An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.
Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States grants plenary power to the president to nominate, and with the advice and consent (confirmation) of the Senate, appoint justices to the Supreme Court. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution effectively grants life tenure to associate justices, and all other federal judges, which ends only when a justice dies, retires, resigns, or is impeached and convicted.
Each Supreme Court justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it, and the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice; however, the chief justice leads the discussion of the case among the justices. Furthermore, the chief justice—when in the majority—decides who writes the court's opinion; otherwise, the senior justice in the majority assigns the writing of a decision. The chief justice also has certain administrative responsibilities that the other justices do not and is paid slightly more ($298,500 per year as of 2023, compared to $285,400 per year for an associate justice).
Associate justices have seniority in order of the date their respective commissions bear, although the chief justice is always considered to be the most senior justice. If two justices are commissioned on the same day, the elder is designated the senior justice of the two. Currently, the senior associate justice is Clarence Thomas. By tradition, when the justices are in conference deliberating the outcome of cases before the Supreme Court, the justices state their views in order of seniority. The senior associate justice is also tasked with carrying out the chief justice's duties when he is unable to, or if that office is vacant.
Current associate justices
There are currently eight associate justices on the Supreme Court. The justices, ordered by seniority, are:
<gallery widths="130" heights="150">
File:Clarence Thomas official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|Clarence Thomas,since October 23, 1991
File:010 alito.jpg|Samuel Alito,since January 31, 2006
File:Sonia Sotomayor in SCOTUS robe.jpg|Sonia Sotomayor,since August 8, 2009
File:Elena Kagan Official SCOTUS Portrait (2013).jpg|Elena Kagan,since August 7, 2010
File:Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch Official Portrait.jpg|Neil Gorsuch,since April 10, 2017
File:Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh Official Portrait (full length).jpg|Brett Kavanaugh,since October 6, 2018
File:Justice Amy Coney Barrett (cropped).jpg|Amy Coney Barrett,since October 27, 2020
File:Ketanji Brown Jackson official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|alt=|Ketanji Brown Jackson,since June 30, 2022
</gallery>
Retired associate justices
An associate justice who leaves the Supreme Court after attaining the age and meeting the service requirements prescribed by federal statute () may retire rather than resign. After retirement, they keep their title, and by custom may also keep a set of chambers in the Supreme Court building, and employ law clerks. The names of retired associate justices continue to appear alongside those of the active justices in the bound volumes of Supreme Court decisions. Federal statute () provides that retired Supreme Court justices may serve—if designated and assigned by the chief justice—on panels of the U.S. courts of appeals, or on the U.S. district courts. Retired justices are not, however, authorized to take part in the consideration or decision of any cases before the Supreme Court (unlike other retired federal judges who may be permitted to do so in their former courts); neither are they known or designated as a "senior judge". When, after his retirement, William O. Douglas attempted to take a more active role than was customary, maintaining that it was his prerogative to do so because of his senior status, he was rebuffed by Chief Justice Warren Burger and admonished by the whole Court. There are currently two living retired associate justices: Anthony Kennedy, retired July 31, 2018, and Stephen Breyer, retired June 30, 2022.
