Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States. The number of Associate Justices is determined by the United States Congress and is currently set at eight by the Judiciary Act of 1869.

Like the Chief Justice, Associate Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and are confirmed by the United States Senate by majority vote. This is provided for in Article II of the Constitution, which states that the President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint... Judges of the supreme Court." Although the Constitution refers to them as "Judges of the Supreme Court," the title actually used is "Associate Justice," introduced in the Judiciary Act of 1789.[1] Associate justices were traditionally styled "Mr. Justice" in court opinions, but the title was shortened to "Justice" in 1980, a year before the first female justice was appointed.[2]

Article III of the Constitution specifies that Associate Justices, and all other United States federal judges "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior". This language means that the appointments are effectively for life, ending only when a Justice dies in office, retires, or is removed from office following impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate.[3]

Each of the Justices of the Supreme Court has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it; the Chief Justice's vote counts no more than that of any other Justice. However, in drafting opinions, the Chief Justice enjoys additional influence in case disposition if in the majority through his power to assign who writes the opinion. Otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. Furthermore, the Chief Justice leads the discussion of the case among the justices. The Chief Justice has certain administrative responsibilities that the other Justices do not and is paid slightly more ($255,500 per year for the Chief Justice and $244,400 per year for each Associate Justice[4]).

Associate Justices have seniority by order of appointment, although the Chief Justice is always considered to be the most senior. If two justices are appointed on the same day, the older is designated the senior Justice of the two. Currently, the senior Associate Justice is Anthony Kennedy. By tradition, when the Justices are in conference deliberating the outcome of cases before the Court, the justices state their views in order of seniority. If there is a knock at their conference room door, the junior justice (who sits closest to the door) must answer it. The current junior justice is Elena Kagan.

Under 28 USC 3, when the Chief Justice is unable to discharge his functions, or that office is vacant, his duties are carried out by the most senior Associate Justice until the disability or the vacancy ends.

The sitting Associate Justices are, ordered by seniority:

Retired Associate Justices

When Justices retire, they have the opportunity to assume duties similar to the senior status assumed by District and Circuit Judges. This means that the Justice keeps his or her title, and may serve by assignment on panels of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, or even the US District Courts if so requested and assigned. Retired Justices may choose to keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, as well as to employ law clerks. The names of retired Associate Justices continue to appear alongside those of the active Justices of the Court on the Bound Volumes of Supreme Court decisions. However, retired Associate Justices (unlike judges on senior status) take no part in the consideration or decision of any cases before their former court (the Supreme Court), although they may be appointed by the Chief Justice to sit on lower courts.

Currently, there are three retired Associate Justices: Sandra Day O'Connor, who retired on January 31, 2006, David H. Souter, who retired on June 29, 2009, and John Paul Stevens, who retired on June 29, 2010. Both O'Connor and Souter occasionally serve on panels of the Courts of Appeals of various circuits. As of present, Stevens has chosen not to so serve.

