Shiras was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, January 26, 1832. He attended Ohio University and then graduated from Yale College, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1853.[2] He began law school at Yale Law School, but left before earning a law degree.[3] He finished his training by reading law at a law office, then practiced law in Dubuque, Iowa, from 1855 to 1858, and in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1858 to 1892. In Pittsburgh, he became a prominent corporate attorney, and he was noted for his honesty and pragmatism while representing some of the nation's industrial giants.[citation needed]
Although Shiras sat on the Court for more than 10 years authoring 253 majority decisions and 14 dissents, he is noted for his votes on just two landmark cases, Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. (1895), and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).[3] He sided with the majority in the 5–4 decision in Pollock to strike down the Income Tax Act of 1894 as unconstitutional. Some historians believe Shiras was the pivotal Justice who switched his vote, while other historians suspect that it was either Justice Horace Gray or Justice David Brewer.[3] Regardless, the ruling in Pollock led to the need for a constitutional amendment to impose a federal income tax, and in 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. Shiras also voted with the 7–1 majority in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the doctrine of separate but equal, and which was effectively overruled in 1954.
Shiras retired from the Supreme Court on February 23, 1903.[5] He died on August 2, 1924, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania a result of a fall followed by pneumonia.[6] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh.[7]
Friedman, Leon; Israel, Fred L. (1969). The Justices of the United States Supreme Court, 1789–1969: Their Lives and Major Opinions. New York: Chelsea House.
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