Samuel Ames

Samuel Ames (September 6, 1806 – December 20, 1865) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the chief justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1856 to 1865. Despite his relatively short tenure, he is considered to have been Rhode Island's greatest chief justice. He is most remembered for his opinion in Taylor v. Place, which enshrined Rhode Island's judiciary as a coequal branch of government.

Early life Ames was born in Providence, Rhode Island, to Samuel Ames, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anne Becker Checkley. After an education at Philips Academy Andover, he matriculated at Brown University when he was thirteen, graduating in 1823. He served on a number of commissions, including the 1853 commission that adjusted Rhode Island's border with Massachusetts and the Peace Conference of 1861. Under the pseudonym Town Borne, he wrote numerous attacks on the expansion of suffrage, though he later supported the expansion of the franchise.

Modernizations During his time on the Court, he was a vocal advocate for the jurisprudential benefits of judicial opinions. He required the Court to publish an opinion explaining the facts and its reasoning in all cases; previously, the judges had delivered oral statements or cursory written opinions. He also modernized the Court's rules of procedure and professionalized the Court's reporting. These quality improvements resulted in a significant increase in Rhode Island's judicial caseload; previously, litigants had filed equitable suits in federal court if at all possible, owing in part to equity scholar Justice Joseph Story's long tenure riding circuit.

Taylor v. Place In his first term on the Court, Ames decided Taylor v. Place, which abrogated legislative supremacy over the judiciary. Analyzing the nature of the judicial power, Ames ruled that, under the 1843 Constitution, the General Assembly could no longer pass legislation overruling judgements. Considered the most important opinion in Rhode Island's history, Taylor drew comparisons to Chief Justice Marshall's opinion in Marbury v. Madison and served as an early antecedent to U.S. v. Klein.

Ames v. Hazard Shortly before joining the bench, Ames represented Ives, the successful plaintiff in Ives v. Hazard. As Reporter, he prepared the report of the case, leading Hazard to accuse him of libeling him. This led Ames to sue Hazard for libelously accusing him of libel, a dispute that was heard by the Rhode Island Supreme Court in Ames v. Hazard.

Personal life In 1838, Ames married Mary Throop Dorr, the sister of Thomas Wilson Dorr. They had five children.

During his period of ennui prior to joining the bench, Ames wrote Arthur Ledgeley or Some Passages in the Life of a Lawyer: A Love Story, an unpublished romance novel he dedicated to his wife. He died in Providence on December 20, 1865.