List of Associate Justices

Number Portrait Nominee Replacing Prior Experience Date of Senate
Confirmation 		President
1 John Rutledge (new seat) Governor of South Carolina September 26, 1789 George Washington***
2 William Cushing (new seat) Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court September 26, 1789
3 James Wilson (new seat) Lawyer September 26, 1789
4 John Blair (new seat) Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses September 26, 1789
5 James Iredell (new seat) North Carolina Attorney General, Judge of the North Carolina Superior Court February 10, 1790
6 Thomas Johnson[3] Rutledge Governor of Maryland, Delegate to the Continental Congress November 7, 1791
7 William Paterson Johnson Governor of New Jersey, United States Senator from New Jersey, New Jersey Attorney General March 4, 1793
8 Samuel Chase Blair Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court, Chief Justice of the District Criminal Court in Baltimore, Delegate to the Continental Congress, January 27, 1796
9 Bushrod Washington Wilson Member of the Virginia House of Delegates December 20, 1798 John Adams*
10 Alfred Moore Iredell Judge of the North Carolina Superior Court, North Carolina Attorney General, Member of the North Carolina General Assembly December 10, 1799
11 William Johnson Moore Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives March 24, 1804 Thomas Jefferson
12 Henry Brockholst Livingston Paterson Justice of the New York Supreme Court December 17, 1806
13 Thomas Todd (new seat) Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, Associate Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals March 2, 1807
14 Gabriel Duvall Chase Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 2nd district, U.S. Comptroller of the Treasury, Member of the Maryland House of Delegates November 18, 1811 James Madison
15 Joseph Story Cushing Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 2nd district, Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives November 18, 1811
16 Smith Thompson[3] Livingston Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Member of the New York State Assembly December 9, 1823 James Monroe
17 Robert Trimble Todd District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky, U.S. Attorney for the District of Kentucky, Associate Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives May 9, 1826 John Quincy Adams
18 John McLean Trimble United States Postmaster General, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio's 1st district, March 7, 1829 Andrew Jackson*
19 Henry Baldwin Washington Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 14th district January 6, 1830
20 James Moore Wayne Johnson Judge of the Superior Court of Georgia, Judge of the Georgia Court of Common Pleas, Mayor of Savannah, Georgia, Member of the Georgia House of Representatives January 9, 1835
21 Philip Pendleton Barbour Duvall District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 11th district, Member of the Virginia House of Delegates March 15, 1836
22 John Catron (new seat) Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals, Associate Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals March 8, 1837
23 John McKinley (new seat) United States Senator from Alabama, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama's 2nd district, Member of the Alabama House of Representatives September 25, 1837 Martin Van Buren
24 Peter Vivian Daniel Barbour District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Member of the Virginia House of Delegates March 2, 1841
25 Samuel Nelson Thompson Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Justice of the New York Supreme Court, Judge of New York's Sixth Circuit Court February 14, 1845 John Tyler
26 Levi Woodbury[3] Story United States Secretary of the Treasury, United States Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New Hampshire, United States Senator from New Hampshire, Justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court of Judicature January 31, 1846 James K. Polk
27 Robert Cooper Grier Baldwin Judge for the Pennsylvania state District Court for Allegheny County August 4, 1846
28 Benjamin Robbins Curtis[3] Woodbury Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives December 20, 1851 Millard Fillmore
29 John Archibald Campbell McKinley Member of the Alabama House of Representatives March 22, 1853 Franklin Pierce
30 Nathan Clifford Curtis United States Minister to Mexico, United States Attorney General, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maine's 1st district, Maine Attorney General, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives January 12, 1858 James Buchanan
31 Noah Haynes Swayne McLean U.S. Attorney for the District of Ohio, Member of the Ohio House of Representatives January 24, 1862 Abraham Lincoln*
32 Samuel Freeman Miller Daniel Lawyer July 16, 1862
33 David Davis Campbell Judge of Illinois Eighth Judicial Circuit Court, Member of the Illinois House of Representatives December 8, 1862
34 Stephen Johnson Field (new seat) Chief Justice of California, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, Member of the California State Assembly March 10, 1863
35 William Strong Grier Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 9th district February 18, 1870 Ulysses S. Grant*
36 Joseph Philo Bradley (new seat) Lawyer March 21, 1870
37 Ward Hunt Nelson Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, Member of the New York State Assembly December 11, 1872
38 John Marshall Harlan Davis Attorney General of Kentucky, County judge for Franklin County, Kentucky November 29, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes
39 William Burnham Woods Strong Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Member of the Ohio House of Representatives December 21, 1880
40 Thomas Stanley Matthews Swayne U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Member of the Ohio Senate, Member of the Ohio House of Representatives May 12, 1881 James Garfield
41 Horace Gray Clifford Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court December 20, 1881 Chester A. Arthur
42 Samuel Blatchford Hunt Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York March 22, 1882
43 Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar Woods United States Secretary of the Interior, United States Senator from Mississippi, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi 1st district January 16, 1888 Grover Cleveland*
44 David Josiah Brewer Matthews Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Associate Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, Judge of Kansas' First Judicial District December 18, 1889 Benjamin Harrison
45 Henry Billings Brown Miller District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan December 29, 1890
46 George Shiras, Jr. Bradley Lawyer July 26, 1892
47 Howell Edmunds Jackson Lamar Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives February 18, 1893
48 Edward Douglass White Blatchford United States Secretary of the Interior, United States Senator from Louisiana, Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Member of the Louisiana State Senate February 19, 1894 Grover Cleveland
49 Rufus Wheeler Peckham Jackson Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals December 9, 1895
50 Joseph McKenna Field United States Attorney General, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd, Member of the California State Assembly January 21, 1898 William McKinley
51 Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.[3] Gray Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court December 4, 1902 Theodore Roosevelt
52 William R. Day Shiras Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, United States Secretary of State, United States Assistant Secretary of State, February 23, 1903
53 William Henry Moody Brown United States Attorney General, United States Secretary of the Navy, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts 6th, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Massachusetts December 12, 1906
54 Horace Harmon Lurton Peckham Dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Law, Circuit Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Associate Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court December 20, 1909 William Howard Taft*
