List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by seat

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest ranking judicial body in the United States. Established by Article III of the Constitution, the detailed structure of the Court was laid down by the 1st United States Congress in 1789. Congress specified the Court's original and appellate jurisdiction, created 13 judicial districts, and fixed the number of justices at six –one chief justice and five associate justices. The number of justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869. ^[1]

The following tables detail the succession of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by seat. There are no formal numbers or names for the individual seats of associate justices, which are listed in this article simply by number, as well as by the date each was established by Congress. The numbering of associate justice seats 1–4 reflects the order of precedence of the inaugural justices to occupy those seats, which was based upon the seniority of their commission from President George Washington following their confirmation by the U.S. Senate. The fifth original associate justice seat, and the simultaneously created seventh and eighth seats, are numbered according to the order in which each seat's first occupant received their commission from the president following Senate confirmation. Seats six, nine, and 10 are numbered according to the order in which each was created by statute. The start date is the date the justice took the judicial oath of office, and the end date is the date of the justice's death, resignation, or retirement.

Original seats

The Judiciary Act of 1789 (1  Stat.   73) set the number of Supreme Court justices at six: one chief justice and five associate justices. ^[2] One of the associate justice seats established in 1789 (seat 5 below) was later abolished, as a result of the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 (14  Stat.   209), which provided for the gradual elimination of seats on the Supreme Court until there would be seven justices. ^[3]

Chief Justice Established September 24, 1789 per Article III Jay October 19, 1789 – June 29, 1795 J. Rutledge August 12, 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 1 Established September 24, 1789 per Article III J. Rutledge February 15, 1790 – March 5, 1791 T. Johnson September 19, 1791 – 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 E. White March 12, 1894 – December 18, 1910CJ 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 – July 31, 2018 Kavanaugh October 6, 2018 – present

Associate Justice 2 Established September 24, 1789 per Article III 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 – June 30, 2022 K. Jackson June 30, 2022 – present

Associate Justice 3 Established September 24, 1789 per Article III Wilson October 5, 1789 – August 21, 1798 Washington November 9, 1798 – 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 – June 29, 2009 Sotomayor August 8, 2009 – present

Associate Justice 4 Established September 24, 1789 per Article III 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 – June 29, 2010 Kagan August 7, 2010 – present

Associate Justice 5 Established September 24, 1789 per Article III Iredell May 12, 1790 – October 20, 1799 Moore April 21, 1800 – January 26, 1804 W. Johnson May 7, 1804 – August 4, 1834 Wayne January 14, 1835 – July 5, 1867 Seat abolished July 5, 1867 per Judicial Circuits Act

Additional seats

In 1807, Congress passed the Seventh Circuit Act (2  Stat.   420), which added a sixth associate justice to the Supreme Court. ^[4] Two more seats were added in 1837, as a result of the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act (5  Stat.   176); ^[5] one of these (seat 7 below) was later abolished as a result of the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866. ^[3] The Supreme Court reached its peak size in 1863, when the Tenth Circuit Act (12  Stat.   794) became law, and a tenth justice joined the Court. ^[6] After fluctuating from nine to ten to eight members over a six-year period, the size of the Court was restored to nine members through the Circuit Judges Act of 1869 (16  Stat.   44), a broad Reconstruction era reorganization of the federal courts. ^[7] This act remains the governing law regarding the number of seats on the Court.

Associate Justice 6 Established February 24, 1807 per Seventh Circuit Act Todd May 4, 1807 – February 7, 1826 Trimble June 16, 1826 – August 25, 1828 McLean March 12, 1829 – 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 B. White April 16, 1962 – June 28, 1993 Ginsburg August 10, 1993 – September 18, 2020 Barrett October 27, 2020 – present

Associate Justice 7 Established March 3, 1837 per Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act Catron May 1, 1837 – May 30, 1865 Abolished July 23, 1866 per Judicial Circuits Act

Associate Justice 8 Established March 3, 1837 per Eight and Ninth Circuits Act McKinley January 9, 1838 – July 19, 1852 Campbell April 11, 1853 – April 30, 1861 Davis December 10, 1862 – March 4, 1877 J. M. Harlan 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 9 Established March 3, 1863 per Tenth Circuit Act Field May 20, 1863 – December 1, 1897 McKenna January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 Stone March 2, 1925 – July 2, 1941CJ R. Jackson July 11, 1941 – October 9, 1954 J. M. Harlan II March 28, 1955 – September 23, 1971 Rehnquist January 7, 1972 – September 26, 1986CJ Scalia September 26, 1986 – February 13, 2016 Gorsuch April 10, 2017 – present

Associate Justice 10 Established April 10, 1869 per Judiciary Act of 1869 Bradley March 23, 1870 – January 22, 1892 Shiras October 10, 1892 – February 23, 1903 Day March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 Butler January 22, 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

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
• List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by court composition
• List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office

References

1. "The Court as an Institution". www.supremecourt.gov. Supreme Court of the United States. Archived from the original on December 7, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
2. "Landmark Legislation: Judiciary Act of 1789". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
3. "Landmark Legislation: Reorganization of the Judicial Circuits". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
4. "Landmark Legislation: Seventh Circuit". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
5. "Landmark Legislation: Eighth and Ninth Circuits". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
6. "Landmark Legislation: Tenth Circuit". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
7. "Landmark Legislation: Circuit Judgeships". Washington, D.C.: Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on May 7, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2018.

 This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Senate: Supreme Court Nominations: 1789–Present. United States Senate.

 This article incorporates public domain material from Justices 1789 to Present. United States Supreme Court.

External links

• Decisions and biography by Justice
• The Supreme Court Historical Society