This is a list of all American Roman Catholics who have served as Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. The first Roman Catholic Supreme Court Justice was Roger B. Taney. It was almost 60 years before another Roman Catholic justice was appointed.
Religion has historically been a factor in the appointment and confirmation of nominees to the United States Supreme Court. To be sure, the impact of religion, race, and gender on appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court. Their impact as a factor in presidential decisions is controversial.[1] To understand them, political and historical contexts need to be explored. Therefore, pundits have attempted to analyze, by groups or as members of groups, appointments of Catholics, Jews, blacks and women. Ostensibly, this is to explore "a history of decision-making based on the recognition of specific groups." Interviews with seven Court members address the question of whether "representative" factors should play a role in nominating justices.[2]
Such analyses have been subject to criticism.[3] Indeed, there is real disagreement as to what, if any, effect religious affiliation has on judicial performance.[3]
There are those who strongly believe that demographic considerations should be no consideration at all in the selection process.[3][4]
That there have been thirteen Catholics as members of the Supreme Court in its more than 200 year history is a fact. Historically, only one Catholic was on the court at a time (with the exception of White/McKenna): there was a "tradition" of a so-called "Catholic seat."[5]
In contrast to historical patterns, we have gone from a "Catholic seat" to a "Catholic court." The reasons for that are subject to debate, and are a matter of intense public scrutiny.[6]
More interestingly, that the majority of the Court is now Catholic, and that appointments of Catholics has become accepted (and preferred) in the past two decades, represents an historical 'sea change.' Indeed, it has fostered accusations that the court has become "a Catholic boys club" (particularly as the Catholics chosen tend to be politically conservative) and a wish that non-Catholics be nominated.[7]
Table
edit| Name | State | Birth | Death | Year appointed | Left office | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samuel Anthony Alito | NJ | 1950 | living | 2006 | serving | G. W. Bush | — |
| William Joseph Brennan, Jr. | NJ | 1906 | 1997 | 1956 | 1990 | Eisenhower | death[8] |
| Pierce Butler | MN | 1866 | 1939 | 1923 | 1939 | Harding | death |
| Anthony McLeod Kennedy | CA | 1936 | living | 1988 | serving | Reagan | — |
| Joseph McKenna | CA | 1843 | 1926 | 1898 | 1925 | McKinley | retirement |
| Sherman Minton | IN | 1890 | 1965 | 1949 | 1956 | Truman | death[8] |
| Frank Murphy | MI | 1890 | 1949 | 1940 | 1949 | F. Roosevelt | death |
| John Glover Roberts, Jr. | MD | 1955 | living | 2005 | serving | G. W. Bush | — |
| Antonin Gregory Scalia | VA | 1936 | living | 1986 | serving | Reagan | — |
| Sonia Sotomayor | NY | 1954 | living | 2009 | serving | Obama | — |
| Roger Brooke Taney | MD | 1777 | 1864 | 1836 | 1864 | Jackson | death |
| Clarence Thomas | GA | 1948 | living | 1991 | serving | G. H. W. Bush | — |
| Edward Douglass White | LA | 1845 | 1921 | 1894 | 1921 | Cleveland (associate) Taft (chief)[9] |
death |
N.B., Justice Minton converted to Catholicism after his retirement. James F. Byrnes was raised as Catholic, but converted to Episcopalianism before his confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice.
Timeline
edit
See also
edit- Demographics 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 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
Notes
edit- ^ Scott, Dale, Supreme Court Nomination: Harriet Miers on Religion?.
- ^ Perry, Barbara A., A Representative Supreme Court? The Impact of Race, Religion, and Gender on Appointments, New York: Greenwood Press, 1991. 164 pgs. ISBN 031327777X; ISBN 9780313277771.
- ^ a b c John P. McIver, Department of Political Science, University of Colorado, Boulder Review of A "REPRESENTATIVE" SUPREME COURT? THE IMPACT OF RACE, RELIGION, AND GENDER ON APPOINTMENTS by Barbara A. Perry.
- ^ See also Kreimendahl, Ilka (2002) Appointment and Nomination of Supreme Court Justices (Scholarly Paper, Advanced Seminar), Amerikanische Entwicklung im Spiegel ausgewählter Entscheidungen des Supreme Court, University of Kassel 32 Pages.
- ^ Hitchcock, James, Catholics and the Supreme Court: An Uneasy Relationship (June 2004) (from Catalyst (magazine)
- ^ Perry, Barbara A. "Catholics and the Supreme Court: From the 'Catholic Seat' to the New Majority," in Catholics and Politics: The Dynamic Tension between Faith and Power, Georgetown University Press, 2008, Edited by Kristin E. Heyer, Mark J. Rozell, Michael A. Genovese. Kristin E. Heyer is an associate professor in the Religious Studies Department at Santa Clara University. She is the author of Prophetic and Public also published by Georgetown University Press. Mark J. Rozell is professor of public policy at George Mason University. Michael A. Genovese holds the Loyola Chair of Leadership at Loyola Marymount University.
- ^ Kissling, Frances (May 17, 2009) Catholic Boy’s Club: Religion and the Supreme Court Religious Dispatches. Frances Kissling is a visiting scholar at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and former president of Catholics for a Free Choice.
- ^ 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[update], 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.
- ^ This individual was elevated from Associate Justice to Chief Justice. Unlike the inferior courts, the Chief Justice is separately nominated and subject to a separate confirmation process, regardless of whether or not (s)he is already an Associate Justice.
References
editSupreme Court justices United States, Supreme Court, Roman Catholic