The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book. David L Hudson
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SUPREME COURT
FIRSTS AND BEGINNINGS
Who were the first six justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?
The first six justices nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court were John Jay (as chief justice), John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, and Robert H. Harrison. The Senate confirmed all the nominees, but Harrison, a judge from Maryland, declined the nomination because of poor health. In his place, President George Washington nominated James Iredell of North Carolina.
Which Supreme Court justices attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia?
Five Supreme Court justices attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787, during which the U.S. Constitution was created. These included John Rutledge from South Carolina, Oliver Ellsworth from Connecticut, William Paterson from New Jersey, James Wilson from Pennsylvania, and John Blair from Virginia. They were among the fifty-five delegates that attended the famous Philadelphia Convention that created the U.S. Constitution. Justice Gabriel Duvall was chosen to be one of Maryland’s four delegates to the Convention but he, along with the other delegates from Maryland, never attended.
When did the Supreme Court initially meet?
The U.S. Supreme Court initially met in February 1790. The Judiciary Act of 1789 provided that the Court would hold two sessions annually, beginning the first Mondays of February and August.
Levi Woodbury was the first U.S. Supreme Court justice to attend law school. Daguerreotype Collection/Library of Congress.
Who was the first law school student to go on to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice?
Levi Woodbury, who studied law at Tapping Reeve Law School in 1810 after earning his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, went on to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice. He left the law school to serve an apprenticeship. Woodbury served on the Court from 1846 to 1851.
Which justice hired the first female law clerk?
Justice William O. Douglas hired Lucille Loman in 1944. Although she became the Court’s first female law clerk, she also served as Douglas’s personal secretary.
Which justice hired the first African American law clerk?
Justice Felix Frankfurter hired William T. Coleman Jr. in 1948. Coleman was the first African American to serve on the Harvard Law Review’s board of editors.
CAREERS AWAY FROM THE COURT
How many Supreme Court justices were former state governors?
Nine justices were former state governors. These included John Jay, New York governor from 1795 to 1801 after he served on the U.S. Supreme Court; John Rutledge, South Carolina governor from 1779 to 1782; Thomas Johnson, Maryland governor (its first) from 1777 to 1779; William Paterson, New Jersey governor from 1790 to 1793; Levi Woodbury, New Hampshire governor from 1823 to 1824; Salmon P. Chase, Ohio governor from 1856 to 1860; Frank Murphy, Michigan governor from 1937 to 1939; James Francis Byrnes, South Carolina governor from 1951 to 1955, after his short stay on the U.S. Supreme Court (1941–42); and Chief Justice Earl Warren, California governor from 1943 to 1953.
Which justices were former veterans?
Six justices served in the Revolutionary War: Chief Justice John Marshall fought in battles such as Great Bridge and Germantown; Alfred Moore served in the North Carolina Regiment; Thomas Johnson briefly served in the Maryland state militia (as first brigadier-general); Henry Livingston served as a commissioned captain in the Continental Army; Bushrod Washington, the nephew of George Washington, served in the Continental Army; and Thomas Todd enlisted when he was only 14 years old.
Two justices served in the War of 1812: James Moore Wayne served in a volunteer Georgia militia unit and John Catron served under General Andrew Jackson.
Five justices served in the Civil War: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar served in the Confederate Army as a colonel for the Eighteenth Mississippi Regiment; Edward Douglass White and Horace Lurton served in the Confederate Army; Oliver Wendell Holmes served in the Union Army and was wounded three times during combat; and William Burnham Woods fought for the Union in Ohio, rising to the rank of brevet major general.
Four justices served in World War I: Earl Warren and Frank Murphy served in the Army; Tom C. Clark served in the National Guard; and Harold Burton served in the Army, receiving a Purple Heart.
Five justices served in World War II: Potter Stewart and Byron White served in the Navy; William Brennan served in the Army; William Rehnquist