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

There have been a total of 11 seats on the Supreme Court of the United States: 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 dates given below for the filling of a seat are the dates the justices were sworn (not when they were confirmed by the Senate or commissioned).

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• The Circuit Judges Act of 1869 [see 16 Stat. 44] superseded the Judicial Circuits Act before a third seat could be abolished.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 13, 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	September 26, 1789 – August 28, 1798
Washington	December 20, 1798 – November 26, 1829
Baldwin	January 6, 1830 – April 21, 1844
Grier	August 4, 1846 – January 31, 1870
Strong	February 18, 1870 – December 14, 1880
Woods	December 21, 1880 – May 14, 1887
L. Lamar	January 16, 1888 – January 23, 1893
H. Jackson	February 16, 1893 – August 8, 1895
Peckham	December 9, 1895 – October 24, 1909
Lurton	December 20, 1909 – July 12, 1914
McReynolds	August 29, 1914 – January 31, 1941
Byrnes	July 8, 1941 – October 3, 1942
W. Rutledge	February 11, 1943 – September 10, 1949
Minton	October 12, 1949 – October 15, 1956
Brennan	October 15, 1956 – July 20, 1990
Souter	October 9, 1990 – June 29, 2009
Sotomayor	August 8, 2009 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 2)
This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73].
Cushing	September 26, 1789 – September 13, 1810
Story	November 18, 1811 – September 10, 1845
Woodbury	September 20, 1845 – September 4, 1851
Curtis	September 22, 1851 – September 30, 1857
Clifford	January 12, 1858 – July 25, 1881
Gray	December 20, 1881 – September 15, 1902
Holmes	December 4, 1902 – January 12, 1932
Cardozo	March 2, 1932 – July 9, 1938
Frankfurter	January 20, 1939 – August 28, 1962
Goldberg	September 28, 1962 – July 2, 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	September 26, 1789 – October 25, 1795
S. Chase	January 27, 1796 – June 19, 1811
Duvall	November 23, 1811 – January 14, 1835
Barbour	March 15, 1836 – February 25, 1841
Daniel	March 3, 1841 – May 31, 1860
Miller	July 16, 1862 – October 13, 1890
Brown	December 29, 1890 – May 28, 1906
Moody	December 12, 1906 – November 20, 1910
J. Lamar	December 17, 1910 – January 2, 1916
Brandeis	June 1, 1916 – February 13, 1939
Douglas	April 15, 1939 – November 12, 1975
Stevens	December 19, 1975 – June 29, 2010
Kagan	August 7, 2010 – 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	September 26, 1789 – March 4, 1791
T. Johnson	August 5, 1791 – January 16, 1793
Paterson	March 4, 1793 – September 9, 1806
Livingston	January 20, 1807 – March 18, 1823
Thompson	September 1, 1823 – December 18, 1843
Nelson	February 14, 1845 – November 28, 1872
Hunt	December 11, 1872 – January 27, 1882
Blatchford	March 22, 1882 – July 7, 1893
E. White	February 19, 1894 – December 12, 1910
Van Devanter	December 16, 1910 – June 2, 1937
Black	August 18, 1937 – September 17, 1971
Powell	January 7, 1972 – June 26, 1987
Kennedy	February 18, 1988 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 5)
This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73].
Iredell	February 10, 1790 – October 20, 1799
Moore	December 10, 1799 – January 26, 1804
W. Johnson	March 26, 1804 – August 4, 1834
Wayne	January 9, 1835 – July 5, 1867
This seat was abolished upon the death of James Moore Wayne per the Judicial Circuits Act [see 14 Stat. 209].

Associate Justice (Seat 6)
This seat was established on February 24, 1807 by the Seventh Circuit Act [see 2 Stat. 420].
Todd	March 3, 1807 – February 7, 1826
Trimble	May 9, 1826 – August 25, 1828
McLean	March 7, 1829 – April 4, 1861
Swayne	January 24, 1862 – January 24, 1881
Matthews	May 12, 1881 – March 22, 1889
Brewer	December 18, 1889 – March 27, 1910
Hughes	October 10, 1910 – June 10, 1916
Clarke	July 24, 1916 – September 5, 1922
Sutherland	September 5, 1922 – January 17, 1938
Reed	January 27, 1938 – February 25, 1957
Whittaker	March 22, 1957 – March 31, 1962
White	April 16, 1962 – June 28, 1993
Ginsburg	August 10, 1993 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 7)
This seat was established on March 3, 1837 by the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act [see 5 Stat. 176].
Catron	March 8, 1837 – May 30, 1865
This seat was abolished on July 23, 1866 by the Judicial Circuits Act [see 14 Stat. 209].

Associate Justice (Seat 8)
This seat was established on March 3, 1837 by the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act [see 5 Stat. 176].
McKinley	April 22, 1837 – July 19, 1852
Campbell	March 23, 1853 – April 30, 1861
Davis	October 17, 1862 – March 4, 1877
Harlan (I)	November 29, 1877 – October 14, 1911
Pitney	March 13, 1912 – December 31, 1922
Sanford	January 29, 1923 – March 8, 1930
O. Roberts	May 20, 1930 – July 31, 1945
Burton	September 22, 1945 – October 13, 1958
Stewart	October 14, 1958 – July 3, 1981
O'Connor	September 21, 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	March 10, 1863 – December 1, 1897
McKenna	January 21, 1898 – January 5, 1925
Stone	February 5, 1925 – July 2, 1941
R. Jackson	July 11, 1941 – October 9, 1954
Harlan (II)	March 17, 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 21, 1870 – January 22, 1892
Shiras	July 26, 1892 – February 23, 1903
Day	February 23, 1903 – November 13, 1922
Butler	December 21, 1922 – November 16, 1939
Murphy	January 18, 1940 – July 19, 1949
Clark	August 19, 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

• • source for seat information
• • PDF (28 kB)
  • source for term of active service

External links

• Decisions and biography by Justice
• Thorough Supreme Court site by Northwestern University
• Biographies of Supreme Court Justices at michaelariens.com
• The Supreme Court Historical Society