List of Jewish United States Supreme Court justices
This is a list of all Jewish people who have served as Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. The first Jewish Supreme Court Justice was Louis Brandeis, in a contentious nomination. Towards the end of his career on the Supreme Court, Brandeis was joined by a second Jewish Justice, Benjamin Cardozo. Cardozo's seat was succeeded by three consecutive Jewish Justices. With four consecutive justices for the same seat, the seat has been nicknamed the "Jewish seat" on the Supreme Court.[1] In 1994, the Supreme Court Historical Society published The Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court Revisited: Brandeis to Fortas, with forewords by both currently serving Jewish Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.[2]
Table
| Name | State | Birth | Death | Year appointed | Left office | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Brandeis | MA | 1856 | 1941 | 1916 | 1939 | Wilson | death[3] |
| Stephen Breyer | MA | 1938 | living | 1994 | serving | Clinton | — |
| Benjamin N. Cardozo | NY | 1870 | 1938 | 1932 | 1938 | Hoover | death |
| Abe Fortas | TN | 1910 | 1982 | 1965 | 1969 | L. Johnson | resignation |
| Felix Frankfurter | MA | 1882 | 1965 | 1939 | 1962 | F. Roosevelt | death[3] |
| Ruth Bader Ginsburg | NY | 1933 | living | 1993 | serving | Clinton | — |
| Arthur Goldberg | IL | 1908 | 1990 | 1962 | 1965 | Kennedy | resignation |
Timeline
Notes
- ^ "Waiting for a Court Vacancy", By Ken Rudin, Political Junkie, National Public Radio, June 29, 2005. Retrieved May 2 2007.
- ^ The Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court Revisited: Brandeis to Fortas, on Amazon.com, retrieved May 1, 2007.
- ^ a b Deaths in senior status seem to cause confusion. There are two types of retirement: in the first type, the justice resigns his appointment in return for a pension, and the "Reason Appointment Terminated" is marked as "retirement". In the second type of retirement, called senior status, the justice's appointment does not end. Instead, the justice accepts a reduced workload on an inferior court. For instance, Stanley F. Reed was frequently assigned to the Court of Claims when he was in senior status. As of 2006, every justice except Charles Evans Whittaker who has assumed senior status has died in it; in that case, the judge will have the "Reason Appointment Terminated" as "death", even though they retired from the court before they died.
References
- "Jewish Supreme Court Justices", Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
- "Remarks for Touro Synagogue (Newport, Rhode Island): Celebration of the 350th Anniversary of Jews in America", speech on the first five Jewish Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Supreme Court of the United States, August 22, 2004. Retrieved May 2, 2007.
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