The Pillars of Justice
An in-depth look at the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.
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The Court's Foundation
Constitutional Basis
The role of an Associate Justice is established by Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which grants the President the power to nominate, and the Senate the power to confirm, individuals to the Supreme Court. Article III, Section 1, ensures life tenure, ending only upon death, retirement, resignation, or removal through impeachment.
Historical Context
The Judiciary Act of 1869 set the number of Associate Justices at eight. Since the Court's inception in 1789, 104 individuals have served as Associate Justices, each contributing to the evolution of American jurisprudence.
Evolution of the Bench
The composition and influence of the Supreme Court have evolved significantly over centuries. Understanding the historical context of each appointment provides insight into the changing legal and political landscape of the United States.
The Court's Structure
Voting Power
Each Associate Justice holds a single vote in deciding cases before the Court. While the Chief Justice leads discussions and assigns opinions when in the majority, their vote carries the same weight as any other Associate Justice.
Seniority and Discussion
Seniority among Associate Justices is determined by the date their commissions bear. This seniority dictates the order in which justices state their views during case deliberations and influences the assignment of opinion writing by the Chief Justice.
Compensation
As of 2023, Associate Justices receive an annual salary of $285,400, slightly less than the Chief Justice's salary of $298,500, reflecting the Chief Justice's additional administrative responsibilities.
Current & Retired Members
Current Associate Justices
As of the latest data, there are eight Associate Justices serving on the Supreme Court. The current senior Associate Justice is Clarence Thomas, appointed in 1991.
The current Associate Justices, in order of seniority, are:
- Clarence Thomas (since October 23, 1991)
- Samuel Alito (since January 31, 2006)
- Sonia Sotomayor (since August 8, 2009)
- Elena Kagan (since August 7, 2010)
- Neil Gorsuch (since April 10, 2017)
- Brett Kavanaugh (since October 6, 2018)
- Amy Coney Barrett (since October 27, 2020)
- Ketanji Brown Jackson (since June 30, 2022)
Retired Associate Justices
Retired Associate Justices retain their title and may perform certain judicial duties on lower courts if designated. They continue to be recognized in official Court records.
Currently, the living retired Associate Justices are:
- Anthony Kennedy (Retired July 31, 2018)
- Stephen Breyer (Retired June 30, 2022)
Comprehensive Lists
The following table details the history of Associate Justices, including their appointment details and prior service.
Historical Roster
A complete list of individuals who have served as Associate Justices, presented chronologically.
| # | Name | Replacing | Date Confirmed (Vote) |
Tenure | Appointed by | Prior Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Rutledge | (new seat) | September 26, 1789 (Acclamation) |
February 15, 1790 โ March 4, 1791 (Resigned) |
George Washington | 31st governor of South Carolina (1779โ1782) |
| 2 | William Cushing | (new seat) | September 26, 1789 (Acclamation) |
February 2, 1790 โ September 13, 1810 (Died) |
George Washington | Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court (1777โ1789) |
| 3 | James Wilson | (new seat) | September 26, 1789 (Acclamation) |
October 5, 1789 โ August 21, 1798 (Died) |
George Washington | Delegate to the Constitutional Convention (1787) |
| 4 | John Blair Jr. | (new seat) | September 26, 1789 (Acclamation) |
February 2, 1790 โ October 25, 1795 (Resigned) |
George Washington | Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses (1766โ1770) |
| 5 | James Iredell | (new seat) | February 10, 1790 (Acclamation) |
May 12, 1790 โ October 20, 1799 (Died) |
George Washington | 2nd attorney general of North Carolina (1779โ1782) |
| 6 | Thomas Johnson | J. Rutledge | November 7, 1791 (Acclamation) |
