"for Wiley Rutledge, William Rehnquist for Robert H. Jackson, Stephen Breyer for Arthur Goldberg, John Roberts for William Rehnquist, Elena Kagan for Thurgood Marshall, Neil Gorsuch for both Byron White and Anthony Kennedy, and Brett Kavanaugh for Kennedy. Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh served under Kennedy during the same term. Gorsuch is the first justice to serve alongside a justice for whom he or she clerked. With the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, for the first time a majority of the Supreme Court is composed of former Supreme Court law clerks (Roberts, Breyer, Kagan, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh). Several current Supreme Court justices"
"in 1969. Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American politician and jurist who served in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party and a devoted New Dealer, Black endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections. Having gained a reputation in the Senate as a reformer, Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Roosevelt and confirmed by the Senate by a vote"
"Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American lawyer, serving as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991. Marshall was the Court's 96th justice and its first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service, he successfully argued several cases before the Supreme Court, including ""Brown v. Board of Education"". Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Marshall graduated from the Howard University School of Law in 1933. He established a private legal practice in Baltimore before founding the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where he served as"
"Service also named a low-cost housing location after him. Smith and Eleanor ""Elie"" Jane Martinez married in 1955. They had four children who currently reside in Seattle. Smith died on August 28, 2016, at his home in Seattle, Washington. Charles Z. Smith Charles Z. Smith (February 23, 1927 – August 28, 2016) was an American judge who served as a Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988 to 2002. He was the first person of color and the only African American to hold the position. Smith was born in Lakeland, Florida. His father, John R. Smith, was a Cuban immigrant,"
"""represented the first time in American history that an African American was an actual contender for the high court"". The first African American appointed to the Court was Thurgood Marshall, appointed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967. The second was Clarence Thomas, appointed by George H. W. Bush to succeed Marshall in 1991. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was ""the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place."" Marshall was confirmed as an Associate Justice by a Senate"
"Tom Colbert Tom Colbert (born December 30, 1949) is an Associate Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court. He was appointed to the Court's District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on this court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the former Chief Justice Steven Taylor and served as Chief Justice until January 2015. Colbert was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and graduated from high school in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. His educational background includes an associate degree from Eastern Oklahoma State College, and a"
"noting that he ""earlier had appointed Miss Annie Butt, a Catholic, as a secretary, and the Supreme Court had designated Leon Smallwood, a Negro and a Catholic as his messenger."" Black was one of the nine justices of the Supreme Court who in 1955 ruled unanimously in ""Brown v. Board of Education"" that segregation in public schools is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs were represented by Thurgood Marshall. A decade later, on October 2, 1967 Marshall became the first African American to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and served with Black on the Court until Black's retirement on September 17, 1971."
"Manhattan, New York City. Wilford Horace Smith Wilford Horace Smith (April 1863 - June 9, 1926) was an American lawyer who specialized in constitutional law. He was the first African-American lawyer to win a case before the Supreme Court of the United States. Smith was born in April 1863 in Mississippi. His father was from Virginia and his mother from Kentucky. He attended Boston University School of Law and graduated in 1883. He married in 1895, and around the same year moved to Galveston, Texas to practice law. He moved to Manhattan, New York City by 1910. He died on"
"Samuel R. Lowery Samuel R. Lowery (December 9, 1830-c1900) was an African American preacher and lawyer, who was the first black lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Lowery was sponsored to the Supreme Court Bar by Belva Ann Lockwood, the first woman admitted to the bar, in 1880. Lowery was the fifth black attorney to be admitted to the bar. Later in his life, he worked for African American industrial education and attempted to establish silk farming in Alabama. Samuel R. Lowery was born December 9, 1830 or 1832 near Nashville,"
"Hugo Black Hugo Lafayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was an American politician and jurist who served in the United States Senate from 1927 to 1937, and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1937 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party and a devoted New Dealer, Black endorsed Franklin D. Roosevelt in both the 1932 and 1936 presidential elections. Having gained a reputation in the Senate as a reformer, Black was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Roosevelt and confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 63"
"Charles Z. Smith Charles Z. Smith (February 23, 1927 – August 28, 2016) was an American judge who served as a Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988 to 2002. He was the first person of color and the only African American to hold the position. Smith was born in Lakeland, Florida. His father, John R. Smith, was a Cuban immigrant, and his mother, Eva Love Smith, was an African American whose grandparents were former slaves. Smith was one of eight siblings. During his childhood, he lived in Franklin, North Carolina; Lakeland; and Maitland, Florida. As a teenager, one of"
"Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney ( ; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He delivered the majority opinion in ""Dred Scott v. Sandford"" (1857), ruling that African Americans could not be considered citizens and that Congress could not prohibit slavery in the territories of the United States. Prior to joining the Supreme Court, Taney served as the United States Attorney General and United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson. Taney was born into a wealthy, slave-owning"
"Raymond Pace Alexander Raymond Pace Alexander (October 13, 1897 – November 24, 1974) was a civil rights leader, lawyer, politician, and the first African American judge appointed to the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas. After graduation from Harvard Law School in 1923, Alexander became one of the leading civil rights attorneys in Philadelphia. He represented black defendants in high-profile cases, including the Trenton Six, a group of black men arrested for murder in Trenton, New Jersey. Alexander also entered the political realm, running for judge several times before being elected to a seat on the Philadelphia City Council in 1951."
