The Who2 Blog

U.S. Supreme Court Opening Day

The first Monday of October is the opening day for the United States Supreme Court.  Can you name all twelve Supreme Court justices?

Neither can we, but that’s because there are only nine Supreme Court justices.  Here’s a list of the judges, along with which president nominated them and the year they took the bench:

Samuel Alito was nominated by President George W. Bush and took the bench in 2006. 

Stephen G. Breyer was nominated by President Bill Clinton and took the bench in 1994.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was also nominated by President Bill Clinton and took the bench in 1993.

Elena Kagan was nominated by President Barack Obama and took the bench in 2010.

Anthony M. Kennedy was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and took the bench in 1988.

John G. Roberts, Jr., the Chief Justice, was nominated by President George W. Bush and took the bench in 2005.

Antonin Scalia was nominated by President Ronald Reagan and took the bench in 1986.

Sonia Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama and took the bench in 2009.

Clarence Thomas was nominated by President George H.W. Bush and took the bench in 1991.

Of the nine justices, six are men and three are women. Seven of them are from the eastern part of the country; Kennedy and Breyer are from the west coast (California). Kagan, Ginsburg and Breyer are Jewish, the rest are Catholic. Five of the justices went to law school at Harvard — Roberts, Scalia, Kennedy, Breyer and Kagan — and three went to Yale — Sotomayor, Alito and Thomas.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg went to law school at Columbia. The youngest member of the bench is Elena Kagan, at 51 years old, and the oldest is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, at 78 years old.

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