List of Jewish United States Supreme Court justices
Encyclopedia
Louis Brandeis
became the first Jewish
justice
of the Supreme Court of the United States
in 1916, following nomination by President
Woodrow Wilson
, and a contentious confirmation. Towards the end of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Brandeis was joined by the nation's second Jewish justice, Benjamin Cardozo in 1932, who was succeeded by Felix Frankfurter
, Arthur Goldberg
and Abe Fortas
. Eight Jewish justices have served on the Court, including the three currently serving, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
, Stephen Breyer
and Elena Kagan
.
In 1916, Louis Brandeis
became the first Jewish nominee to the Supreme Court, and after a tumultuous hearing process, he was confirmed later that same year. The 1932 appointment of Benjamin Cardozo
raised mild controversy for placing two Jewish justices on the Court at the same time, although the appointment was widely lauded based on Cardozo's qualifications, and the Senate
was unanimous in confirming Cardozo. Brandeis was succeeded by Protestant William O. Douglas
, but Cardozo was succeeded by three consecutive Jewish justices, the first being Felix Frankfurter. Frankfurter was followed by Arthur Goldberg and Abe Fortas, each of whom filled what became known as the "Jewish Seat". After Fortas resigned in 1969, he was replaced by Protestant Harry Blackmun
.
No Jews were nominated thereafter until President Ronald Reagan
nominated Douglas H. Ginsburg
in 1987 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Lewis F. Powell; however, this nomination was withdrawn, and the Court remained without any Jewish justices until 1993, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg
(unrelated to Douglas Ginsburg) was appointed to replace Justice Byron White
. Ginsburg was followed in relatively quick succession by the appointment of Stephen Breyer
in 1994 to replace Justice Harry Blackmun
. Following the confirmation of Ginsburg and Breyer, the Supreme Court Historical Society
published The Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court Revisited: Brandeis to Fortas in 1994, with forewords by both currently serving Jewish justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
and Stephen Breyer
.
On May 10, 2010, President Barack Obama
nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan
to fill the vacancy being left by the resignation of Justice John Paul Stevens
. Kagan was confirmed by the Senate on August 5, 2010 by a vote of 63-37, and was sworn in as the 112th justice of the Supreme Court on August 7, 2010 by Chief Justice
John Roberts
.
, a blatant anti-semite, refused to speak to Brandeis for three years following the latter's appointment and, when Brandeis retired in 1939, did not sign the customary dedicatory letter sent to Court members on their retirement. During Benjamin Cardozo's
swearing in ceremony, McReynolds pointedly read a newspaper muttering "another one" and did not attend that of Felix Frankfurter
, exclaiming "My God, another Jew on the Court!"
After the nomination of Elena Kagan in 2010 to be the third sitting Jewish justice, conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan
stated that, "If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats."
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
became the first Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
in 1916, following nomination by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, and a contentious confirmation. Towards the end of his tenure on the Supreme Court, Brandeis was joined by the nation's second Jewish justice, Benjamin Cardozo in 1932, who was succeeded by Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
, Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
and Abe Fortas
Abe Fortas
Abraham Fortas was a U.S. Supreme Court associate justice from 1965 to 1969. Originally from Tennessee, Fortas became a law professor at Yale, and subsequently advised the Securities and Exchange Commission. He then worked at the Interior Department under Franklin D...
. Eight Jewish justices have served on the Court, including the three currently serving, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
, Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
and Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
.
History
Louis Brandeis
Louis Dembitz Brandeis ; November 13, 1856 – October 5, 1941) was an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States from 1916 to 1939.He was born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Jewish immigrant parents who raised him in a secular mode...
became the first Jewish nominee to the Supreme Court, and after a tumultuous hearing process, he was confirmed later that same year. The 1932 appointment of Benjamin Cardozo
Benjamin N. Cardozo
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo was a well-known American lawyer and associate Supreme Court Justice. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his modesty, philosophy, and vivid prose style...
raised mild controversy for placing two Jewish justices on the Court at the same time, although the appointment was widely lauded based on Cardozo's qualifications, and the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
was unanimous in confirming Cardozo. Brandeis was succeeded by Protestant William O. Douglas
William O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
, but Cardozo was succeeded by three consecutive Jewish justices, the first being Felix Frankfurter. Frankfurter was followed by Arthur Goldberg and Abe Fortas, each of whom filled what became known as the "Jewish Seat". After Fortas resigned in 1969, he was replaced by Protestant Harry Blackmun
Harry Blackmun
Harold Andrew Blackmun was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. He is best known as the author of Roe v. Wade.- Early years and professional career :...
