chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court, and Edgar A. Wedgwood, afterwards adjutant general of the Utah National Guard, later joined the firm.[^3] He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Provo as the Liberal Party candidate. In 1893 he moved to Salt Lake City to join one of the state's leading law firms, and in 1894 he was among the organizers of the Utah State Bar Association.[^3] In 1896 he was elected as a Republican to the new Utah State Senate. There he chaired the Judiciary Committee and sponsored bills giving mining and irrigation companies powers of eminent domain.[^3] ## In Congress In 1900 Sutherland ran as the Republican nominee for Utah's House seat. He beat the Democratic incumbent, William H. King, who was his former law partner, by 241 votes out of more than 90,000 cast.[^4] In the 57th Congress he worked to keep the tariff on sugar and was active on Indian affairs and on legislation for irrigating arid lands.[^4] He did not seek a second House term and campaigned instead for the Senate. Republicans firmly controlled the state [[Legislature]], so the contest was fought within the party against the incumbent, Thomas Kearns. Backed by Utah's other senator, Reed Smoot, Sutherland won the unanimous support of the caucus in January 1905.[^4] In 1907, at the climax of the Smoot hearings, he spoke on the Senate floor in Smoot's defense.[^4] His Senate service fell within the Progressive Era. He supported much of Theodore Roosevelt's agenda, voting for the Pure Food and Drug Act, the Hepburn Act and the Federal Employers Liability Act.[^4] A source quoted in the Wikipedia article describes him as a longstanding advocate of women's rights. According to that source, he introduced the Nineteenth Amendment in the Senate and campaigned for its passage. It also says he helped draft the Equal Rights Amendment and advised Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party.[^4] During [[William Howard Taft]]'s presidency he generally aligned with the conservative "Old Guard" against the party's Progressives. He was re-elected in 1910 and was defeated by King in 1916.[^4][^1] ## Supreme Court President Warren G. Harding nominated Sutherland on September 5, 1922, to succeed [[John Hessin Clarke]]. The Senate confirmed him the same day, and he was sworn in on October 2, 1922.[^5] His opinion in *Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co.* upheld a zoning ordinance. It was widely read as a general endorsement of the constitutionality of zoning laws.[^5] In *United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind* (1923) he wrote for a unanimous Court. The Court held that Indian Sikhs, though classified as members of the "Caucasian race," were not white within the meaning of the Naturalization Act of 1790. It held them ineligible for naturalized citizenship on that ground.[^5] In *Powell v. Alabama* (1932) his opinion overturned a conviction in the Scottsboro Boys case because the defendant, Ozie Powell, had been deprived of his right to counsel.[^5] His majority opinion in *U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.* (1936) gave the President wide powers in conducting foreign affairs. It later became influential in widening the executive branch's powers over foreign policy.[^5] In Franklin Roosevelt's early years as president, Sutherland joined [[James Clark McReynolds]], [[Pierce Butler (judge)]] and [[Willis Van Devanter]] as the conservative "Four Horsemen." The group was instrumental in striking down New Deal legislation, and Sutherland was regarded as its leader.[^5] Privately, he described Roosevelt as an "utter incompetent."[^5] From 1937 the Court began to side with more moderate New Deal policies. Sutherland retired in 1938 and was succeeded by Reed.[^5][^1] ## Post-Court life and death After leaving the Court, Sutherland sat by special designation on a Second Circuit panel. The panel reviewed the bribery conviction of Martin Manton, formerly that court's chief judge, and Sutherland wrote the opinion upholding it.[^6] On July 18, 1942, Sutherland was on vacation with his wife at a resort in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He suffered a severe heart attack and died in his sleep sometime between 4:00 and 9:30 that morning, with his wife beside him. The couple had marked their 59th wedding anniversary 29 days earlier.[^6] He was interred at Abbey Mausoleum in Arlington County, Virginia. In 1958 his remains were moved to Cedar Hill Cemetery near Suitland, Maryland.[^6] ## Religion Sutherland was baptized as an infant in the Anglican church, and his religion is often given as Episcopalian.[^7] His parents left The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while he was a child, and he never became a member. He did keep loyal friendships with prominent Latter-day Saints and remembered his time at Brigham Young Academy fondly.[^7] He rejected the church's "collectivist economic practices" but followed its practice of abstaining from alcohol. Lawyer and commentator Jay Sekulow wrote that Latter-day Saint ideas influenced some of Sutherland's views.[^7] As of 2021, he was the last Utah senator who was not a Latter-day Saint.[^7] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, lead section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth and death dates; party; House, Senate and Court service; 1904, 1910 and 1916 elections; "Four Horsemen"; majority opinions listed; retirement and succession by Reed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "Early life" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth in Stony Stratford; parents; move to Utah Territory in 1863 and return in 1869; schooling at Brigham Young Academy and Michigan. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "Early career" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1883 marriage; Provo partnerships; 1893 move to Salt Lake City; Utah State Bar Association; 1896 Utah State Senate election. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "In Congress" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 1900 House margin of 241 votes; 57th Congress; January 1905 caucus; 1907 Smoot defense; Senate votes and women's-rights record. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "Supreme Court" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — September 5, 1922 nomination and confirmation; October 2, 1922 swearing-in; *Euclid*, *Thind*, *Powell* and *Curtiss-Wright*; "Four Horsemen." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "Post-Court life and death" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Manton appeal; death on July 18, 1942; burial and 1958 reburial. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *George Sutherland*, "Religion" section (revision 1366251095, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Anglican baptism; relationship to the Latter-day Saints; status as of 2021 as the last non-LDS senator from Utah. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sutherland