September 19, 1791 โ January 16, 1793 (Resigned) |
George Washington | 1st governor of Maryland (1777โ1779) |
| 7 | William Paterson | T. Johnson | March 4, 1793 (Acclamation) |
March 11, 1793 โ September 8, 1806 (Died) |
George Washington | 2nd governor of New Jersey (1790โ1793) |
| 8 | Samuel Chase | Blair | January 27, 1796 (Acclamation) |
February 4, 1796 โ June 19, 1811 (Died) |
George Washington | Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court (1791โ1796) |
| 9 | Bushrod Washington | Wilson | December 20, 1798 (Acclamation) |
November 9, 1798 โ November 26, 1829 (Died) |
John Adams | Delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention (1788) |
| 10 | Alfred Moore | Moore | December 9, 1799 (Acclamation) |
April 21, 1800 โ January 26, 1804 (Resigned) |
John Adams | 3rd attorney general of North Carolina (1782โ1791) |
| 11 | William Johnson | Moore | March 24, 1804 (Acclamation) |
May 7, 1804 โ August 4, 1834 (Died) |
Thomas Jefferson | Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives (1798โ1800) |
| 12 | Henry Brockholst Livingston | Paterson | December 17, 1806 (Acclamation) |
January 20, 1807 โ March 18, 1823 (Died) |
Thomas Jefferson | Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1802โ1807) |
| 13 | Thomas Todd | (new seat) | March 2, 1807 (Acclamation) |
March 4, 1807 โ February 7, 1826 (Died) |
Thomas Jefferson | Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (1806โ1807) |
| 14 | Gabriel Duvall | Chase | November 18, 1811 (Acclamation) |
November 23, 1811 โ January 12, 1835 (Resigned) |
James Madison | U.S. representative for Maryland's 2nd district (1794โ1796) |
| 15 | Joseph Story | Cushing | November 18, 1811 (Acclamation) |
February 3, 1812 โ September 10, 1845 (Died) |
James Madison | U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 2nd district (1808โ1809) |
| 16 | Smith Thompson | Livingston | December 9, 1823 (Acclamation) |
September 1, 1823 โ December 18, 1843 (Died) |
James Monroe | 6th United States secretary of the Navy (1819โ1823) |
| 17 | Robert Trimble | Todd | May 9, 1826 (25โ5) |
June 16, 1826 โ August 25, 1828 (Died) |
John Quincy Adams | Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky (1817โ1826) |
| 18 | John McLean | Trimble | March 7, 1829 (Acclamation) |
March 12, 1829 โ April 4, 1861 (Died) |
Andrew Jackson | 6th United States postmaster general (1823โ1829) |
| 19 | Henry Baldwin | Washington | January 6, 1830 (41โ2) |
January 18, 1830 โ April 21, 1844 (Died) |
Andrew Jackson | U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 14th district (1817โ1822) |
| 20 | James Moore Wayne | W. Johnson | January 9, 1835 (Acclamation) |
January 14, 1835 โ July 5, 1867 (Died) |
Andrew Jackson | U.S. representative for Georgia's at-large district (1829โ1835) |
| 21 | Philip P. Barbour | Duvall | March 15, 1836 (30โ11) |
May 12, 1836 โ February 25, 1841 (Died) |
Andrew Jackson | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1830โ1836) |
| 22 | John Catron | (new seat) | March 8, 1837 (28โ15) |
May 1, 1837 โ May 30, 1865 (Died) |
Andrew Jackson | Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals (1824โ1834) |
| 23 | John McKinley | (new seat) | September 25, 1837 (Acclamation) |
January 9, 1838 โ July 19, 1852 (Died) |
Martin Van Buren | United States senator from Alabama (1826โ1831, 1837) |
| 24 | Peter Vivian Daniel | Barbour | March 2, 1841 (25โ5) |
January 10, 1842 โ May 31, 1860 (Died) |
Martin Van Buren | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (1836โ1841) |
| 25 | Samuel Nelson | Thompson | February 14, 1845 (Acclamation) |
February 27, 1845 โ November 28, 1872 (Retired) |
John Tyler | Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court (1831โ1845) |
| 26 | Levi Woodbury | Story | January 31, 1846 (Acclamation) |
September 23, 1845 โ September 4, 1851 (Died) |
James K. Polk | 13th United States secretary of the treasury (1834โ1841) |
| 27 | Robert Cooper Grier | Baldwin | August 4, 1846 (Acclamation) |
August 10, 1846 โ January 31, 1870 (Retired) |
James K. Polk | Judge for the Pennsylvania District Court for Allegheny County (1833โ1846) |
| 28 | Benjamin Robbins Curtis | Woodbury | December 20, 1851 (Acclamation) |
