In order to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, an individual must be nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the U.S. Senate, with at least half of that body approving in the affirmative. Generally, a justice's qualifications are judged by the President and, most visibly, by a Senate hearing. There is no definitive qualification of age or experience that is a standard to be met; instead, there is a much more subjective process taken by the Senate, occasionally resulting in a sometimes controversial defeat of judicial nominees.
Seats
There have been a total of eleven seats: one Chief Justiceship and ten Associate Justiceships. Two of the Associate Justiceships were abolished, leaving the nine-seat Court of today.
The Associate Justiceships are numbered in order of their creation. If seats were established simultaneously, they are numbered in the order in which they were filled.
The Judicial Circuits Act of July 23, 1866 [14 Stat. 209] provided that each Associate Justiceship would be abolished as it became vacant until only six Associate Justiceships would remain. Since there were nine Associate Justiceships when the Act was passed, three were to be abolished:
- Seat 7 was vacant when the Judicial Circuits Act passed, and hence was abolished on July 23, 1866. John Catron was both the first and last occupant of this seat.
- Seat 5 was abolished upon the death of James Moore Wayne on July 5, 1867.
- The Circuit Judges Act of 1869 [see 16 Stat. 44] superseded the Judicial Circuits Act before a third seat could be abolished.
| Chief Justice |
| The seat of Chief Justice was established by the Constitution and organized on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. |
| Jay |
October 19, 1789 –
June 29, 1795 |
| J. Rutledge |
July 1, 1795 –
December 15, 1795 |
| Ellsworth |
March 8, 1796 –
December 15, 1800 |
| J. Marshall |
February 4, 1801 –
July 6, 1835 |
| Taney |
March 28, 1836 –
October 12, 1864 |
| S.P. Chase |
December 15, 1864 –
May 7, 1873 |
| Waite |
March 4, 1874 –
March 23, 1888 |
| Fuller |
October 8, 1888 –
July 4, 1910 |
| E. White |
December 19, 1910 –
May 19, 1921 |
| Taft |
July 11, 1921 –
February 3, 1930 |
| Hughes |
February 24, 1930 –
June 30, 1941 |
| Stone |
July 3, 1941 –
April 22, 1946 |
| Vinson |
June 24, 1946 –
September 8, 1953 |
| Warren |
October 5, 1953 –
June 23, 1969 |
| Burger |
June 23, 1969 –
September 26, 1986 |
| Rehnquist |
September 26, 1986 –
September 3, 2005 |
| J. Roberts |
September 29, 2005 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 1) |
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. |
| Wilson |
October 5, 1789 –
August 21, 1798 |
| Washington |
February 4, 1799 –
November 26, 1829 |
| Baldwin |
January 18, 1830 –
April 21, 1844 |
| Grier |
August 10, 1846 –
January 31, 1870 |
| Strong |
March 14, 1870 –
December 14, 1880 |
| Woods |
January 5, 1881 –
May 14, 1887 |
| L. Lamar |
January 18, 1888 –
January 23, 1893 |
| H. Jackson |
March 4, 1893 –
August 8, 1895 |
| Peckham |
January 6, 1896 –
October 24, 1909 |
| Lurton |
January 3, 1910 –
July 12, 1914 |
| McReynolds |
October 12, 1914 –
January 31, 1941 |
| Byrnes |
July 8, 1941 –
October 3, 1942 |
| W. Rutledge |
February 15, 1943 –
September 10, 1949 |
| Minton |
October 12, 1949 –
October 15, 1956 |
| Brennan |
October 16, 1956 –
July 20, 1990 |
| Souter |
October 9, 1990 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 2) |
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. |
| Cushing |
February 2, 1790 –
September 13, 1810 |
| Story |
February 3, 1812 –
September 10, 1845 |
| Woodbury |
September 23, 1845 –
September 4, 1851 |
| Curtis |
October 10, 1851 –
September 30, 1857 |
| Clifford |
January 21, 1858 –
July 25, 1881 |
| Gray |
January 9, 1882 –
September 15, 1902 |
| Holmes |
December 8, 1902 –
January 12, 1932 |
| Cardozo |
March 14, 1932 –
July 9, 1938 |
| Frankfurter |
January 30, 1939 –
August 28, 1962 |
| Goldberg |
October 1, 1962 –
July 25, 1965 |
| Fortas |
