Melville Weston Fuller (February 11, 1833 – July 4, 1910) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the eighth chief justice of the United States from 1888 until his death in 1910. His tenure on the Supreme Court was marked by staunch conservatism, exhibited by his support for corporations and his opposition to broad federal power. He authored major opinions on the federal income tax, the Commerce Clause, and citizenship law, and he took part in significant decisions regarding racial segregation and the liberty of contract. Those rulings often faced criticism in the decades during and after Fuller's tenure, and many were later overruled or abrogated. The legal academy has generally viewed Fuller negatively, although a revisionist minority has taken a more favorable view