Benjamin Robbins Curtis
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| Benjamin Robbins Curtis | |
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| In office October 10, 1851 – September 30, 1857 |
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| Nominated by | Millard Fillmore |
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| Preceded by | Levi Woodbury |
| Succeeded by | Nathan Clifford |
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| Born | November 4, 1809 Watertown, Massachusetts |
| Died | September 15, 1874 (aged 64) Newport, Rhode Island |
Benjamin Robbins Curtis (November 4, 1809 – September 15, 1874) was an American attorney and United States Supreme Court Justice.
Curtis was born in 1809 in Watertown, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1832.
Curtis was appointed to the Supreme Court on 22 September 1851 by President Millard Fillmore. He was the first Supreme Court Justice to have actually received a law degree - his predecessors had either "read law" (a form of apprenticeship) or had attended a law school without receiving a degree. He was notable as one of the two dissenters in the Dred Scott case. Curtis resigned in 1857 from the court because of the bitter feelings engendered by the case. In 1868, He served as President Andrew Johnson's lead defense attorney during the impeachment proceedings.
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| Preceded by Levi Woodbury |
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States October 10, 1851 – September 30, 1857 |
Succeeded by Nathan Clifford |
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