"was succeeded by Republican, Scott Crichton, a former Louisiana 1st District Court judge from Shreveport. Bernette Joshua Johnson Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 1943) is a Democratic lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, who has served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2013. She is the first African American to have this position, and succeeded Catherine D. Kimball. As of 2017, Johnson is the only Democrat serving on the state Supreme Court, which also consists of four Republicans and two Independents. Johnson was born in 1943 in New Orleans. She attended local public schools, which were still"
"of John Alexander. John Hanks Alexander John Hanks Alexander (January 6, 1864 – March 26, 1894) was the first African-American officer in the United States armed forces to hold a regular command position and the second African-American graduate of the United States Military Academy (after Henry Ossian Flipper). John Hanks Alexander was born on January 6, 1864 at Helena, Arkansas, the fourth of seven children born to former slaves James Milo Alexander and Fannie Miller Alexander. James Alexander was a barber and dry goods salesman in Helena and acquired property there. He later became the first black Justice of the"
"Robert N. C. Nix Jr. Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Jr. (July 13, 1928 – August 23, 2003) served as the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court from 1984 to 1996. Nix was the first African-American Chief Justice of any state's highest court, and the first African American to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for 24 years, 12 of which were as chief justice, and was a prominent figure in Pennsylvania law and public service for more than three decades. Nix was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on"
"Wilford Horace Smith Wilford Horace Smith (April 1863 - June 9, 1926) was an American lawyer who specialized in constitutional law. He was the first African-American lawyer to win a case before the Supreme Court of the United States. Smith was born in April 1863 in Mississippi. His father was from Virginia and his mother from Kentucky. He attended Boston University School of Law and graduated in 1883. He married in 1895, and around the same year moved to Galveston, Texas to practice law. He moved to Manhattan, New York City by 1910. He died on June 9, 1926, in"
"24, 1897). They had four children, Rebecca Black, Chauncey Black, Henry Black, Jr. and Mary Sullivan Black. Jeremiah S. Black Jeremiah Sullivan Black (January 10, 1810 – August 19, 1883) was an American statesman and lawyer. He served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (1851–1857) and as the Court's Chief Justice (1851–1854). He also served in the Cabinet of President James Buchanan, first as Attorney General (1857–1860), and then Secretary of State (1860–1861). Jeremiah S. Black was born on January 10, 1810, in Stony Creek, Pennsylvania, near Glades, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Representative Henry Black,"
"Jeremiah S. Black Jeremiah Sullivan Black (January 10, 1810 – August 19, 1883) was an American statesman and lawyer. He served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (1851–1857) and as the Court's Chief Justice (1851–1854). He also served in the Cabinet of President James Buchanan, first as Attorney General (1857–1860), and then Secretary of State (1860–1861). Jeremiah S. Black was born on January 10, 1810, in Stony Creek, Pennsylvania, near Glades, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Representative Henry Black, and Mary (Sullivan) Black. Jeremiah Black was largely self-educated and was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar before"
"- the views of the court majority made up of Justices Warren, Black, Douglas and Brennan. Later in his career, Frankfurter's judicial restraint philosophy frequently put him on the dissenting side of ground-breaking decisions taken by the Warren Court to end discrimination. Frankfurter believed that the authority of the Supreme Court would be reduced if it went too strongly against public opinion: He sometimes went to great lengths to avoid unpopular decisions, including fighting to delay court decisions against laws prohibiting racial intermarriage. For the October 1948 court term, Frankfurter hired William Thaddeus Coleman, the first African American to serve"
"Noah Haynes Swayne Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 – June 8, 1884) was an American jurist and politician. He was the first Republican appointed as a justice to the United States Supreme Court. Swayne was born in Frederick County, Virginia in the uppermost reaches of the Shenandoah Valley, approximately northwest of Washington D.C. He was the youngest of nine children of Joshua Swayne and Rebecca (Smith) Swayne. He was a descendant of Francis Swayne, who emigrated from England in 1710 and settled near Philadelphia. After his father died in 1809, Noah was educated locally until enrolling in Jacob Mendendhall's"
"Bernette Joshua Johnson Bernette Joshua Johnson (born June 1943) is a Democratic lawyer from New Orleans, Louisiana, who has served as the chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court since 2013. She is the first African American to have this position, and succeeded Catherine D. Kimball. As of 2017, Johnson is the only Democrat serving on the state Supreme Court, which also consists of four Republicans and two Independents. Johnson was born in 1943 in New Orleans. She attended local public schools, which were still segregated. She went to college at Spelman College in Georgia, earning a BA in 1964."
"Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American judge, lawyer, and government official who currently serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He is currently the most senior associate justice on the Court following the retirement of Anthony Kennedy. Thomas succeeded Thurgood Marshall and is the second African American to serve on the Court. Among the current members of the Court he is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of days () as of . Thomas grew up in Savannah, Georgia, and was educated at the College of the Holy Cross"
"American justice in 1967. Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice in 1981. Marshall was succeeded by African-American Clarence Thomas in 1991. O'Connor was joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993. After O'Connor's retirement Ginsburg was joined in 2009 by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and Latina justice, and in 2010 by Elena Kagan, for a total of four female justices in the Court's history. There have been six foreign-born justices in the Court's history: James Wilson (1789–1798), born in Caskardy, Scotland; James Iredell (1790–1799), born in Lewes, England; William Paterson (1793–1806), born in County Antrim, Ireland; David Brewer"
"a variety of practice areas, including civil litigation, workers' compensation, and probate. Ernest A. Finney Jr. Ernest Adolphus Finney Jr. (March 23, 1931 – December 3, 2017) was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice appointed to the South Carolina Supreme Court since the Reconstruction Era. He spent the last years of his life in Sumter, South Carolina. He was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Finney was born in Smithfield, Virginia. His mother died when he was ten days old, so he was raised by his father, Dr. Ernest A. Finney Sr. Finney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree"
"judge, working as a General District Court Judge in Chesterfield, Virginia and Colonial Heights, Virginia from 1993 until 2000, a Circuit Court Judge in the same jurisdictions from 2000 until 2008, and on the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2008 until 2011. In 2013 Powell was honored as one of the Library of Virginia's ""Virginia Women in History"". Cleo Powell Cleo Elaine Powell (born January 12, 1957) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. She was sworn in on October 21, 2011 for a term ending in July 31, 2023. Justice Powell is the first African American"
"Charles E. Freeman Charles E. Freeman (born December 12, 1933) is an American attorney and former first district justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. He was elected to his position on the court on November 6, 1990, becoming its first African-American justice. He served as Chief Justice from May 12, 1997 to January 1, 2000. His political affiliation is Democratic. He retired from the court on June 14, 2018. Freeman is originally from Virginia. His surname may have been adopted when his father's family was freed from slavery by Quakers before the Civil War. Charles Freeman received his undergraduate degree"
"First Baptist Church, after which he was buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Books Journals Newspapers Raymond Pace Alexander Raymond Pace Alexander (October 13, 1897 – November 24, 1974) was a civil rights leader, lawyer, politician, and the first African American judge appointed to the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas. After graduation from Harvard Law School in 1923, Alexander became one of the leading civil rights attorneys in Philadelphia. He represented black defendants in high-profile cases, including the Trenton Six, a group of black men arrested for murder in Trenton, New Jersey. Alexander also entered the"
"Wiley Manuel Wiley William Manuel (August 28, 1927–January 5, 1981) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from 1977 to 1981 and the first African American to serve on the high court. Manuel was born in Oakland, California, grew up near Ward and Dohr Streets in South Berkeley, and was educated in the public schools. After graduating in 1945 from Berkeley High School he studied at the University of California, Berkeley. Then he attended Hastings College of Law and in 1953 received his LL.B. degree with Order of the Coif honors. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of"
"Supreme Court nominations"", but that the names released ""demonstrated his inability or unwillingness to nominate renowned jurists to the highest tribunal in the land"". The list included: West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd, Arkansas attorney Hershel Friday, California appeals court judge Mildred Lillie, Fifth Circuit judge Paul Roney, Fifth Circuit judge Charles Clark, and District of Columbia judge Sylvia Bacon. Although Byrd's name was on the list, the White House had previously indicated that he was not a serious candidate for the seat. Nixon thereafter announced his intention to nominate Hershel Friday to fill Black's seat, and Mildred Lillie to fill"
"A. A. Birch Jr. Adolpho A. Birch Jr. (September 22, 1932 – August 25, 2011) was an American lawyer and judge who was the first African American to serve as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Birch was born in Washington, D.C. in 1932 and grew up in that city, the son of an Episcopal priest who was widowed early and subsequently raised his son as a single parent. His father's professional concerns for his parishioners left Birch with much time on his own, and he often raised small amounts of money for himself by picking up soft drink"
"Violette Neatley Anderson Violette Neatley Anderson (July 16, 1882 – December 24, 1937)she became the first African-American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court on January 29, 1926. She was one of the most prominent advocates of a landmark piece of legislation that helped secure rights and economic mobility for sharecroppers in the South, the Bankhead-Jones Act. Violette Neatley Anderson was born in London, England, in 1882, to a German mother and a West Indian father. She moved to Chicago with her family as a small child. Anderson graduated from North Division High School in 1899 and"
"first African-American to serve on that Court. Colbert briefly served as Chief Judge of the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals in 2004, then was appointed to the Oklahoma Supreme Court District 6 seat in 2004, by Governor Brad Henry, becoming the first African-American to serve on this court. On January 4, 2013, he was sworn in as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, replacing the former Chief Justice Steven Taylor. Very little has been published about Tom Colbert's personal life. One source revealed that he has a wife and three children. Another said that he was raised by a single"