How Many Supreme Court Justices Never Sat on a Bench Prior to Nomination?

Posted May 15, 2010 01:04:30
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What US Supreme Court justices were NEVER judges before being nominated to the Court?A total of 40 justices (10 Chief Justices and 30 Associate Justices) of the 111 seated (36%) had no judicial experience before joining the US Supreme Court.

The following list includes only US Supreme Court justices who were NEVER judges prior to being nominated to the US Supreme Court. The occupation listed is the last position held before nomination.

Please note that most justices held other, often multiple, positions in politics earlier in their careers. Many of the justices whose occupation at nomination is listed as "lawyer" had temporarily returned to private practice because the opposing party was in office and there were no government opportunities available to them until the administration changed.

Chief Justices

John Jay..........................(1789 - 1798)....Washington.............Envoy, Ambassador
John Marshall...................(1801 - 1835)....Adams....................Secretary of State
Roger Taney.....................(1836 - 1864)....Jackson..................Secretary of the Treasury
Salmon Chase..................(1864 - 1873)....Lincoln....................Secretary of the Treasury
Morrison Waite.................(1873 - 1888)....Grant......................Pres, OH Constitutional Convention
Melville Fuller...................(1888 - 1910).....Cleveland...............Lawyer
Charles Hughes................(1930 - 1941).....Hoover...................US delegate, Perm Court of Arbitration (The Hague)
Harlan Stone....................(1941 - 1946).....Roosevelt, F...........Associate Justice, US Supreme Court
Earl Warren......................(1953 - 1969)....Eisenhower.............Governor, California
William H. Rehnquist.........(1986 - 2005)....Reagan..................Associate Justice, US Supreme Court

Associate Justices

James Wilson...................(1789 - 1798)....Washington............Member, Continental Congress
Bushrod Washington.........(1799 - 1829).....Adams..................Lawyer
Joseph Story....................(1812 - 1845).....Madison................Speaker, MA Lower House
Henry Baldwin..................(1830 - 1844).....Jackson................Lawyer
John McKinley..................(1838 - 1852).....Van Buren.............House of Representatives
Benjamin Curtis...............(1851 - 1857)......Fillmore...............MA State Legislature
John Campbell.................(1853 - 1861)......Pierce..................Lawyer
Nathan Clifford.................(1858 - 1881).....Buchanan.............Lawyer
Noah Swayne...................(1862 - 1881).....Lincoln.................Lawyer
Samuel Miller...................(1862 - 1890)......Lincoln.................Lawyer
Joseph Bradley.................(1870 - 1892)......Grant..................Lawyer
Lucius Lamar....................(1888 - 1893).....Cleveland.............Secretary of the Interior
George Shiras, Jr..............(1892 - 1903)......Harrison..............Lawyer
William Henry Moody.........(1906 - 1910).....Roosevelt, T..........US Attorney General
James McReynolds............(1914 - 1941).....Wilson..................US Attorney General
Louis Brandeis..................(1916 - 1939).....Wilson.................Lawyer
George Sutherland............(1922 - 1938).....Harding...............US Consul at The Hague
Pierce Butler.....................(1923 - 1939).....Harding...............Regent, University of Minnesota
Owen Roberts...................(1930 - 1945).....Hoover.................Special US Attorney
Stanley Forman Reed.........(1938 - 1945).....Roosevelt, F.........Solicitor General
Felix Frankfurter................(1939 - 1962).....Roosevelt, F..........Law Professor, Harvard
William O. Douglas............(1939 - 1974).....Roosevelt, F..........Chairman of SEC
James Francis Byrnes.........(1941 - 1942).....Roosevelt, F..........Senator
Robert H. Jackson.............(1941 - 1954).....Roosevelt, F..........US Attorney General
Harold Hitz Burton.............(1945 - 1958).....Truman................Senator
Tom C. Clark.....................(1949 - 1967).....Truman................US Attorney General
Byron White......................(1962 - 1993).....Kennedy..............Deputy Attorney General
Arthur J. Goldberg.............(1962 - 1965).....Kennedy...............Secretary of Labor
Abe Fortas........................(1965 - 1969).....Johnson...............Lawyer
Lewis F. Powell..................(1972 - 1987)......Nixon..................Lawyer

What US Supreme Court Justices were not judges at the time they were nominated to the Supreme Court?This is a list of Supreme Court justices who were not lower court judges at the time of nomination (occupation at nomination is listed). Some had served as judges in the state or federal court system at earlier dates. For a list of justices who never served as judges prior to joining the US Supreme Court, see Related Links, below.

