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Law clerks have assisted Supreme Court Justices in various capacities since the first one was hired by Justice Horace Gray in the 1879.[1] By the traditions and rules that have developed around this procedure today Associate Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States have the opportunity to select four law clerks each term of the court. The Chief Justice is allowed five clerks, though Chief Justice Rehnquist usually hired only three.[2]
Chief Justice [edit]
| This seat was established by the Constitution and organized on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73. |
| Morrison Waite |
March 4, 1874 – March 23, 1888 |
|
Melville Fuller
October 8, 1888 –
July 4, 1910
|
|
|
Edward Douglass White
December 19, 1910 –
May 19, 1921
|
| Clerk |
Started |
Finished |
School (year) |
Previous clerkship |
| John J. Byrne |
1918 |
1921 |
|
|
|
|
William Howard Taft
July 11, 1921 –
February 3, 1930
|
|
|
Charles Evans Hughes
February 24, 1930 –
June 30, 1941
|
|
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Harlan Fiske Stone
July 3, 1941 –
April 22, 1946
|
|
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Fred M. Vinson
June 24, 1946 –
September 8, 1953
|
|
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Earl Warren
October 5, 1953 –
June 23, 1969
|
|
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Warren E. Burger
June 23, 1969 –
September 26, 1986
|
|
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William Rehnquist
September 26, 1986 –
September 3, 2005
|
|
|
John Roberts
September 29, 2005 –
present
|
|
Associate Justice (Seat 1) [edit]
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73. |
| William Burnham Woods |
January 5, 1881 – May 14, 1887 |
| Lucius Q. C. Lamar |
January 18, 1888 – January 23, 1893 |
| Howell Edmunds Jackson |
March 4, 1893 – August 8, 1895 |
|
Rufus Wheeler Peckham
January 6, 1896 –
October 24, 1909
|
|
| Horace Harmon Lurton |
January 3, 1910 – July 12, 1914 |
|
James Clark McReynolds
October 12, 1914 –
January 31, 1941
|
|
|
James F. Byrnes
July 8, 1941 –
October 3, 1942
|
| Clerk |
Started |
Finished |
School (year) |
Previous clerkship |
| James E. Doyle |
1941 |
1942 |
Columbia |
|
|
|
Wiley Blount Rutledge
February 15, 1943 –
September 10, 1949
|
|
|
Sherman Minton
October 12, 1949 –
October 15, 1956
|
|
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William Brennan
October 16, 1956 –
July 20, 1990
|
|
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David Souter
October 9, 1990 –
June 29, 2009
|
|
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Sonia Sotomayor
August 8, 2009 –
present
|
|
Associate Justice (Seat 2) [edit]
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73. |
|
Horace Gray
January 9, 1882 –
September 15, 1902
|
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Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
December 8, 1902 –
January 12, 1932
|
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Benjamin N. Cardozo
March 14, 1932 –
July 9, 1938
|
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Felix Frankfurter
January 30, 1939 –
August 28, 1962
|
|
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Arthur J. Goldberg
October 1, 1962 –
July 25, 1965
|
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Abe Fortas
October 4, 1965 –
May 14, 1969
|
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Harry Blackmun
June 9, 1970 –
August 3, 1994
|
|
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Stephen Breyer
August 3, 1994 –
present
|
|
Associate Justice (Seat 3) [edit]
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73. |
| Samuel Freeman Miller |
July 21, 1862 – October 13, 1890 |
|
Henry Billings Brown
January 5, 1891 –
May 28, 1906
|
| Clerk |
Started |
Finished |
School (year) |
Previous clerkship |
| A. B. Hall |
1890 |
1896 |
|
|
|
| William Henry Moody |
December 17, 1906 – November 20, 1910 |
|
Joseph Rucker Lamar
January 3, 1911 –
January 2, 1916
|
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Louis Dembitz Brandeis
June 5, 1916 –
February 13, 1939
|
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William O. Douglas
April 17, 1939 –
November 12, 1975
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John Paul Stevens
December 19, 1975 –
June 29, 2010
|
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Elena Kagan
August 7, 2010 –
present
|
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Associate Justice (Seat 4) [edit]
| This seat was established on September 24, 1789 by the Judiciary Act of 1789 1 Stat. 73. |
| Samuel Blatchford |
April 3, 1882 – July 7, 1893 |
| Edward Douglass White |
March 12, 1894 – December 18, 1910 |
|
Willis Van Devanter
January 3, 1911 –
June 2, 1937
|
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Hugo Black
August 19, 1937 –
September 17, 1971
|
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Lewis Franklin Powell, Jr.
