Supreme Court Justices Table
| Justice | Seat | Appointed by | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| John G. Roberts, Jr. | Chief Justice | George W. Bush | 2005 |
| Clarence Thomas | Associate Justice | George H. W. Bush | 1991 |
| Samuel A. Alito, Jr. | Associate Justice | George W. Bush | 2006 |
| Sonia Sotomayor | Associate Justice | Barack Obama | 2009 |
| Elena Kagan | Associate Justice | Barack Obama | 2010 |
| Neil M. Gorsuch | Associate Justice | Donald Trump | 2017 |
| Brett M. Kavanaugh | Associate Justice | Donald Trump | 2018 |
| Amy Coney Barrett | Associate Justice | Donald Trump | 2020 |
| Ketanji Brown Jackson | Associate Justice | Joe Biden | 2022 |
The Supreme Court has nine seats and 116 names in its history, and the current nine are the youngest institutionally they have been in decades: Clarence Thomas (1991) is the senior justice with 30+ years of service, Ketanji Brown Jackson (2022) is the newest, and the middle seven arrived within a single 17-year window. The table's appointing-president column is the quick read on the court's 6-3 conservative alignment - no Democratic appointee has joined since 2010.
The appointing rhythm is a story of multiplied stakes. Trump appointed three justices in one term (Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) - a rate no president had matched since Hoover - and Barrett's confirmation, eight days before the 2020 election, broke the precedent McConnell set in 2016 when he held Scalia's seat open for nearly a year. Each single seat now moves the median of a 5-4 court, which is why confirmations have become generational political events rather than routine advice-and-consent.
The seat column carries the court's internal hierarchy: the Chief Justice (Roberts, since 2005) is only first among equals - one vote, like the rest - but controls opinions, the courtroom, and the administrative state of the federal judiciary. The seniority custom that runs beneath the table: justices speak in conference in order of tenure ascending, so Thomas speaks first and Jackson last - the same order in which they can assign nothing but their own dissents.
How to use
- Identify any justice's row: name, seat type (Chief or Associate), appointing president, and the year seated - confirmation year minus a few days or months, since justices take the two oaths before joining.
- Read the court's ideology structurally: count the appointing presidents. Six Republican appointees (Thomas, Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Barrett) against three Democratic (Sotomayor, Kagan, Jackson) is the 6-3 split the case outcomes keep showing.
- Answer the tenure questions from the Since column: Thomas is the longest current sitter (since 1991), approaching the all-time record of William O. Douglas (36 years); Jackson is the shortest-serving and the first former public defender on the court.
- Track vacancies prospectively: the senior justices' ages (Thomas 77, Alito 75, Sotomayor 71) are the standing map of which seats could open next - the arithmetic behind every election-cycle court question.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the current Supreme Court justices?
Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. (2005) and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas (1991), Samuel A. Alito, Jr. (2006), Sonia Sotomayor (2009), Elena Kagan (2010), Neil M. Gorsuch (2017), Brett M. Kavanaugh (2018), Amy Coney Barrett (2020) and Ketanji Brown Jackson (2022). Three were appointed by Trump, two each by George W. Bush and Obama, and one each by George H. W. Bush and Biden.
Who has served the longest on the current court?
Clarence Thomas, seated in 1991 - over three decades, the senior associate justice. He is chasing William O. Douglas's all-time record of 36 years, 209 days, which he would break in the early 2030s. Chief Justice Roberts, despite leading the court since 2005, ranks only fifth in current tenure.
Why does the court have exactly nine justices?
Nothing in the Constitution fixes the number - it has been 5, 6, 7 and 10 at various points in the 19th century. Congress set it at nine in 1869, after the Reconstruction crisis, and it has stayed there through every 'court-packing' proposal since (most famously FDR's 1937 plan, which failed in his own party).
How many justices have there been in total?
116, as of Jackson's 2022 seating. Seventeen served as Chief Justice. Only two justices have been impeached (Samuel Chase in 1804 - acquitted; the other, Douglas, faced failed attempts), and not one has been removed - which is what lifetime tenure means in practice: resignation, retirement or death.