Alternate Supreme Court Justices/Nominations

OOC: This thread combines alternate Presidents (if you so wish) with the Supreme Court, allowing users to explain their universe's Supreme Court Justices, who they were nominated by, their stance (left, center-left, moderate, center-right, right) and the confirmation process they went through. I'll start it off.

Chief Justice Miguel Estrada (center-right - right): Chief Justice Miguel Estrada was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005 following the death of Chief Justice William Reinquist. He previously served on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from 2001-2005. He was the subject of an unprecedented filibuster by Senate Democrats until Bush brokered a deal to nominate a more liberal judge to the next vacant seat, which he did with Judge David Gregory (a Bill Clinton recess appointment). His confirmation for Chief Justice were all the more contentious, despite the fact that he was rated unanimously well qualified by the ABA. He was ultimately confirmed 68-31.

Associate Justice Edith Jones (right): Justice Edith Jones was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 following William Brennan's retirement. Her confirmation process was not so heavily scrutinized by many, but there were a select few Democrats who painted her in the radically conservative mold of Robert Bork. She was ultimately confirmed by a 93-7 vote, with Senators such as John Kerry and Ted Kennedy voting no.

Associate Justice Kenneth Starr (moderate - center-left): Justice Kenneth Starr was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in 1993 shortly after Bush's second term victory following Byron White's retirement. His nomination was controversial because many Senate Republicans did not think that he was going to be a conservative judge. He was grilled by both Senate Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Judicary Committee. After meeting with the Senate Majority Leaders from both parties, Bush was able to convince them of Starr's moderate track record on the D.C. Court of Appeals. Starr was confirmed unanimously by the Senate, and has since mostly sided with the Court's liberal wing (ironically confirming Republican suspicions at the time), but will occasionally side with its conservative wing as well.

Associate Justice Emilio Garza (right): Justice Emilio Garza was nominated by George H.W. Bush in 1993 following the death of Thurgood Marshall. Originally, Clarence Thomas was nominated by the President, but the Senate struck down his nomination after reports of sexual harassment from a woman named Anita Hill surfaced during his time as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Garza's nomination was less contentious, but was still opposed by many Senate Democrats. Garza was confirmed by a vote of 66-34, becoming the Court's first Latino-American Justice.

Associate Justice Amalya Kearse (center-left): Justice Amalya Kearse was nominated by George H.W. Bush in 1994 following Henry Blackmun's retirement. As the Democrats had control of the Senate, before the nomination was announced, they stated their opposition to another hardline conservative in the mold of Emilio Garza, Edith Jones, or Antonin Scalia. Seeing this, Bush agreed to appoint and moderate, leaning-left judge: Amalya Kearse. She was praised by both liberals and conservatives for being an extremely middle-of-the-road judge, authoring opinions that pleased both sides of the aisles. Kearse was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and became the second African American Justice, as well as the first woman of color.

Associate Justice Jacqueline Nguyen (left): Justice Jacqueline Nguyen was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2012 following the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. She was opposed by the Senate Tea Party Republicans, led by Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Jeff Sessions. They painted her as a liberal left crusader who would undermine the Constitution. However, since she was replacing a fairly moderate to left leaning justice, many Republicans did not see it changing the tilt of the court. She was nominated fairly swiftly with a vote of 72-28, becoming the second Vietnamese-American Justice, alongside Justice Viet Dinh.

Associate Justice Johnnie Rawlinson (left): Justice Johnnie Rawlinson was nominated by Barack Obama in 2010 following the retirement of John Paul Stevens. Unlike the nomination of Jacqueline Nguyen two years later, Rawlinson's nomination was highly contentious. Many Republican Senators noted her unabashedly liberal opinion during her time on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a result, her hearing became a circus, noted for Republicans and Democrats arguing back and forth with each other rather than questioning Rawlinson herself. She was confirmed by a narrow margin of 57-43. All Republicans in attendance voted no, while three Democrats voted no as well. She became the second African American woman on the bench.

Associate Justice Viet Dinh (right): Justice Viet Dinh was nominated by George W. Bush in 2005 following the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Dinh served on Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia since 2002. His hearings were controversial due to him being the architect of the Patriot Act during his time in the White House before his D.C. Circuit nomination. Many Democrats, on those grounds, opposed Dinh's nomination, despite many of them conceding him to be a highly qualified jurist whose nomination would be historic, as he would be the first Asian-American of any ethnicity (Dinh was Vietnamese) to be nominated to the Supreme Court. They also opposed Dinh on the grounds of his young age (Dinh was 37 at the time, the second youngest Supreme Court nominee ever). Republicans countered by saying that many of them supported the Patriot Act when it was first passed, and derided them for saying that Dinh was qualified (they pointed to the ABA's rating of Dinh as Unanimously Well Qualified) while saying that they couldn't support his nomination. Dinh's nomination was notable for the rise of future President Barack Obama to the national stage, as his Senate floor speech on his opposition to Dinh's nomination went viral. Nevertheless, Dinh was confirmed 57-43.

