The Annotated Bobblehead Justice John Blair
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John Blair, 1790-1796
John Blair initially opposed independence from Britain. After serving as a clerk for the Virginia Governor's Council, he became a supporter and was elected to the fifth Virginia Convention in May 1776. Blair played an important role in designing Virginia's first constitution and its declaration of individual rights.
Blair was later appointed to the General Court of Virginia, where his decision in Commonwealth of Virginia v. Caton (1782) helped set the stage for Marbury v. Madison (1803), the great statement of judicial review and the separation of the executive and judicial branches of government.
A delegate for Virginia at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Blair was one of three Virginians, with George Washington and James Madison, to sign the Constitution.
1. Secret Proceedings and Debates of the Convention Assembled at Philadelphia, in the Year 1787. Washington, 1909. 
2. The Proceedings of the Convention of Delegates for the Counties and Corporations in the Colony of Virginia ... Richmond, 1816. 
3. Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States, and of Pennsylvania ... Philadelphia, 1798. (2 Dallas Reports) 
4. The Declaration of Independence; Adoption of the Constitution of the United States by the State of Virginia ... Richmond, 1799.
