David Brearley

Prior to the start of the American Revolution, Brearley was on one occasion arrested for his opposition to the rule of the British Parliament but was freed by a mob.[3] With the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Brearley was at first a captain in the Monmouth County militia after having spent many years speaking out against the Parliamentary absolutism.[4] He eventually rose to the rank of colonel in Nathaniel Heard's New Jersey militia brigade. From 1776 to 1779 he served in the New Jersey Line of the Continental Army, seeing action at Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth.

Brearley was chief justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey from 1779 to 1789.[5] He decided on the famous Holmes v. Walton case where he ruled that the judiciary had the authority to declare whether laws were unconstitutional.[4]

While at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Brearley was Chairman of the Committee on Postponed Parts, which played a substantial role in shaping the final document.[6] The committee addressed questions related to the taxes, war-making, patents and copyrights, relations with Native American tribes, and Franklin's compromise to require money bills to originate in the House of Representatives. The biggest issue they addressed was the presidency, and the final compromise was written by James Madison with the committee's input.[7] They adopted the earlier plan for choosing the president by the Electoral College and settled on the method of choosing the president if no candidate had an Electoral College majority, which many such as Madison thought would be "nineteen times out of twenty". The committee also shortened the president's term from seven years to four years, freed him to seek re-election, and moved impeachment trials from the courts to the Senate. They also created the vice president, whose only role was to succeed the president and preside over the Senate. This also transferred important powers from the Senate to the president, who was given the power (which had been given to the senate by Rutledge's committee) to make treaties and appoint ambassadors.[8] He ultimately signed the finished Constitution.

Brearley was nominated by President George Washington on September 25, 1789, to the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, to a new seat authorized by 1 Stat. 73.[2] He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 25, 1789, and received his commission on September 26, 1789.[2] His service terminated on August 16, 1790, due to his death in Trenton.[2]