October 10, 1851 โ September 30, 1857 (Resigned) |
Millard Fillmore | Massachusetts state representative |
| 29 | John Archibald Campbell | McKinley | March 22, 1853 (Acclamation) |
April 11, 1853 โ April 30, 1861 (Resigned) |
Franklin Pierce | Alabama state representative |
| 30 | Nathan Clifford | Curtis | January 12, 1858 (26โ23) |
January 21, 1858 โ July 25, 1881 (Died) |
James Buchanan | 19th United States attorney general (1846โ1848) |
| 31 | Noah Haynes Swayne | McLean | January 24, 1862 (38โ1) |
January 27, 1862 โ January 24, 1881 (Retired) |
Abraham Lincoln | U.S. attorney for Ohio (1830โ1834) |
| 32 | Samuel Freeman Miller | Daniel | July 16, 1862 (Acclamation) |
July 21, 1862 โ October 13, 1890 (Died) |
Abraham Lincoln | Lawyer, Private practice |
| 33 | David Davis | Campbell | December 8, 1862 (Acclamation) |
December 10, 1862 โ March 3, 1877 (Resigned) |
Abraham Lincoln | Judge of the Illinois 3rd Circuit Court (1848โ1862) |
| 34 | Stephen Johnson Field | (new seat) | March 10, 1863 (Acclamation) |
May 20, 1863 โ December 1, 1897 (Retired) |
Abraham Lincoln | Chief justice of California (1859โ1863) |
| 35 | William Strong | Grier | February 18, 1870 (Acclamation) |
March 14, 1870 โ December 14, 1880 (Retired) |
Ulysses S. Grant | U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 9th district (1847โ1851) |
| 36 | Joseph P. Bradley | (new seat) | March 21, 1870 (46โ9) |
March 23, 1870 โ January 22, 1892 (Died) |
Ulysses S. Grant | Lawyer, Private practice |
| 37 | Ward Hunt | Nelson | December 11, 1872 (Acclamation) |
January 9, 1873 โ January 27, 1882 (Retired) |
Ulysses S. Grant | Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1868โ1872) |
| 38 | John Marshall Harlan | Davis | December 10, 1877 (Acclamation) |
November 29, 1877 โ October 14, 1911 (Died) |
Rutherford B. Hayes | 14th attorney general of Kentucky (1863โ1867) |
| 39 | William Burnham Woods | Strong | December 21, 1880 (39โ8) |
January 5, 1881 โ May 14, 1887 (Died) |
Rutherford B. Hayes | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1869โ1880) |
| 40 | Stanley Matthews | Swayne | May 12, 1881 (24โ23) |
May 17, 1881 โ March 22, 1889 (Died) |
James A. Garfield | United States senator from Ohio (1877โ1879) |
| 41 | Horace Gray | Clifford | December 20, 1881 (51โ5) |
January 9, 1882 โ September 15, 1902 (Died) |
Chester A. Arthur | Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1873โ1881) |
| 42 | Samuel Blatchford | Hunt | March 22, 1882 (Acclamation) |
April 3, 1882 โ July 7, 1893 (Died) |
Chester A. Arthur | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1878โ1882) |
| 43 | Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II | Woods | January 16, 1888 (32โ28) |
January 18, 1888 โ January 23, 1893 (Died) |
Grover Cleveland | 16th United States secretary of the interior (1885โ1888) |
| 44 | David Josiah Brewer | Matthews | December 18, 1889 (53โ11) |
January 6, 1890 โ March 28, 1910 (Died) |
Benjamin Harrison | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1884โ1889) |
| 45 | Henry Billings Brown | Miller | December 29, 1890 (Acclamation) |
January 5, 1891 โ May 28, 1906 (Retired) |
Benjamin Harrison | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (1875โ1890) |
| 46 | George Shiras Jr. | Bradley | July 26, 1892 (Acclamation) |
October 10, 1892 โ February 23, 1903 (Retired) |
Benjamin Harrison | Lawyer, Private practice |
| 47 | Howell Edmunds Jackson | L. Lamar | February 18, 1893 (Acclamation) |
March 4, 1893 โ August 8, 1895 (Died) |
Benjamin Harrison | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1891โ1893) |
| 48 | Edward Douglass White | Blatchford | February 19, 1894 (Acclamation) |
March 12, 1894 โ December 18, 1910 (Continued as chief justice) |
Grover Cleveland | United States senator from Louisiana (1891โ1894) |
| 49 | Rufus W. Peckham | J. Harlan | December 9, 1895 (Acclamation) |
January 6, 1896 โ October 24, 1909 (Died) |
Grover Cleveland | Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals |
| 50 | Joseph McKenna | Field | January 21, 1898 (Acclamation) |
January 26, 1898 โ January 5, 1925 (Retired) |
