Isaac Blackford - Chief Justice

Chief Justice

In 1817, Blackford was appointed Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court by Governor Jonathan Jennings to replace Chief Justice John Johnson who had died after less than a year on the bench, and before the court had issued its first decision. Jennings informed Blackford of his decision as the two walked arm-in-arm from Johnson’s grave following his funeral service. Blackford at first refused, saying he was too young and inexperienced. However, there were less than seventy lawyers in the entire state at that time, the majority of which belonged to other factions of the party, or had not lived in the state long enough to qualify for the job. Jennings and Blackford were the only two members of the government who came from New Jersey, increasing Jennings’ sentimental desire to see Blackford appointed. Despite Blackford’s refusal, Jennings appointed him to the court and he was easily confirmed by the state senate to his first seven year term.

Blackford quickly earned a reputation for being fair and impartial and is regarded as one of the most influential and pivotal members in the court's history. According to Chief Justice Randall Shepherd, he was the most important justice to have ever served on the state courts and was responsible for laying the legal foundation of the state. During his time on the three member court he wrote the majority opinion on 845 of the nearly 2300 cases he presided over. That was more than twice as many decisions authored by any other justice in the court's history and remains a record. Seven other men served with him on the court, including James Scott, Jesse Holman, Stephen Stevens, John McKinney, Jeremiah Sullivan, Charles Dewey, Samuel Perkins, and Thomas Smith.

As Chief Justice, he was responsible for overseeing many of the day to day functions of the court, and oversaw the court during its move from the capitol of Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825. In 1831 the General Assembly granted the court permission to hold sessions anywhere within Indianapolis that they should chose, due to crowding in the statehouse. Blackford petitioned to have a chamber made available in the Indiana Governor's Mansion which was at that time being used for office space. He oversaw a fourth move to the new Indiana Statehouse in 1839. The court remained there for the remainder of his time on the bench.

Among the many cases he presided over was the 1820 case of Polly v. Lasselle, in which he ruled to free all slaves in Indiana. Among his most important and impacting decisions was the case of State v. Tipton which severely limited the ability to appeal decisions to higher courts, but significantly decreased the Supreme Court's caseload. In Deming v. Bullit he ruled that parties could cancel contracts of sale even after payment was made, provided they refunded the fees. In Shanklin v. Cooper he ruled that contracts made in Indiana regarding assets outside of the state were still under Indiana's judicial jurisdiction, although he ruled to overturn his own precedent in the case of Hunt v. Standart. Because Indiana had only a very limited civil and criminal code during the nineteenth century, Blackford relied heavily on English common law treatises to base his own decisions on, including Coke's Reports and Blackstone's Commentaries. During his lifetime, he amassed a personal library with nearly 2,000 volumes of legal works.