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In order to become a Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, an individual must be nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the U.S. Senate, with at least half of that body approving in the affirmative. Generally, a justice's qualifications are judged by the President and, most visibly, by a Senate hearing. There is no definitive qualification of age or experience that is a standard to be met; instead, there is a much more subjective process taken by the Senate, occasionally resulting in a sometimes controversial defeat of judicial nominees.

There have been a total of eleven seats: 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 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• The Circuit Judges Act of 1869 [see 16 Stat. 44] superseded the Judicial Circuits Act before a third seat could be abolished.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 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 (Seat 1) This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. Wilson October 5, 1789 – August 21, 1798 Washington February 4, 1799 – 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 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 2) This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. 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 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 3) This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. 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 – 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 February 15, 1790 – March 5, 1791 T. Johnson August 6, 1792 – 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 White March 12, 1894 – December 18, 1910 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 – present

Associate Justice (Seat 5) This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 [see 1 Stat. 73]. 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 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 May 4, 1807 – February 7, 1826 Trimble June 16, 1826 – August 25, 1828 McLean January 11, 1830 – 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 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 May 1, 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 January 9, 1838 – July 19, 1852 Campbell April 11, 1853 – April 30, 1861 Davis December 10, 1862 – March 4, 1877 Harlan (I) 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 (Seat 9) This seat was established on March 3, 1863 by the Tenth Circuit Act [see 12 Stat. 794]. Field May 20, 1863 – December 1, 1897 McKenna January 26, 1898 – January 5, 1925 Stone March 2, 1925 – July 2, 1941 R. Jackson July 11, 1941 – October 9, 1954 Harlan (II) March 28, 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 23, 1870 – January 22, 1892 Shiras October 10, 1892 – February 23, 1903 Day March 2, 1903 – November 13, 1922 Butler January 2, 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

• 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 Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by time in office

• Judges of the United States Courts. Official website of the Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved on November 21, 2004.
  • source for seat information
• Members of the Supreme Court from the Supreme Court of the United States. Official website of the Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved on May 29, 2005.
  • PDF (28 kB)
  • source for term of active service

• 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