List of United States Supreme Court Justices
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Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. Its membership, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869, consists of the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom constitute a
quorum A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. Article Two vests the power of the executive branch in the office of the president of the Unite ...
of the Constitution grants plenary power to the President of the United States to nominate, and with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court; justices have life tenure.


Background

The Supreme Court was created by Article III of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
, which stipulates that the "judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court," and was organized by the
1st United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall in ...
. Through the
Judiciary Act of 1789 The Judiciary Act of 1789 (ch. 20, ) was a United States federal statute enacted on September 24, 1789, during the first session of the First United States Congress. It established the federal judiciary of the United States. Article III, Secti ...
, Congress specified the Court's original and
appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
, created thirteen judicial districts, and fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices). Since 1789, Congress has occasionally altered the size of the Supreme Court, historically in response to the country's own expansion in size. An 1801 act would have decreased the Court's size to five members upon its next vacancy. However, an 1802 act negated the effects of the 1801 act upon the Court before any such vacancy occurred, maintaining the Court's size at six members. Later legislation increased its size to seven members in 1807, to nine in 1837, and to ten in 1863. An 1866 act was to have reduced the Court's size from ten members to seven upon its next three vacancies, and two vacancies did occur during this period. However, before a third vacancy occurred, the Judiciary Act of 1869 intervened, restoring the Court's size to nine members, where it has remained ever since. While the justices of the Supreme Court are appointed for life, many have retired or resigned. Beginning in the early 20th century, many justices who left the Court voluntarily did so by retiring from the Court without leaving the federal judiciary altogether. A retired justice, according to the
United States Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...
, is no longer a member of the Supreme Court, but remains eligible to serve by designation as a judge of a U.S. Court of Appeals or District Court, and many retired justices have served in these capacities. Historically, the average length of service on the Court has been less than 15 years. However, since 1970 the average length of service has increased to about 26 years.


Current justices

Below, in order of seniority, are the current justices of the Supreme Court. (The chief justice is first in seniority regardless of his or her length of tenure.) File:Official roberts CJ.jpg, File:Clarence Thomas official SCOTUS portrait.jpg, File:Samuel Alito official photo.jpg, File:Sonia Sotomayor in SCOTUS robe.jpg, File:Elena Kagan Official SCOTUS Portrait (2013).jpg, File:Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch Official Portrait.jpg, File:Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh Official Portrait.jpg, File:Amy Coney Barrett official portrait.jpg, File:KBJackson.jpg, alt=,


All justices

Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 116 people have served on the Court. The length of service on the Court for the 106 non-incumbent justices ranges from William O. Douglas's to
John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additiona ...
's as associate justice and, separated by a period of years off the Court, his as chief justice. As of , the length of service for the nine incumbent justices ranges from Clarence Thomas's to Ketanji Brown Jackson's . Five individuals, who were confirmed for associate justice, were later appointed chief justice separately:
John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additiona ...
, Edward Douglass White, Charles Evans Hughes,
Harlan F. Stone Harlan Fiske Stone (October 11, 1872 – April 22, 1946) was an American attorney and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1925 to 1941 and then as the 12th chief justice of the United States from 1941 un ...
and William Rehnquist. While listed twice, each of them has been assigned only one index number. The justices of the Supreme Court are:


Notes


Timeline of justices

This graphical timeline depicts the progression of the justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. Information regarding each justice's predecessors, successors, and fellow justices, as well as their tenure on the court, can be gleaned (and comparisons between justices drawn) from it. There are no formal names or numbers for the individual seats of the associate justices, which are listed in the table below simply by number. Additionally, the progression of U.S. presidents is shown at the top of the timeline to give a more detailed historical context.


See also

* Law of the United States *
List of courts of the United States The courts of the United States are closely linked hierarchical systems of courts at the federal and state levels. The federal courts form the judicial branch of the US government and operate under the authority of the United States Constitution an ...
*
List of supreme courts by country List of supreme courts States recognised by the United Nations States recognised by at least one United Nations member States not recognised by any United Nations members ''Sui generis'' entities International courts There are a numb ...


References


External links


Biographies of Justices

Visual Overview of US Supreme Court Justices 1789–2019
{{Lists of US Justices Articles which contain graphical timelines United States