January 7, 1972 –
June 26, 1987
|
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Anthony Kennedy
February 18, 1988 –
present
|
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Associate Justice (Seat 5) [edit]
Associate Justice (Seat 6) [edit]
| This seat was established on February 24, 1807 by the Seventh Circuit Act 2 Stat. 420. |
| Thomas Stanley Matthews |
May 17, 1881 – March 22, 1889 |
|
David Josiah Brewer
January 6, 1890 –
March 28, 1910
|
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| Charles Evans Hughes |
October 10, 1910 – June 10, 1916 |
|
John Hessin Clarke
October 9, 1916 –
September 18, 1922
|
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George Sutherland
October 2, 1922 –
January 17, 1924
|
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Stanley Forman Reed
January 31, 1938 –
February 25, 1957
|
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Charles Evans Whittaker
March 25, 1957 –
March 31, 1962
|
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Byron White
April 16, 1962 –
June 28, 1993
|
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg
August 10, 1993 –
present
|
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Associate Justice (Seat 7) [edit]
Associate Justice (Seat 8) [edit]
| This seat was established on March 3, 1837 by the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act 5 Stat. 176. |
|
John Marshall Harlan
December 10, 1877 –
October 14, 1911
|
|
| Mahlon Pitney |
March 18, 1912 – December 31, 1922 |
|
Edward Terry Sanford
February 19, 1923 –
March 8, 1930
|
| Clerk |
Started |
Finished |
School (year) |
Previous clerkship |
| William R. Loney |
1922 |
1930 |
|
|
|
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Owen Josephus Roberts
June 2, 1930 –
July 31, 1945
|
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Harold Hitz Burton
October 1, 1945 –
October 13, 1958
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Potter Stewart
October 14, 1958 –
July 3, 1981
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Sandra Day O'Connor
September 25, 1981 –
January 31, 2006
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Samuel Alito
January 31, 2006 –
present
|
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Associate Justice (Seat 9) [edit]
| This seat was established on March 3, 1863 by the Tenth Circuit Act 12 Stat. 794. |
|
Stephen Johnson Field
May 20, 1863 –
December 1, 1897
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Joseph McKenna
January 26, 1898 –
January 5, 1925
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Harlan Fiske Stone
March 2, 1925 –
July 2, 1941
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Robert H. Jackson
July 11, 1941 –
October 9, 1954
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John Marshall Harlan II
March 28, 1955 –
September 23, 1971
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William Rehnquist
January 7, 1972 –
September 26, 1986
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Antonin Scalia
September 26, 1986 –
present
|
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Associate Justice (Seat 10) [edit]
| This seat was established on April 10, 1869 by the Circuit Judges Act of 1869 16 Stat. 44. |
| Joseph Philo Bradley |
March 23, 1870 – January 22, 1892 |
|
George Shiras, Jr.
October 10, 1892 –
February 23, 1903
|
|
|
William R. Day
March 2, 1903 –
November 13, 1922
|
| Clerk |
Started |
Finished |
School (year) |
Previous clerkship |
| Rufus Day |
1907 |
1911 |
|
|
| Rufus Day |
1917 |
1919 |
|
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Pierce Butler
January 2, 1923 –
November 16, 1939
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Frank Murphy
February 5, 1940 –
July 19, 1949
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Tom C. Clark
August 24, 1949 –
June 12, 1967
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Thurgood Marshall
October 2, 1967 –
October 1, 1991
|
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Clarence Thomas
October 23, 1991 –
present
|
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See also [edit]
References [edit]
Additional sources [edit]
- Artemus Ward and David L. Weiden, Sorcerers' Apprentices: 100 Years of Law Clerks at the United States Supreme Court (New York University Press, 2006)
External links [edit]