Associate Justice Raymond Kethledge (right): Justice Raymond Kethledge was nominated by President Mitt Romney in 2016 following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Democrats vehemently opposed the confirmation of Raymond Kethledge, as his conservative leanings made him, in their view, a dangerous choice to undermine women's rights, civil rights, and voting rights. As Republicans had 55 seats in the Senate, they were unable to get a cloture vote on their own, as they were just one vote shy (Heidi Heitkamp, Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, and Joe Donnelly all voted for cloture). Romney met with both Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, Senators from Kethledge's home state of Michigan. While Peters was steadfast in his opposition, Stabenow was reminded by Romney how she submitted her blue slip for Kethledge back in 2008, and was confirmed unanimously. As a result, she submitted her blue slip and cloture was given with exactly 60 votes, as Romney wanted to avoid the use of the nuclear option. Kethledge was confirmed by a vote of 59-41. Stabenow was the only Senator who voted for cloture to vote no.
 
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The three most often named justices who were never nominated:

Learned Hand: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/justice-learned-hand.339654/

Henry Friendly: https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/a-friendly-court.381584/

Paul Freund: https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...frankfurterians-justice-paul-a-freund.445009/

All were from a "judicial restraint" philosophy nowadays not popular on either the Left or Right.

One more possibility if Adlai Stevenson had been elected: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_V._Schaefer
 
For most of the last hundred years or so, hasn’t most of the nominees been all appellant judges all the time, with some exceptions such as:

Bill Douglas around 1940,

Earl Warren 1953

Lewis Powell, about 1971

maybe ? Elena Kagan

I’d like to see a few more exceptions to the general rule :)
 

sprite

Donor
Monthly Donor
Here are a few from a timeline I am working on, I've only really mapped out to 2000. Would love any insight to flesh these out.

Tom Dewey (CJ) (Centre-Right) 1954-1967 (Columbia) Appointed by President Taft replacing Vinson. Appointed as Chief to fix fences following the bruising near-split that occurred during the 1952 republican primaries. Dewey expectantly voted to continue the disputed Hawaii recount in the 1960 election. The 5-4 decision in Gore vs. Bush, handed Gore the presidency without a probably bruising house vote. He retired during the short presidency of his close friend Hubert Humphrey. Afraid of a possible right-ward lurch of the court following the 1968 election. He became know in the 1970’s for his appearances on his new wife Kitty Carlisle’s talk show.

Clarence Manion (Right) 1955-1979 (Notre Dame) Appointed by President Knowland replacing Jackson. Conservative dean of Notre Dame law school. He was the most articulate voice for conservative restraint, influencing future jurists Freund, Buckley & and to a lesser extent Coleman. He remained in the court until his death midway during Robert Kennedy’s presidency.

Pat Brown (Centre-Left) 1956-1996 (San Francisco Law School) Appointed by President Knowland replacing Minton. A young law-and-order Catholic from a large electorally important state, Brown’s appointment was an attempt to boost Knowland’s appeal going into the 1956 elections. It worked, he won a second term, however he came to rue his choice as Brown was very much a progressive. The longest serving justice of all time, Brown remained in his seat until his death during the presidency of President Conrad.

Earl Warren (Centre) 1958-1969 (Berkeley) Appointed by President Knowland replacing Reed. Perennial troublemaker in the California Republican party, Warren was appointed in part to get him out of the way. A swing vote on many issues, he surprised many republicans with his positions. He resigned during the presidency of President Romney, unhappy with his lack of impact on court decisions.

Paul Freund (Right) 1962-1990 (Harvard) Appointed by President Gore replacing Frankenfurter. A advocate of judicial restraint, Freund was seen as a cross-party appointment by Gore, who was desperate to maintain the social status quo.

Archibald Cox (CJ) (Centre-Left) (Harvard) 1968-1991 Appointed by President Humphrey replacing Dewey. Appointed as Chief to replace Tom Dewey. Cox was a respected legal mind who fought for civil rights. He retired during Hart’s presidency.