William McKinley | 42nd United States attorney general (1897โ1898) |
| 51 | Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | Gray | December 4, 1902 (Acclamation) |
December 8, 1902 โ January 12, 1932 (Retired) |
Theodore Roosevelt | Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1899โ1902) |
| 52 | William R. Day | Shiras | February 23, 1903 (Acclamation) |
March 2, 1903 โ November 13, 1922 (Retired) |
Theodore Roosevelt | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1899โ1903) |
| 53 | William Henry Moody | Brown | December 12, 1906 (Acclamation) |
December 17, 1906 โ November 20, 1910 (Retired) |
Theodore Roosevelt | 45th United States attorney general (1904โ1906) |
| 54 | Horace Harmon Lurton | Peckham | December 20, 1909 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1910 โ July 12, 1914 (Died) |
William Howard Taft | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1893โ1909) |
| 55 | Charles Evans Hughes | Brewer | May 2, 1910 (Acclamation) |
October 10, 1910 โ June 10, 1916 (Resigned) |
William Howard Taft | 36th governor of New York (1907โ1910) |
| 56 | Willis Van Devanter | E. White | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1911 โ June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
William Howard Taft | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1903โ1910) |
| 57 | Joseph Rucker Lamar | Moody | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) |
January 3, 1911 โ January 2, 1916 (Died) |
William Howard Taft | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia (1901โ1905) |
| 58 | Mahlon Pitney | J. Harlan | March 13, 1912 (50โ26) |
March 18, 1912 โ December 31, 1922 (Resigned) |
William Howard Taft | U.S. representative for New Jersey's 4th district (1895โ1899) |
| 59 | James Clark McReynolds | Lurton | August 29, 1914 (44โ6) |
October 12, 1914 โ January 31, 1941 (Retired) |
Woodrow Wilson | 48th United States attorney general (1913โ1914) |
| 60 | Louis Brandeis | J. Lamar | June 1, 1916 (47โ22) |
June 5, 1916 โ February 13, 1939 (Retired) |
Woodrow Wilson | Lawyer, Private practice: Brandeis Dunbar & Nutter |
| 61 | John Hessin Clarke | Hughes | July 24, 1916 (Acclamation) |
October 9, 1916 โ September 5, 1922 (Resigned) |
Woodrow Wilson | Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (1914โ1916) |
| 62 | George Sutherland | Clarke | September 5, 1922 (Acclamation) |
October 2, 1922 โ January 17, 1938 (Retired) |
Warren G. Harding | United States senator from Utah (1905โ1917) |
| 63 | Pierce Butler | Day | December 21, 1922 (61โ8) |
January 2, 1923 โ November 16, 1939 (Died) |
Warren G. Harding | President of the Minnesota State Bar Association |
| 64 | Edward Terry Sanford | Pitney | January 29, 1923 (Acclamation) |
February 19, 1923 โ March 8, 1930 (Died) |
Warren G. Harding | Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee (1908โ1923) |
| 65 | Harlan Fiske Stone | McKenna | February 5, 1925 (71โ6) |
March 2, 1925 โ July 3, 1941 (Continued as chief justice) |
Calvin Coolidge | 52nd United States attorney general (1924โ1925) |
| 66 | Owen Roberts | Sanford | May 20, 1930 (Acclamation) |
June 2, 1930 โ July 31, 1945 (Resigned) |
Herbert Hoover | Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia |
| 67 | Benjamin N. Cardozo | Holmes | February 24, 1932 (Acclamation) |
March 14, 1932 โ July 9, 1938 (Died) |
Herbert Hoover | Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals (1927โ1932) |
| 68 | Hugo Black | Van Devanter | August 17, 1937 (63โ16) |
August 19, 1937 โ September 17, 1971 (Retired) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | United States senator from Alabama (1927โ1937) |
| 69 | Stanley Forman Reed | Sutherland | January 25, 1938 (Acclamation) |
January 31, 1938 โ February 25, 1957 (Retired) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 22nd United States solicitor general (1935โ1938) |
| 70 | Felix Frankfurter | Cardozo | January 17, 1939 (Acclamation) |
January 30, 1939 โ August 28, 1962 (Retired) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Chairman of Harvard Law School |
| 71 | William O. Douglas | Brandeis | April 4, 1939 (62โ4) |