List of associate justices
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 104 persons have served as an associate justice:
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
!#
!colspan=2 |Name
!Replacing
!Confirmation Vote Date
!Term
!Appointer
!class=unsortable |Prior Position
|-
|1
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–March 4, 1791
|rowspan=8 |
|Governor of South Carolina(1779–1782)
|-
|2
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–September 13, 1810
|Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court(1777–1789)
|-
|3
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–August 21, 1798
|Delegate to the Constitutional Convention(1787)
|-
|4
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–October 25, 1795
|Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses(1766–1770)
|-
|5
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–October 20, 1799
|Attorney General of North Carolina(1779–1782)
|-
|6
|100px
|
|J. Rutledge
|(Acclamation)
|–January 16, 1793
|Governor of Maryland(1777–1779)
|-
|7
|100px
|
|T. Johnson
|(Acclamation)
|–September 8, 1806
|Governor of New Jersey(1790–1793)
|-
|8
|100px
|
|Blair
|(Acclamation)
|–June 19, 1811
|Chief Justice of the Maryland General Court(1791–1796)
|-
|9
|100px
|
|Wilson
|(Acclamation)
|–November 26, 1829
|rowspan=2 |
|Delegate to the Virginia Ratifying Convention(1788)
|-
|10
|100px
|
|Iredell
|(Acclamation)
|–January 26, 1804
|Attorney General of North Carolina(1782–1791)
|-
|11
|100px
|
|Moore
|(Acclamation)
|–August 4, 1834
|rowspan=3 |
|Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives(1798–1800)
|-
|12
|100px
|
|Paterson
|(Acclamation)
|–March 18, 1823
|Justice of the New York Supreme Court(1802–1807)
|-
|13
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–February 7, 1826
|Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals(1806–1807)
|-
|14
|100px
|
|Chase
|(Acclamation)
|–January 12, 1835
|rowspan=2 |
|U.S. Representative from Maryland's 2nd district(1794–1796)
|-
|15
|100px
|
|Cushing
|(Acclamation)
|–September 10, 1845
|U.S. Representative from Massachusetts's 2nd district(1808–1809)
|-
|16
|100px
|
|Livingston
|(Acclamation)
|–December 18, 1843
|
|United States Secretary of the Navy(1819–1823)
|-
|17
|100px
|
|Todd
|(25–5)
|–August 25, 1828
|
|Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky(1817–1826)
|-
|18
|100px
|
|Trimble
|(Acclamation)
|–April 4, 1861
|rowspan=5 |
|United States Postmaster General(1823–1829)
|-
|19
|100px
|
|Washington
|(41–2)
|–April 21, 1844
|U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 14th district(1817–1822)
|-
|20
|100px
|
|W. Johnson
|(Acclamation)
|–July 5, 1867
|U.S. Representative from Georgia's at-large district(1829–1835)
|-
|21
|100px
|
|Duvall
|(30–11)
|–February 25, 1841
|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia(1830–1836)
|-
|22
|100px
|
|New seat
|(28–15)
|–May 30, 1865
|Judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals(1824–1834)
|-
|23
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–July 19, 1852
|rowspan=2 |
|United States Senator from Alabama(1826–1831, 1837)
|-
|24
|100px
|
|Barbour
|(25–5)
|–May 31, 1860
|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia(1836–1841)
|-
|25
|100px
|
|Thompson
|(Acclamation)
|–November 28, 1872
|
|Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court(1831–1845)
|-
|26
|100px
|
|Story
|(Acclamation)
|–September 4, 1851
|rowspan=2 |
|United States Secretary of the Treasury(1834–1841)
|-
|27
|100px
|
|Baldwin
|(Acclamation)
|–January 31, 1870
|Judge for the Pennsylvania District Court for Allegheny County(1833–1846)
|-
|28
|100px
|
|Woodbury
|(Acclamation)
|–September 30, 1857
|
|Massachusetts State Representative
|-
|29
|100px
|
|McKinley
|(Acclamation)
|–April 30, 1861
|
|Alabama State Representative
|-
|30
|100px
|
|Curtis
|(26–23)
|–July 25, 1881
|
|United States Attorney General(1846–1848)
|-
|31
|100px
|
|McLean
|(38–1)
|–January 24, 1881
|rowspan=4 |
|U.S. attorney for the District of Ohio(1830–1834)
|-
|32
|100px
|
|Daniel
|(Acclamation)
|–October 13, 1890
|Lawyer,Private practice
|-
|33
|100px
|
|Campbell
|(Acclamation)
|–March 3, 1877
|Judge of the Illinois 3rd Circuit Court(1848–1862)
|-
|34
|100px
|
|New seat
|(Acclamation)
|–December 1, 1897
Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court(1859–1863)
|-
|35
|100px
|
|Grier
|(Acclamation)