Thaddeus Coleman (Centre-Right) (Harvard) 1969-1996 Appointed by President Romney replacing Warren. The first black man appointed to the Supreme Court, his appointment demonstrated a continuation of the Republicans commitment to civil rights. His appointment was not without resistance. The newly formed Citizen Council Democratic Party, representing many southern states, attempted a filibuster, which was eventually overcome.

Harry Blackmun (Centre) 1972-1997 (Harvard) Appointed by President Romney replacing Marshall. Blackmun’s appointment initially ensured a conservative majority on the court, however under the tutelage of Archibald Cox, Blackmun slowly moved through the ideological spectrum from right to left. A swing vote for many years, his decisions shaped many judgements of the period.

Carla Anderson Hills (Centre-Right) 1972-XXXX (Yale) Appointed by President Romney replacing Black. Another first, Romney was rumoured to have an all-woman shortlist, cementing the new the ‘New Republican’ coalition, a laissez-faire capitalist party which in which both social and economic issues are handled in a libertarian manner. Pro-business, Pro-choice, Pro-feminist & Non-interventionist philosophy would inform future Republican appointments during the Conrad administration.

James L. Buckley (Right) 1975-XXXX (Yale) Appointed by President Romney replacing Douglas. Buckley was a sop to the right of the party who had felt left out in the cold since the death of Taft and the presidencies of Knowland and Humphrey. The most right-wing member of the court, he is known for his scathing dissents.

Warren Christopher (Centre-Left) 1977-XXX (Stanford) Appointed by President Kennedy replacing Clark. Former Douglas clerk. Christopher was an orthodox choice for Kennedy and his Christian Social Democratic bent. Sceptical of change on social issues, pro-union and supportive of government intervention he was a strong supporter of the Kennedy program and mentioned as a potential nominee in Democratic 1984.

Shirley Hufstedler (Centre-Left) 1979-XXXX (Stanford) Appointed by President Kennedy replacing Manion. Selected, in part, to provide a democratic response to Hills. Hufstedler, like Christopher, was solid vote for the democratic party line.

Lawrence Tribe (Left) 1990-XXXX (Harvard) Appointed by President Hart replacing Freund. A legal scholar, though one of a very different political stripe, Tribe’s confirmation was difficult. Confirmed by a bare majority, he ensured the court had progressive control for the first time since the early seventies.

Richard S. Arnold (CJ) (Centre-Left) 1992-XXXX (Harvard) Appointed by President Hart replacing Cox. The new Chief was more conservative of his predecessor, but was still viewed to sit on the left, continuing the long-term progressive nature of the court.

Frank Easterbrook (Centre-Right) 1997-XXXX (University of Chicago Law School) Appointed by President Conrad replacing Brown. Pete Conrad’s first supreme court appointment was a concern for the party. A political neophyte, many were concerned that Conrad did not have a grasp of the importance of the appointment. Their fears were unfounded. The president focused on jurists educated outside the Ivy League, who had come to dominate the court. Easterbrook’s appointment ended the progressive majority that had begun with Tribe’s appointment, returning it to a state of balance with 4 progressives, 4 conservatives and 1 swing.

Tom Colbert (Centre-Right) 1996-XXXX (Oklahoma University School of Law) Appointed by President Conrad replacing Coleman. Another non-Ivy Leaguer, Colbert’s appointment was a continuation of the Republican’s commitment to civil rights, by ensuring black appointments to all the courts in the land.

Arlen Specter (Centre) 1997-XXXX (Yale) Appointed by President Conrad replacing Blackmun. The second choice of President Conrad, Specter was nominated after his first nominee was rejected. Former first lady Liddy Hanford Knowland was a qualified jurist, but her husband had made too many enemies his single term as President. His former vice-president Sandra O’Connor was a vocal opponent of her boss’s wife. With a democrat majority in the senate, an ideological republican was never going to be confirmed. Specter became known for his abrasive, blunt, prosecutorial nature. Many an unprepared lawyer has had their case dissolve under his badgering questions.

Very rough ideological composition;-

1952 (POD)-1956: 6 Con – 3 Lib

1956-1957: 5 Con – 4 Lib

1957-1967: 4 Con – 1 Swing – 4 Lib

1967-1969: 3 Con – 1 Swing – 5 Lib

1969-1971 : 4 Con – 5 Lib

1971-1976 : 4 Con – 1 Swing – 4 Lib

1975-1979: 5 Con – 1 Swing – 3 Lib

1979-1990 : 4 Con – 1 Swing – 4 Lib

1990-1997: 3 Con – 1 Swing – 5 Lib

1997- XXXX: 4 Con – 1 Swing – 4 Lib
 
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For most of the last hundred years or so, hasn’t most of the nominees been all appellant judges all the time, with some exceptions such as:

Bill Douglas around 1940,

Earl Warren 1953

Lewis Powell, about 1971

maybe ? Elena Kagan

I’d like to see a few more exceptions to the general rule :)

(1) No, it hasn't been all appellate judges--certainly not all federal appellate judges--until quite recently.