.
No Jews were nominated thereafter until President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
nominated Douglas H. Ginsburg
Douglas H. Ginsburg
Douglas Howard Ginsburg is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to this court in October 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He served as its Chief Judge from July 16, 2001 until February 10, 2008...
in 1987 to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Lewis F. Powell; however, this nomination was withdrawn, and the Court remained without any Jewish justices until 1993, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
(unrelated to Douglas Ginsburg) was appointed to replace Justice Byron White
Byron White
Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White won fame both as a football halfback and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed to the court by President John F. Kennedy in 1962, he served until his retirement in 1993...
. Ginsburg was followed in relatively quick succession by the appointment of Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
in 1994 to replace Justice Harry Blackmun
Harry Blackmun
Harold Andrew Blackmun was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 until 1994. He is best known as the author of Roe v. Wade.- Early years and professional career :...
. Following the confirmation of Ginsburg and Breyer, the Supreme Court Historical Society
Supreme Court Historical Society
The Supreme Court Historical Society is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and communicating the history of the U.S. Supreme Court.-History:...
published The Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court Revisited: Brandeis to Fortas in 1994, with forewords by both currently serving Jewish justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
and Stephen Breyer
Stephen Breyer
Stephen Gerald Breyer is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and known for his pragmatic approach to constitutional law, Breyer is generally associated with the more liberal side of the Court....
.
On May 10, 2010, President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan
Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....
to fill the vacancy being left by the resignation of Justice John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens
John Paul Stevens served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from December 19, 1975 until his retirement on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third-longest serving justice in the Court's history...
. Kagan was confirmed by the Senate on August 5, 2010 by a vote of 63-37, and was sworn in as the 112th justice of the Supreme Court on August 7, 2010 by Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
John Roberts
John Roberts
John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist...
.
Reaction
Negative reaction to the appointment of the early Jewish justices did not come exclusively from outside the Court. Justice James Clark McReynoldsJames Clark McReynolds
James Clark McReynolds was an American lawyer and judge who served as United States Attorney General under President Woodrow Wilson and as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court...
, a blatant anti-semite, refused to speak to Brandeis for three years following the latter's appointment and, when Brandeis retired in 1939, did not sign the customary dedicatory letter sent to Court members on their retirement. During Benjamin Cardozo's
Benjamin N. Cardozo
Benjamin Nathan Cardozo was a well-known American lawyer and associate Supreme Court Justice. Cardozo is remembered for his significant influence on the development of American common law in the 20th century, in addition to his modesty, philosophy, and vivid prose style...
swearing in ceremony, McReynolds pointedly read a newspaper muttering "another one" and did not attend that of Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
, exclaiming "My God, another Jew on the Court!"
After the nomination of Elena Kagan in 2010 to be the third sitting Jewish justice, conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan
Pat Buchanan
Patrick Joseph "Pat" Buchanan is an American paleoconservative political commentator, author, syndicated columnist, politician and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, and was an original host on CNN's Crossfire. He sought...
stated that, "If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats."
Justices
|+ Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court of the United StatesSee also
- Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesDemographics of the Supreme Court of the United StatesThe demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnic, religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 112 justices appointed to the Supreme Court. Certain of these characteristics have been raised as an issue since the Court was established in 1789. For its...
- 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 education
- List of Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by time in office
- List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
- List of United States Chief Justices by time in office
External links
- "Jewish Supreme Court Justices", Jewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual LibraryJewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . Established in 1993, it is a comprehensive website covering Israel, the Jewish people, and Jewish culture.-History:...
. 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 GinsburgRuth Bader GinsburgRuth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...
, Supreme Court of the United StatesSupreme Court of the United StatesThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, August 22, 2004. Retrieved May 2, 2007.