|–December 14, 1880
|rowspan=3 |
|U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania's 9th district(1847–1851)
|-
|36
|100px
|
|New seat
|(46–9)
|–January 22, 1892
|Lawyer,Private practice
|-
|37
|100px
|
|Nelson
|(Acclamation)
|–January 27, 1882
|Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals(1868–1872)
|-
|38
|100px
|
|Davis
|(Acclamation)
|–October 14, 1911
|rowspan=2 |
|Attorney General of Kentucky(1863–1867)
|-
|39
|100px
|
|Strong
|(39–8)
|–May 14, 1887
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit(1869–1880)
|-
|40
|100px
|
|Swayne
|(24–23)
|–March 22, 1889
|
|United States Senator from Ohio(1877–1879)
|-
|41
|100px
|
|Clifford
|(51–5)
|–September 15, 1902
|rowspan=2 |
|Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court(1873–1881)
|-
|42
|100px
|
|Hunt
|(Acclamation)
|–July 7, 1893
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit(1878–1882)
|-
|43
|100px
|
|Woods
|(32–28)
|–January 23, 1893
|
|United States Secretary of the Interior(1885–1888)
|-
|44
|100px
|
|Matthews
|(53–11)
|–March 28, 1910
|rowspan=4 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit(1884–1889)
|-
|45
|100px
|
|Miller
|(Acclamation)
|–May 28, 1906
|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan(1875–1890)
|-
|46
|100px
|
|Bradley
|(Acclamation)
|–February 23, 1903
|Lawyer,Private practice
|-
|47
|100px
|
|L. Lamar
|(Acclamation)
|–August 8, 1895
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit(1891–1893)
|-
|48
|100px
|
|Blatchford
|(Acclamation)
|–December 18, 1910
|rowspan=2 |
|United States Senator from Louisiana(1891–1894)
|-
|49
|100px
|
|H. Jackson
|(Acclamation)
|–October 24, 1909
|Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
|-
|50
|100px
|
|Field
|(Acclamation)
|–January 5, 1925
|
|United States Attorney General(1897–1898)
|-
|51
|100px
|
|Gray
|(Acclamation)
|–January 12, 1932
|rowspan=3 |
|Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court(1899–1902)
|-
|52
|100px
|
|Shiras
|(Acclamation)
|–November 13, 1922
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit(1899–1903)
|-
|53
|100px
|
|Brown
|(Acclamation)
|–November 20, 1910
|United States Attorney General(1904–1906)
|-
|54
|100px
|
|Peckham
|(Acclamation)
|–July 12, 1914
|rowspan=5 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit(1893–1909)
|-
|55
|100px
|
|Brewer
|(Acclamation)
|–June 10, 1916
|Governor of New York(1907–1910)
|-
|56
|100px
|
|E. White
|(Acclamation)
|–June 2, 1937
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit(1903–1910)
|-
|57
|100px
|
|Moody
|(Acclamation)
|–January 2, 1916
|Associate Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court(1901–1905)
|-
|58
|100px
|
|J. Harlan
|(50–26)
|–December 31, 1922
|U.S. Representative from New Jersey's 4th district(1895–1899)
|-
|59
|100px
|
|Lurton
|(44–6)
|–January 31, 1941
|rowspan=3 |
|United States Attorney General(1913–1914)
|-
|60
|100px
|
|J. Lamar
|(47–22)
|–February 13, 1939
|Lawyer,Private practice:Brandeis Dunbar & Nutter
|-
|61
|100px
|
|Hughes
|(Acclamation)
|–September 5, 1922
|Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio(1914–1916)
|-
|62
|100px
|
|Clarke
|(Acclamation)
|–January 17, 1938
|rowspan=3 |
|United States Senator from Utah(1905–1917)
|-
|63
|100px
|
|Day
|(61–8)
|–November 16, 1939
|President of the Minnesota State Bar Association
|-
|64
|100px
|
|Pitney
|(Acclamation)
|–March 8, 1930
|Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee(1908–1923)
|-
|65
|100px
|
|McKenna
|(71–6)
|–July 3, 1941
|
|United States Attorney General(1924–1925)
|-
|66
|100px
|
|Sanford
|(Acclamation)
|–July 31, 1945
|rowspan=2 |
|Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia
|-
|67
|100px
|
|Holmes
|(Acclamation)
|–July 9, 1938
|Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals(1927–1932)
|-
|68
|100px
|
|Van Devanter
|(63–16)
|–September 17, 1971
|rowspan=8 |
|United States Senator from Alabama(1927–1937)
|-
|69
|100px
|
|Sutherland
|(Acclamation)
|–February 25, 1957
|United States Solicitor General(1935–1938)
|-
|70
|100px
|
|Cardozo
|(Acclamation)
|–August 28, 1962
|Board Chair of Harvard Law School
|-
|71
|100px
|
|Brandeis
|(62–4)
|–November 12, 1975
|Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission(1937–1939)
|-
|72
|100px
|
|Butler
|(Acclamation)
|–July 19, 1949
|United States Attorney General(1939–1940)
|-
|73
|100px
|
|McReynolds
|(Acclamation)
|–October 3, 1942