55 Charles Evans Hughes Brewer Governor of New York, Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, Professor May 2, 1910
56 Willis Van Devanter White Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Chief Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court December 15, 1910
57 Joseph Rucker Lamar Moody Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Member of the Georgia House of Representatives December 15, 1910
58 Mahlon Pitney Harlan Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 4th, Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court March 13, 1912
59 James Clark McReynolds Lurton United States Attorney General, United States Assistant Attorney General, Professor August 29, 1914 Woodrow Wilson
60 Louis Brandeis Lamar Lawyer June 1, 1916
61 John Hessin Clarke Hughes District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio July 24, 1916
62 George Sutherland Clarke United States Senator from Utah, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Utah's at-large district, Member of the Utah State Senate September 5, 1922 Warren G. Harding*
63 Pierce Butler Day President of the Minnesota State Bar Association December 21, 1922
64 Edward Terry Sanford Pitney District Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, United States Assistant Attorney General January 29, 1923
65 Harlan F. Stone McKenna United States Attorney General, Dean of Columbia Law School February 5, 1925 Calvin Coolidge
66 Owen Josephus Roberts Sanford Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia May 20, 1930 Herbert Hoover*
67 Benjamin N. Cardozo Holmes Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, Justice of the New York Supreme Court February 24, 1932
68 Hugo Black Van Devanter United States Senator from Alabama, Jefferson County, Alabama Prosecuting Attorney August 17, 1937 Franklin Delano Roosevelt*
69 Stanley Forman Reed Sutherland United States Solicitor General, General Counsel of the U.S. Reconstruction Finance Corporation, General Counsel of the U.S. Federal Farm Board, Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives January 25, 1938
70 Felix Frankfurter Cardozo Chair of Harvard Law School, Co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, General Counsel to the National Consumers League January 17, 1939
71 William O. Douglas Brandeis Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, April 4, 1939
72 Frank Murphy Butler United States Attorney General, Governor of Michigan, U.S. High Commissioner of the Philippines, U.S. Governor-General of the Philippines, Mayor of Detroit, Michigan, Judge of the Detroit Recorder's Court, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan January 16, 1940
73 James F. Byrnes McReynolds United States Senator from South Carolina, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina's 2nd district June 12, 1941
74 Robert H. Jackson Stone United States Attorney General, United States Solicitor General, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Tax Division, General Counsel to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Chairman of the American Bar Association's Conference of Bar Association Delegates July 7, 1941
75 Wiley Blount Rutledge Byrnes Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Dean of the Washington University School of Law, Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law February 8, 1943
76 Harold Hitz Burton Roberts United States Senator from Ohio, Mayor of Cleveland, Cleveland City Law Director, Member of the Ohio House of Representatives September 19, 1945 Harry S. Truman*
77 Tom C. Clark Murphy Attorney General of the United States, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General for War Risk Litigation, District Attorney for Dallas, Texas August 18, 1949
78 Sherman Minton Rutledge Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States Senator from Indiana October 4, 1949
79 John Marshall Harlan II Jackson Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Special Assistant Attorney General of New York, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York March 16, 1955 Dwight D. Eisenhower*
80 William J. Brennan[3] Minton Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of New Jersey, Judge of the New Jersey Superior Court March 19, 1957
81 Charles Evans Whittaker Reed Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri March 19, 1957
82 Potter Stewart[3] Burton Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Member of the Cincinnati City Council May 5, 1959
83 Byron White Whittaker United States Deputy Attorney General April 11, 1962 John F. Kennedy
84 Arthur Goldberg Frankfurter United States Secretary of Labor September 25, 1962
85 Abe Fortas Goldberg United States Under Secretary of the Interior, General Counsel of the Public Works Administration August 11, 1965 Lyndon B. Johnson
86 Thurgood Marshall Clark United States Solicitor General, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Chief Counsel for the NAACP August 30, 1967
87 Harry Blackmun Fortas Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit May 12, 1970 Richard Nixon*
88 Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr. Black President of the American Bar Association, Chairman of the Richmond Virginia, School Board December 6, 1971
89 William Rehnquist Harlan United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel December 10, 1971
90 John Paul Stevens Douglas Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Second Vice President of the Chicago Bar Association December 17, 1975 Gerald Ford
91 Sandra Day O'Connor Stewart Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals, Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court, Majority Leader of the Arizona Senate, Member of the Arizona Senate, Assistant Attorney General of Arizona September 21, 1981 Ronald Reagan*
92 Antonin Scalia Rehnquist Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States, General Counsel to the Office of Telecommunications Policy September 17, 1986
93 Anthony Kennedy Powell Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Member of the board of the Federal Judicial Center February 3, 1988
94 David Souter Brennan Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Associate Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court, Associate Justice of the Superior Court of New Hampshire, Attorney General of New Hampshire, Deputy Attorney General of New Hampshire October 2, 1990 George H. W. Bush
95 Clarence Thomas Marshall Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Chairperson of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office for Civil Rights, Assistant Attorney General of Missouri October 15, 1991
96 Ruth Bader Ginsburg White Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, General Counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union August 3, 1993 Bill Clinton
97 Stephen Breyer Blackmun Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit July 29, 1994
98 Samuel Alito O'Connor Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey January 31, 2006 George W. Bush*
99 Sonia Sotomayor Souter Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Assistant District Attorney for New York County, New York August 6, 2009 Barack Obama
100 Elena Kagan Stevens Solicitor General of the United States, Dean of Harvard Law School, Associate White House Counsel, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council August 5, 2010

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llac&fileName=002/llac002.db&recNum=481
  2. ↑ Joan Biskupic, Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), 101.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Recess appointments are a notable exception. See U.S. v. Woodley 751 F.2d 1008, 10014; Recess appointments to the Supreme Court are exceptionally rare. Only two Chief Justices and six Associate Justices have received recess appointments, and only John Rutledge was not subsequently confirmed by the Senate. The last President to make a recess appointment to the Supreme Court was Dwight D. Eisenhower.
  4. ↑ Mears, Bill (2014-06-20). "Supreme Court justices: They do OK financially". CNN. Retrieved 2010-02-17.

Further reading

External links

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