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Supreme
Court Justices
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Alfred Moore (1755 - 1810) |
 Alfred Moore was born in North Carolina on
May 21, 1755. Moore's father Maurice was a colonial judge in North Carolina,
and Moore read law with his father. At 20, he was admitted to the bar in
North Carolina. Moore served in a North Carolina regiment during the
Revolutionary War. The number of American casualties in the Revolutionary
War was slightly more than 4,000. Among those who died were Moore's father,
brother and an uncle. Additionally, the Moore plantation was attacked, and
his house was burned. After the War, Moore was elected to the General
Assembly in North Carolina. The General Assembly elected him Attorney
General in 1782, a position he held for 9 years. As North Carolina' Attorney
General, Moore argued the case of Bayard v. Livingston, one of several
pre-constitution cases which extensively discussed the nature and propriety
of judicial review. Moore favored a stronger national government. Although
North Carolina initially rejected the
Constitution
in 1788 due to a lack of a Bill of Rights, Moore assisted in the
ratification effort (as the 12th state) the next year. He then practiced
law, served as a politician and worked as a judge in North Carolina for
nearly a decade.
After the death of Associate Justice James Iredell in 1799, a fellow North Carolinian, President John Adams nominated Moore to the Court. Moore wrote only one opinion while on the Court, which upheld a conclusion that France was an "enemy" nation during the undeclared war against France in 1798-99. He was a member of the Court when Marbury v. Madison was decided, but did not participate in the case because he was unable to make his way to Washington in time to hear all of the evidence and arguments. The next year, Moore resigned from the Court. In the early 1780s, Moore married Suzanne Eagles. At 4 feet, 5 inches tall, Moore may have been the shortest Justice. After his resignation, Moore helped found the University of North Carolina. He died in 1810. |
