Biographies of Members of the Jewish People

 
 
 

Jewish Justices

 

       

Jewish justices

Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish Justice.

In 1853, President Millard Fillmore offered to appoint Louisiana Senator Judah P. Benjamin to be the first Jewish Justice, and the New York Times reported (on February 15, 1853) that "if the President nominates Benjamin, the Democrats are determined to confirm him". However, Benjamin declined the offer, and ultimately became Secretary of State for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The first Jewish nominee, Louis Brandeis, was appointed in 1916, after a tumultuous hearing process. The 1932 appointment of Benjamin Cardozoraised mild controversy for placing two Jewish justices on the Court at the same time, although the appointment was widely lauded based on Cardozo's qualifications, and the Senate was unanimous in confirming Cardozo.[80]

Brandeis was succeeded by Protestant William O. Douglas, but Cardozo was succeeded by another Jewish Justice, Felix Frankfurter. Negative reaction to the appointment of the early Jewish justices did not exclusively come from outside the Court. Justice James Clark McReynolds, a blatant anti-semite, refused to speak to Brandeis for three years following the latter's appointment and when Brandeis retired in 1939, did not sign the customary dedicatory letter sent to Court members on their retirement. During Benjamin Cardozo's swearing in ceremony McReynolds pointedly read a newspaper muttering "another one" and did not attend that of Felix Frankfurter, exclaiming "My God, another Jew on the Court!"[81]

Frankfurter was followed by Arthur Goldberg and Abe Fortas, each of whom filled what became known as the "Jewish Seat". After Fortas resigned in 1969, he was replaced by Protestant Harry Blackmun. No Jewish justices were nominated thereafter until Ronald Reagan nominated Douglas H. Ginsburg in 1987, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement ofLewis F. Powell; however, this nomination was withdrawn, and the Court remained without any Jewish justices until 1993, when Ruth Bader Ginsburg (unrelated to Douglas Ginsburg) was appointed to replace Byron White. Ginsburg was followed in relatively quick succession by the appointment of Stephen Breyer, also Jewish, in 1994 to replace Harry Blackmun. In 2010, the confirmation of President Barack Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to the Court ensured that three Jewish justices would serve simultaneously. Prior to this confirmation,conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan stated that, "If Kagan is confirmed, Jews, who represent less than 2 percent of the U.S. population, will have 33 percent of the Supreme Court seats".[82] At the time of his remarks, 6.4 percent of justices had been Jewish in the history of the court.[82]

[hide]Name State Birth Death Year
appointed
Left
office
Appointed by Reason for
termination
Louis Brandeis KY 1856 1941 1916 1939 Wilson death[79]
Benjamin N. Cardozo NY 1870 1938 1932 1938 Hoover death
Felix Frankfurter NY 1882 1965 1939 1962 F. Roosevelt death
Arthur Goldberg IL 1908 1990 1962 1965 Kennedy resigned to become
UN Ambassador
Abe Fortas TN 1910 1982 1965 1969 L.B. Johnson resignation
Ruth Bader Ginsburg NY 1933 living 1993 incumbent Clinton
Stephen Breyer CA 1938 living 1994 incumbent Clinton
Elena Kagan NY 1960 living 2010 incumbent Obama
Elena Kagan Stephen Breyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg Abe Fortas Arthur Goldberg Felix Frankfurter Benjamin N. Cardozo Louis Brandeis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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