|United States Senator from South Carolina(1931–1941)
|-
|74
|100px
|
|Stone
|(Acclamation)
|–October 9, 1954
|United States Attorney General(1940–1941)
|-
|75
|100px
|
|Byrnes
|(Acclamation)
|–September 10, 1949
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(1939–1943)
|-
|76
|100px
|
|Roberts
|(Acclamation)
|–October 13, 1958
|rowspan=3 |
|United States Senator from Ohio(1941–1945)
|-
|77
|100px
|
|Murphy
|(73–8)
|–June 12, 1967
|United States Attorney General(1945–1949)
|-
|78
|100px
|
|W. Rutledge
|(48–16)
|–October 15, 1956
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit(1941–1949)
|-
|79
|100px
|
|R. Jackson
|(71–11)
|–September 23, 1971
|rowspan=4 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit(1954–1955)
|-
|80
|100px
|
|Minton
|(Acclamation)
|–July 20, 1990
|Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court(1951–1956)
|-
|81
|100px
|
|Reed
|(Acclamation)
|–March 31, 1962
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit(1956–1957)
|-
|82
|100px
|
|Burton
|(70–17)
|–July 3, 1981
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit(1954–1958)
|-
|83
|100px
|
|Whittaker
|(Acclamation)
|–June 28, 1993
|rowspan=2 |
|United States Deputy Attorney General(1961–1962)
|-
|84
|100px
|
|Frankfurter
|(Acclamation)
|–July 26, 1965
|United States Secretary of Labor(1961–1962)
|-
|85
|100px
|
|Goldberg
|(Acclamation)
|–May 14, 1969
|rowspan=2 |
|United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
|-
|86
|100px
|
|Clark
|(69–11)
|–October 1, 1991
|United States Solicitor General(1965–1967)
|-
|87
|100px
|
|Fortas
|(94–0)
|–August 3, 1994
|rowspan=3 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit(1959–1970)
|-
|88
|100px
|
|Black
|(89–1)
|–June 26, 1987
|President of the American Bar Association(1964–1965)
|-
|89
|100px
|
|J. Harlan II
|(68–26)
|–September 26, 1986
|United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel(1969–1971)
|-
|90
|100px
|
|Douglas
|(98–0)
|–June 29, 2010
|
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit(1970–1975)
|-
|91
|100px
|
|Stewart
|(99–0)
|–January 31, 2006
|rowspan=3 |
|Judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals(1979–1981)
|-
|92
|100px
|
|Rehnquist
|(98–0)
|–February 13, 2016
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(1982–1986)
|-
|93
|100px
|
|Powell
|(97–0)
|–July 31, 2018
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit(1975–1988)
|-
|94
|100px
|
|Brennan
|(90–9)
|–June 29, 2009
|rowspan=2 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit(1990)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|95
|100px
|
|Marshall
|(52–48)
|–Incumbent
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(1990–1991)
|-
|96
|100px
|
|B. White
|(96–3)
|–
|rowspan=2 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(1980–1993)
|-
|97
|100px
|
|Blackmun
|(87–9)
|–June 30, 2022
|Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit(1990–1994)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|98
|100px
|
|O'Connor
|(58–42)
|–Incumbent
|style="background:#f9f9f9;" |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit(1990–2006)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|99
|100px
|
|Souter
|(68–31)
|–Incumbent
|style="background:#f9f9f9;" rowspan=2 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit(1998–2009)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|100
|100px
|
|Stevens
|(63–37)
|–Incumbent
|United States Solicitor General(2009–2010)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|101
|100px
|
|Scalia
|(54–45)
|–Incumbent
|style="background:#f9f9f9;" rowspan=3 |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit(2006–2017)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|102
|100px
|
|Kennedy
|(50–48)
|–Incumbent
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(2006–2018)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|103
|100px
|
|Ginsburg
|(52–48)
|– Incumbent
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit(2017–2020)
|- style="background:#FFF;"
|104
|100px
|
|Breyer
|(53–47)
|– Incumbent
|style="background:#f9f9f9;" |
|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit(2021–2022)
|}
Notes
{{notelist|refs=
}}
References
Further reading
External links
- Historic Supreme Court Decisionsby Justice, Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School
- Supreme Court of the United States (website home page)