On April 25, 1910, President William H. Taft nominated Hughes for Associate Justice to fill the vacancy left by the death of Justice David J. Brewer.
On April 15, 1915 in the case of Frank v. Mangum,[REF] the Supreme Court decided (7-2) to deny an appeal made by Leo Frank's attorneys, and instead upheld the decision of lower courts to sustain the guilty verdict against Frank.