Profiles of Supreme Court Justices
According to a recent survey, 77 percent of Americans can name two of Snow White’s seven dwarfs, while only 24 percent can name two of the nine Supreme Court justices. Can you name all nine?
John Roberts (chief justice)
Born: January 27, 1955, in Buffalo, New York
Supreme since: 2005
Nominated by: George W. Bush, confirmed by a 78-22 vote
Chief Justice Roberts was just 50 years old when he was appointed, making him the youngest man to become chief justice since John Marshall took the job in 1801. But he was already well known to the Court, having argued dozens of cases there as deputy solicitor general of the United States under President George H.W. Bush. He replaced Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a like-minded judicial conservative for whom he once worked as a law clerk.
John Paul Stevens
Born: April 20, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois
Supreme since: 1975
Nominated by: Gerald Ford, confirmed by a 98-0 vote
Appointed in the wake of the Watergate scandal, Justice Stevens was the quintessential consensus candidate: a registered Republican, never active in party politics, who many conservatives now consider far too liberal. Described by supporters as practical, down-to-earth, and independent, Justice Stevens has often surprised Court watchers with his votes – and with his frequent decision to write separate opinions, whether concurring or dissenting.
Antonin Scalia
Born: March 11, 1936, in Trenton, New Jersey
Supreme since: 1986
Nominated by: Ronald Reagan, confirmed by a 98-0 vote
Considered the Court’s most consistent conservative, Justice Scalia is renowned for his “textualist” approach to interpreting the law. He seeks to base opinions in the Constitution’s actual text, or the text of statutes, rather than in legislative history or the “spirit” of the laws. He’s been lauded – and lambasted – for the “verbal hand grenades” he sometimes lobs in his opinions, especially dissents.
Anthony M. Kennedy
Born: July 23, 1936, in Sacramento, California
Supreme since: 1988
Nominated by: Ronald Reagan, confirmed by a 97-0 vote
Justice Kennedy was unanimously confirmed after the Senate rejected Robert Bork in one of U.S. history’s hottest confirmation fights – and after another nominee, Douglas Ginsburg, admitted to having smoked marijuana. Though generally conservative, Justice Kennedy does sometimes side with the Court’s more liberal-leaning members (Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer).
David Hackett Souter
Born: September 17, 1939, in Melrose, Massachusetts
Supreme since: 1990
Nominated by: George H.W. Bush, confirmed by a 90-9 vote
From practically the moment he was nominated, Justice Souter was touted as an “intellectual” judge. According to a former colleague, “he is about 135 pounds – and about 120 pounds of brain.” Known as a pragmatist who considers judicial precedent carefully, Souter formed part of the previous Court’s “cautious center,” along with Justice Kennedy and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Clarence Thomas
Born: June 23, 1948, in Pin Point, Georgia
Supreme since: 1991
Nominated by: George H.W. Bush, confirmed by a 52-48 vote
A prominent member of the black conservative movement, Justice Thomas barely made it onto the Court. During his confirmation hearings, allegations surfaced that he had sexually harassed a former employee, Anita Hill. He flatly denied the charges. Since making it onto the Court, he has been one of its most consistent conservative voices.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Born: March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York
Supreme since: 1993
Nominated by: Bill Clinton, confirmed by a vote of 96-3
President Clinton once described Justice Ginsburg as “the Thurgood Marshall of gender equality law.” During the mid-1970s, as head of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project, she argued six gender equality cases before the Supreme Court and won five of them. Since taking her own seat on the Court, she has been one its more consistent liberal voices.
Stephen G. Breyer
Born: August 15, 1938, in San Francisco, California
Supreme since: 1994
Nominated by: Bill Clinton, confirmed by a vote of 87-9
Though a lifelong Democrat, and a former assistant special prosecutor in the Watergate investigation, Justice Breyer has a reputation for consensus-building – a reputation earned, in part, during two years as the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chief counsel. An expert in regulatory law, he is often described as a pragmatist. He frequently sides with the Court’s more liberal wing.
Samuel Alito
Born: April 1, 1950, in Trenton, New Jersey
Supreme since: 2006
Nominated by: George W. Bush, confirmed by a 58-42 vote
Justice Alito is the Court’s “junior justice,” but he’s no stranger to the federal bench. He served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District (covering Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware) from 1990 to 2006. The Senate’s confirmation vote on the consistent conservative was a largely partisan affair: only four Democrats voted for him; only one Republican voted against him.