October 4, 1965 –
May 14, 1969 |
| Blackmun |
June 9, 1970 –
August 3, 1994 |
| Breyer |
August 3, 1994 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 3) |
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. |
| Blair |
February 2, 1790 –
October 25, 1795 |
| S. Chase |
February 4, 1796 –
June 19, 1811 |
| Duvall |
November 23, 1811 –
January 14, 1835 |
| Barbour |
May 12, 1836 –
February 25, 1841 |
| Daniel |
January 10, 1842 –
May 31, 1860 |
| Miller |
July 21, 1862 –
October 13, 1890 |
| Brown |
January 5, 1891 –
May 28, 1906 |
| Moody |
December 17, 1906 –
November 20, 1910 |
| J. Lamar |
January 3, 1911 –
January 2, 1916 |
| Brandeis |
June 5, 1916 –
February 13, 1939 |
| Douglas |
April 17, 1939 –
November 12, 1975 |
| Stevens |
December 19, 1975 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 4) |
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. |
| J. Rutledge |
February 15, 1790 –
March 5, 1791 |
| T. Johnson |
August 6, 1792 –
January 16, 1793 |
| Paterson |
March 11, 1793 –
September 9, 1806 |
| Livingston |
January 20, 1807 –
March 18, 1823 |
| Thompson |
September 1, 1823 –
December 18, 1843 |
| Nelson |
February 27, 1845 –
November 28, 1872 |
| Hunt |
January 9, 1873 –
January 27, 1882 |
| Blatchford |
April 3, 1882 –
July 7, 1893 |
| White |
March 12, 1894 –
December 18, 1910 |
| Van Devanter |
January 3, 1911 –
June 2, 1937 |
| Black |
August 19, 1937 –
September 17, 1971 |
| Powell |
January 7, 1972 –
June 26, 1987 |
| Kennedy |
February 18, 1988 –
present |
|
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 6) |
| This seat was established on February 24, 1807 by the Seventh Circuit Act [see 2 Stat. 420]. |
| Todd |
May 4, 1807 –
February 7, 1826 |
| Trimble |
June 16, 1826 –
August 25, 1828 |
| McLean |
January 11, 1830 –
April 4, 1861 |
| Swayne |
January 27, 1862 –
January 24, 1881 |
| Matthews |
May 17, 1881 –
March 22, 1889 |
| Brewer |
January 6, 1890 –
March 28, 1910 |
| Hughes |
October 10, 1910 –
June 10, 1916 |
| Clarke |
October 9, 1916 –
September 18, 1922 |
| Sutherland |
October 2, 1922 –
January 17, 1938 |
| Reed |
January 31, 1938 –
February 25, 1957 |
| Whittaker |
March 25, 1957 –
March 31, 1962 |
| White |
April 16, 1962 –
June 28, 1993 |
| Ginsburg |
August 10, 1993 –
present |
|
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 8) |
| This seat was established on March 3, 1837 by the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act [see 5 Stat. 176]. |
| McKinley |
January 9, 1838 –
July 19, 1852 |
| Campbell |
April 11, 1853 –
April 30, 1861 |
| Davis |
December 10, 1862 –
March 4, 1877 |
| Harlan (I) |
December 10, 1877 –
October 14, 1911 |
| Pitney |
March 18, 1912 –
December 31, 1922 |
| Sanford |
February 19, 1923 –
March 8, 1930 |
| O. Roberts |
June 2, 1930 –
July 31, 1945 |
| Burton |
October 1, 1945 –
October 13, 1958 |
| Stewart |
October 14, 1958 –
July 3, 1981 |
| O'Connor |
September 25, 1981 –
January 31, 2006 |
| Alito |
January 31, 2006 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 9) |
| This seat was established on March 3, 1863 by the Tenth Circuit Act [see 12 Stat. 794]. |
| Field |
May 20, 1863 –
December 1, 1897 |
| McKenna |
January 26, 1898 –
January 5, 1925 |
| Stone |
March 2, 1925 –
July 2, 1941 |
| R. Jackson |
July 11, 1941 –
October 9, 1954 |
| Harlan (II) |
March 28, 1955 –
September 23, 1971 |
| Rehnquist |
January 7, 1972 –
September 26, 1986 |
| Scalia |
September 26, 1986 –
present |
|
| Associate Justice (Seat 10) |
| This seat was established on April 10, 1869 by the Circuit Judges Act of 1869 [see 16 Stat. 44]. |
| Bradley |
March 23, 1870 –
January 22, 1892 |
| Shiras |
October 10, 1892 –
February 23, 1903 |
| Day |
March 2, 1903 –
November 13, 1922 |
| Butler |
January 2, 1923 –
November 16, 1939 |
| Murphy |
February 5, 1940 –
July 19, 1949 |
| Clark |
August 24, 1949 –
June 12, 1967 |
| T. Marshall |
October 2, 1967 –
October 1, 1991 |
| Thomas |
October 23, 1991 –
present |
|
See also
References
External links
|
