Peckham, Rufus W. (1838-1909), was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Peckham believed in as little government interference with business as possible, and opposed many reform and welfare measures. He was noted for his opinion in the 1905 Lochner v. New York case, in which he voted with a majority of the court to overrule a law that limited bakers to a 60-hour workweek (see Lochner v. New York ).
Peckham was born on Nov. 8, 1838, in Albany, New York. He began to practice law in New York in 1857. He was elected to the New York Supreme Court in 1883. Later, in 1886, Peckham was elected to the State Court of Appeals. President Grover Cleveland named him to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1895, and he served from 1896 until his death on Oct. 24, 1909.