April 17, 1939 โ November 12, 1975 (Retired) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 3rd chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (1937โ1939) |
| 72 | Frank Murphy | Butler | January 16, 1940 (Acclamation) |
February 5, 1940 โ July 19, 1949 (Died) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 56th United States attorney general (1939โ1940) |
| 73 | James F. Byrnes | McReynolds | June 12, 1941 (Acclamation) |
July 8, 1941 โ October 3, 1942 (Resigned) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | United States senator from South Carolina (1931โ1941) |
| 74 | Robert H. Jackson | Stone | July 7, 1941 (Acclamation) |
July 11, 1941 โ October 9, 1954 (Died) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 57th United States attorney general (1940โ1941) |
| 75 | Wiley Blount Rutledge | Byrnes | February 8, 1943 (Acclamation) |
February 15, 1943 โ September 10, 1949 (Died) |
Franklin D. Roosevelt | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1939โ1943) |
| 76 | Harold Hitz Burton | Roberts | September 19, 1945 (Acclamation) |
October 1, 1945 โ October 13, 1958 (Retired) |
Harry S. Truman | United States senator from Ohio (1941โ1945) |
| 77 | Tom C. Clark | Murphy | August 18, 1949 (73โ8) |
August 24, 1949 โ June 12, 1967 (Retired) |
Harry S. Truman | 59th United States attorney general (1945โ1949) |
| 78 | Sherman Minton | W. Rutledge | October 12, 1949 (48โ16) |
October 12, 1949 โ October 15, 1956 (Retired) |
Harry S. Truman | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1941โ1949) |
| 79 | John Marshall Harlan II | R. Jackson | March 16, 1955 (71โ11) |
March 28, 1955 โ September 23, 1971 (Retired) |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1954โ1955) |
| 80 | William J. Brennan Jr. | Minton | March 19, 1957 (Acclamation) |
October 15, 1956 โ July 20, 1990 (Retired) |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1951โ1956) |
| 81 | Charles Evans Whittaker | Reed | March 19, 1957 (Acclamation) |
March 25, 1957 โ March 31, 1962 (Retired) |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1956โ1957) |
| 82 | Potter Stewart | Burton | May 5, 1959 (70โ17) |
October 14, 1958 โ July 3, 1981 (Retired) |
Dwight D. Eisenhower | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1954โ1958) |
| 83 | Byron White | Whittaker | April 11, 1962 (Acclamation) |
April 16, 1962 โ June 28, 1993 (Retired) |
John F. Kennedy | 4th United States deputy attorney general (1961โ1962) |
| 84 | Arthur Goldberg | Frankfurter | September 25, 1962 (62โ4) |
October 1, 1962 โ July 26, 1965 (Resigned) |
John F. Kennedy | 9th United States secretary of labor (1961โ1962) |
| 85 | Abe Fortas | Goldberg | August 11, 1965 (Acclamation) |
October 4, 1965 โ May 14, 1969 (Resigned) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | United States under secretary of the interior |
| 86 | Thurgood Marshall | Clark | August 30, 1967 (69โ11) |
October 2, 1967 โ October 1, 1991 (Retired) |
Lyndon B. Johnson | 32nd solicitor general of the United States (1965โ1967) |
| 87 | Harry Blackmun | Fortas | May 12, 1970 (94โ0) |
June 9, 1970 โ August 3, 1994 (Retired) |
Richard Nixon | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (1959โ1970) |
| 88 | Lewis F. Powell Jr. | Black | December 6, 1971 (89โ1) |
January 7, 1972 โ June 26, 1987 (Retired) |
Richard Nixon | President of the American Bar Association (1964โ1965) |
| 89 | William Rehnquist | J. Harlan II | December 10, 1971 (68โ26) |
January 7, 1972 โ September 3, 2005 (Continued as chief justice) |
Richard Nixon | United States assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel (1969โ1971) |
| 90 | John Paul Stevens | Douglas | December 17, 1975 (98โ0) |
December 19, 1975 โ June 29, 2010 (Retired) |
Gerald Ford | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (1970โ1975) |
| 91 | Sandra Day O'Connor | Stewart | September 21, 1981 (99โ0) |
September 25, 1981 โ January 31, 2006 (Retired) |
Ronald Reagan | Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals (1979โ1981) |
| 92 | Antonin Scalia | Rehnquist | September 17, 1986 (98โ0) |
September 26, 1986 โ February 13, 2016 (Died) |
Ronald Reagan | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1982โ1986) |
