Burial places of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) have been listed in histories of the Court. [1] [2] Deaths of SCOTUS justices are considered notable events in American politics, and media coverage of such deaths have entailed the justices' burial sites. [3]
Burial sites are located across 25 states and the District of Columbia. The state with the most Court justice burial sites is Virginia with 19 –13 of which are at Arlington National Cemetery. Since it was organized in 1789, 114 persons have served as a justice (associate justice or chief justice) on the Supreme Court of the United States; of these, 102 have died. The first death of a justice was that of James Wilson on August 21, 1798, and the most recent was that of John Paul Stevens on July 16, 2019. William Howard Taft, who was chief justice from 1921 to 1930 after serving as President of the United States from 1909 to 1913, is the only justice for whom a state funeral has been held. [4]
The sortable table below lists each deceased justice's place of burial, along with date of death, and the order of their membership on the Court. Five people served first as associate justices, and later as chief justices, separately: Charles Evans Hughes, [upper-alpha 1] William Rehnquist, [upper-alpha 2] John Rutledge, [upper-alpha 1] Harlan F. Stone, [upper-alpha 2] and Edward Douglass White. [upper-alpha 2] While having served in two positions, these individuals are listed only once in the table, and their order of justiceship (OJ) represents the overall order in which each began their initial service on the Court as an associate justice.
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William Paterson was a New Jersey statesman and a signer of the United States Constitution. He was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and the second governor of New Jersey.
Thomas Johnson was an 18th-century American judge and politician. He participated in several ventures to support the Revolutionary War. Johnson was the first (non-Colonial) governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress, and an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Johnson suffered from a myriad of health issues. He was the first person appointed to the court after its original organization and staffing with six justices. Johnson's tenure on the Supreme Court lasted only 163 days, which makes him the shortest-serving justice in U.S. history.
Frederick "Fred" Moore Vinson was an American Democratic politician who served the United States in all three branches of government. The most prominent member of the Vinson political family, he was the 53rd United States Secretary of the Treasury and the 13th Chief Justice of the United States.
Edward Douglass White Jr., was an American politician and jurist from Louisiana. He was a United States Senator and the ninth Chief Justice of the United States. He served on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1894 to 1921. He is best known for formulating the Rule of Reason standard of antitrust law.
Joseph McKenna was an American politician who served in all three branches of the U.S. federal government, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, as U.S. Attorney General and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He is one of seventeen members of the House of Representatives who subsequently served on the Supreme Court.
Israel Smith was an American lawyer and politician. He held a wide variety of positions in the state of Vermont, including as a member of the United States House of Representatives, a member of the United States Senate and Governor of Vermont.
James Harry Covington was a United States Representative from Maryland and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. He founded the major law firm of Covington & Burling.
The University of Washington School of Law is the law school of the University of Washington, located on the northwest corner of the main campus in Seattle, Washington.
Robert Sharp Bean was the 16th Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving as Chief Justice three different times. He later served as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. An Oregon native, he was part of the first graduating class of the University of Oregon.
George Gifford Symes was a U.S. Representative from Colorado.
Orange Jacobs was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician. His career in government centered on the Territory of Washington, for which he served as a delegate to the U.S. Congress, chief justice of the territory's supreme court, mayor of Seattle, and other roles.
Aaron Fyfe Perry was a U.S. Representative from Ohio.
Willis Van Devanter was an American lawyer who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1911 to 1937.
James Clark McReynolds was an American lawyer and judge from Tennessee who served as United States Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He served on the Court from October 1914 to his retirement in January 1941. He was best known for his sustained opposition to the domestic programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his overt anti-semitism.
Samuel Prentiss was an Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, a United States Senator from Vermont and a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.
Edward Terry Sanford was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1923 until his death in 1930. Prior to his nomination to the high court, Sanford served as a United States Assistant Attorney General under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1905 to 1907, and as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee from 1908 to 1923. Sanford is typically viewed as a conservative justice, favoring strict adherence to antitrust laws, and often voted with his mentor, Chief Justice William Howard Taft.
George Alexander Sutherland was an English-born U.S. jurist and politician. One of four appointments to the Supreme Court by President Warren G. Harding, he served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court between 1922 and 1938. As a member of the Republican Party, he also represented Utah in both houses of Congress.
The Taft Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1921 to 1930, when William Howard Taft served as Chief Justice of the United States. Taft succeeded Edward Douglass White as Chief Justice after the latter's death, and Taft served as Chief Justice until his resignation, at which point Charles Evans Hughes was nominated and confirmed as Taft's replacement. Taft was also the nation's 27th president (1909–13); he is the only person to serve as both President of the United States and Chief Justice.
The White Court refers to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1910 to 1921, when Edward Douglass White served as Chief Justice of the United States. White, an associate justice since 1894, succeeded Melville Fuller as Chief Justice after the latter's death, and White served as Chief Justice until his death a decade later. He was the first sitting associate justice to be elevated to chief justice in the Court's history. He was succeeded by former president William Howard Taft.