Federal Judgeship
On December 6, 1877, Baxter was nominated by President Hayes to a seat on the United States circuit court for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Halmer Hull Emmons. Baxter was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 13, 1877, and received his commission the same day. He served thereafter until his death.
Many of Baxter's opinions involved railroads. In one case, Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company v. Railroad Commission of Tennessee (1884), Baxter ruled that a Tennessee state law empowering the state's railroad commission to control rates was vague and unconstitutional. In another, Dinsmore v. Louisville, Cincinnati and Lexington Railway Company (1880), he ruled that railroads were "quasi-public instrumentalities," and thus railroad companies could not refuse transportation to any company (in this case an express courier), so long as that company paid a reasonable rate.
In 1884, Baxter overturned an injunction issued by a lower court that prevented baseball pitcher Tony Mullane from playing for the Toledo Blue Stockings, since he had already signed with the St. Louis Maroons. Baxter argued that baseball matters were too insignificant to occupy the courts' time.
Baxter died on April 2, 1886, in Hot Springs, Arkansas. He was buried in Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville.
Read more about this topic: John Baxter (North Carolina Politician)
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