| 93 | Anthony Kennedy | Powell | February 3, 1988 (97โ0) |
February 18, 1988 โ July 31, 2018 (Retired) |
Ronald Reagan | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1975โ1988) |
| 94 | David Souter | Brennan | October 2, 1990 (90โ9) |
October 9, 1990 โ June 29, 2009 (Retired) |
George H. W. Bush | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990) |
| 95 | Clarence Thomas | Marshall | October 15, 1991 (52โ48) |
October 23, 1991 โ Incumbent |
George H. W. Bush | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1990โ1991) |
| 96 | Ruth Bader Ginsburg | B. White | August 3, 1993 (96โ3) |
August 10, 1993 โ September 18, 2020 (Died) |
Bill Clinton | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1980โ1993) |
| 97 | Stephen Breyer | Blackmun | July 29, 1994 (87โ9) |
August 3, 1994 โ June 30, 2022 (Retired) |
Bill Clinton | Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1990โ1994) |
| 98 | Samuel Alito | O'Connor | January 31, 2006 (58โ42) |
January 31, 2006 โ Incumbent |
George W. Bush | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1990โ2006) |
| 99 | Sonia Sotomayor | Souter | August 6, 2009 (68โ31) |
August 8, 2009 โ Incumbent |
Barack Obama | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1998โ2009) |
| 100 | Elena Kagan | Stevens | August 5, 2010 (63โ37) |
August 7, 2010 โ Incumbent |
Barack Obama | 45th solicitor general of the United States (2009โ2010) |
| 101 | Neil Gorsuch | Scalia | April 7, 2017 (54โ45) |
April 10, 2017 โ Incumbent |
Donald Trump | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2006โ2017) |
| 102 | Brett Kavanaugh | Kennedy | October 6, 2018 (50โ48) |
October 6, 2018 โ Incumbent |
Donald Trump | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2006โ2018) |
| 103 | Amy Coney Barrett | Ginsburg | October 26, 2020 (52โ48) |
October 27, 2020 โ Incumbent |
Donald Trump | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2017โ2020) |
| 104 | Ketanji Brown Jackson | Breyer | April 7, 2022 (53โ47) |
June 30, 2022 โ Incumbent |
Joe Biden | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2021โ2022) |
Notes on Service
Tenure Definitions
The start date for a justice's service is typically the date they took the judicial oath. The end date is marked by death, resignation, or retirement. Justices who retire may continue to serve on lower federal courts if assigned by the Chief Justice.
Prior Positions
The positions listed are those held immediately before appointment to the Supreme Court, offering context on the nominee's background and experience in law or public service.
Recess Appointments
Federal law allows for recess appointments, where a justice may begin service before formal Senate confirmation. The dates presented reflect the start of service, not necessarily the confirmation date.
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References
References
- Listed here (unless otherwise noted) is the positionรขยยeither with a U.S. state or the federal government, or with a private corporationรขยยheld by the individual immediately prior to becoming an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- Was confirmed as chief justice on January 26, 1796, but declined and continued to serve as an associate justice.
- Recess appointment. Note: the date on which the justice took the judicial oath is here used as the date of the beginning of their service, not the date of the recess appointment.
- Was impeached, but not convicted, and remained in office.
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Legal and Informational Notice
This content has been generated by an AI and is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is based on publicly available data from Wikipedia and may not be exhaustive or entirely up-to-date.
This is not legal advice. The information provided does not constitute legal counsel, and readers should not rely on it as a substitute for professional legal advice. Always consult with a qualified legal professional for any specific legal questions or concerns.
The creators of this page are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for any actions taken based on the information provided herein.