Background
James Hawkins Peck was born on January 12, 1790 in Jefferson County, Tennessee (then North Carolina), United States .
James Hawkins Peck was born on January 12, 1790 in Jefferson County, Tennessee (then North Carolina), United States .
James Hawkins Peck was educated for the bar in Tennessee, served in the state militia during the War of 1812, and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1818.
When Congress created the federal district court of Missouri, James Hawkins Peck was appointed judge of that court by President Monroe, upon the recommendation of David Barton, senator from Missouri, and Richard M. Johnson, representative from Kentucky. In this capacity he served for fourteen years, during which time he was impeached and acquitted. He was a painstaking, scholarly, and upright jurist. The arduous task of organizing and maintaining the district court in a new state among a people of diverse race and language required and received his best effort. His impeachment grew out of the numerous pending cases involving land grants. Many land grants in upper Louisiana were made during the Spanish and the French occupancy, and when Missouri was admitted to the Union the titles to more than three-fourths of the land in the state was in dispute. The task of passing upon their validity was placed upon the district court. A test case was heard in 1825, and, as judge of that court, he rendered an oral opinion finding against the claimant.
The decision was of such importance that there was a public demand for the publication of the opinion, and it was published in the Missouri Republican on March 30, 1826. Luke Lawless, the attorney for the defeated claimant, published an article in the Missouri Advocate and St. Louis Enquirer on Apr. 8, 1826, criticising the opinion of the court. Lawless was cited, convicted, and punished for contempt. This induced the lawyer to file a complaint against the judge before the House of Representatives. The House at two separate sessions failed to impeach, but after the charges had been under consideration for more than three years Peck was impeached in April 1830. The status of the land grants had become a political issue, and from 1822 to 1832 there was a prolonged debate in Congress, during which the federal courts were repeatedly attacked. These circumstances made the impeachment possible. The sole charge was that the court oppressively convicted a lawyer of contempt.
The trial before the Senate lasted from December 13, 1830, to January 31, 1831, when the vote for acquittal was obtained. James Buchanan, then a member of the House and afterward president, had charge of the prosecution and William Wirt, formerly attorney-general, represented the defense. The proceedings of the trial probably constitute the most thorough commentary available on the law of contempt. As one result of the trial Congress passed a statute, still in force, to define more clearly the circumstances under which courts may punish for contempt. Peck's last years were pleasantly spent in the warmth of the friendship of his associates, the closest of whom was David Barton, also a bachelor. In addition to his judicial labors he took an active interest in the civic and cultural movements in Missouri.
James Hawkins Peck died at St. Charles, Missouri on April 29, 1836.
James Hawkins Peck was best known as a United States federal judge on the United States District Court for the District of Missouri. He was the third Judicial officer on whom the United States House of Representatives has passed Articles of Impeachment, though he was acquitted by the United States Senate.
James Hawkins Peck was never married.
