Story, Joseph (1779–1845)

US jurist and associate justice of the US Supreme Court 1811–45 under President Madison. He wrote several decisions defining the role of federal courts in admiralty law. The most notable was United States v. Schooner Amistad (1841), in which the Court ordered black slaves who had seized a slaving ship repatriated to Africa.

Born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Story was a graduate of Harvard College and practised law in Massachusetts. He served in the Massachusetts legislature 1805–08 and the US House of Representatives 1808–09, before returning to the Massachusetts legislature, of which he became speaker 1811.