Chief Justices

John Jay..............................Envoy, Ambassador
John Marshall.......................Secretary of State
Roger Taney.........................Secretary of the Treasury
Salmon Chase......................Secretary of the Treasury
Morrison Waite.....................President, Ohio Constitutional Convention
Melville Fuller.......................Lawyer
Edward White.......................Senator
William Howard Taft..............Law Professor (former US President)
Charles Hughes....................US delegate to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (The Hague)
Harlan Stone........................Associate Justice, US Supreme Court
Fred Vinson..........................Secretary of the Treasury
Earl Warren..........................Governor, California

Associate Justices

James Wilson......................Member, Continental Congress
William Paterson.................Governor and Chancellor, New Jersey
Bushrod Washington............Lawyer
Joseph Story.......................Speaker, Massachusetts Lower House
Smith Thompson.................Secretary of the Navy
John McLean......................US Postmaster General
Henry Baldwin....................Lawyer
James M. Wayne.................House of Representatives
John Catron.......................Lawyer
John McKinley.....................House of Representatives
Samuel Nelson....................Lawyer
Levi Woodbury....................Senator
Benjamin Curtis..................Massachusetts State Legislature
John Campbell....................Lawyer
Nathan Clifford...................Lawyer
Noah Swayne.....................Lawyer
Samuel Miller......................Lawyer
Joseph Bradley....................Lawyer
John M. Harlan (I)...............Lawyer
Stanley Matthews................Senator
Lucius Lamar.......................Secretary of the Interior
Joseph McKenna..................US Attorney General
George Shiras, Jr.................Lawyer
William Henry Moody............US Attorney General
Joseph Rucker Lamar...........Lawyer
Mahlon Pitney.....................Chancellor, NJ Supreme Court
James McReynolds...............US Attorney General
Louis Brandeis.....................Lawyer
George Sutherland...............US Consul at The Hague
Pierce Butler........................Regent of University of Minnesota, Lawyer
Owen Roberts......................Special US Attorney, Investigating Harding Administration
Hugo L. Black......................Senator
Stanley Forman Reed...........Solicitor General
Felix Frankfurter..................Law Professor, Harvard
William O. Douglas...............Chairman of SEC
Frank Murphy......................US Attorney General
James Francis Byrnes...........Senator
Robert H. Jackson................US Attorney General
Harold Hitz Burton...............Senator
Tom C. Clark.......................US Attorney General
Byron White........................Deputy Attorney General
Arthur J. Goldberg...............Secretary of Labor
Abe Fortas..........................Lawyer
Thurgood Marshall...............US Solicitor General
Lewis F. Powell....................Lawyer

Not Einstein May 15, 2010 01:05:58

+3
This at least negates the fact that Kagan has never presided over a court and shows that it is not a necessary ingredient to become a Supreme Court Justice.
>> See Replies

oldrwizr May 15, 2010 03:20:43

+1
Good info.

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Dan D May 15, 2010 02:26:29

The real question is, how many Justices actually had written more than 4 articles for a legal journal?

All ask it hear again - anyone who supports Kagan - what has she accomplished that makes you think that she'd be a good Justice?

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No TEA ... to Dan D May 15, 2010 21:27:58 (edited)
flaca BN-0 May 15, 2010 01:12:11

just like Harriet Myers

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Dan D to flaca BN-0 May 15, 2010 02:27:34

Did you support Harriet Miers? And if now, why are you supporting Kagan? Kagan has much less of a history than Miers did.

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ὤTṻnde΄ӂ May 15, 2010 01:10:59

+1
40. Kagan will be the 41st. (You answered your own question.)

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tooserv May 15, 2010 01:10:54

+1
It has been almost 40 years since somebody was put on the United States Supreme Court without first being a Judge. We where on a good track of wisdom until change came and took all that away.

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Not Einstein May 15, 2010 01:05:58

+3
This at least negates the fact that Kagan has never presided over a court and shows that it is not a necessary ingredient to become a Supreme Court Justice.

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Cogs to Not Ein... May 15, 2010 01:38:23 (edited)

+3
Also funny how everyone ignores the fact that she already works directly with the Supreme Court. Solicitor General isn't just some random job out in the middle of nowhere.

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