(2) Examples (apart from those you already mentioned):

Stanley Reed, who went to SCOTUS from his position as Solicitor General, had never been a judge. (He was also the last Justice who didn't finish law school.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Forman_Reed

Robert H. Jackson had never been a judge (he had been Attorney General and, earlier, Solicitor General). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_H._Jackson

Hugo Black's only judicial experience was as police court judge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Black

Charles Evans Hughes' only judicial experience was on the Supreme Court. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Evans_Hughes

Frank Murphy's only judicial experience prior to joining SCOTUS was with the Recorder's Court in Detroit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Murphy

Arthur Goldberg had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Goldberg

Felix Frankfurter had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Frankfurter

Tom C. Clark had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_C._Clark

Abe Fortas had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Fortas

William Rehnquist had no prior judicial experience (though he had clerked for Justice Jackson) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Rehnquist

Pierce Butler had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_Butler_(justice)

Harlan F. Stone had no prior judicial experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlan_F._Stone

Byron "Whizzer" White, though a law clerk for Chief Justice Vinson, had no prior judicial experience himself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byron_White

In short, you have been mistaking a relatively recent phenomenon for practice of the "past hundred years." For most of this period, while there were Supreme Court justices with backgrounds as federal appellate judges (Vinson, Minton, the second Justice Harlan and others) they were the exception, not the rule.
 
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Ken star as center left? that is a new one. is this a different ken star that was not a republican apparatchik?

btw I wonder what sort of judges could a socialist President(say Eugene V. Debs or someone like him) get on the court? :)
 
btw I wonder what sort of judges could a socialist President(say Eugene V. Debs or someone like him) get on the court? :)

There wouldn't be a SCOTUS as we know it:

8. The abolition of the power usurped by the Supreme Court of the United States to pass upon the
constitutionality of the legislation enacted by Congress. National laws to be repealed only by act
of Congress or by a referendum vote of the whole people.

15. Abolition of all federal districts courts and the United States circuit court of appeals. State
courts to have jurisdiction in all cases arising between citizens of several states and foreign
corporations. The election of all judges for short terms.

http://www.laborhistorylinks.org/PDF Files/Socialist Party Platform 1912.pdf

Pending the adoption of these measures, maybe we get Mr. Justice Louis Boudin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_B._Boudin
 
I don't know much about judges, and thus who an alternate President would nominate, but Bork's confirmation process could have gone differently and he could be on the court.
 
Conservative wing:
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (Appointed by Bo Callaway, replacing Thurgood Marshall, 1991-)
Associate Justice Diane Sykes (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Margaret Heckler, 2003-)
Associate Justice Ted Cruz (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Reynaldo Garza, 2004-)

Associate Justice Viet Dinh (Appointed by Dino Rossi, replacing Arlen Specter, 2009-)

Swing:
Associate Justice Brian Sandoval (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Robert Bork, 2016-)

Liberal wing:
Chief Justice Jerry Brown (Appointed by Bruce Babbitt, replacing Edmund Muskie, 1997-)
Associate Justice Stacey Abrams (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Jack Brooks, 2005-)
Associate Justice Roy Cooper (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Rudy Giuliani, 2006-)

Associate Justice Kamala Harris (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Shirley Hufstedler, 2013-)
 
Ken star as center left? that is a new one. is this a different ken star that was not a republican apparatchik?

btw I wonder what sort of judges could a socialist President(say Eugene V. Debs or someone like him) get on the court? :)

Well, I heard that Ken Starr was Bush’s top pick over Clarence Thomas, but Republicans were afraid that he wasn’t going to be a conservative justice given his track record on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Given what happened with David Souter over the years (aligning with the liberal wing of the court despite being promised as a conservative justice), I think it would be safe to assume he would be center left. Plus, no Bill Clinton means that Starr is never appointed as special counsel.
 
Conservative wing:
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (Appointed by Bo Callaway, replacing Thurgood Marshall, 1991-)
Associate Justice Diane Sykes (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Margaret Heckler, 2003-)
Associate Justice Ted Cruz (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Reynaldo Garza, 2004-)

Associate Justice Viet Dinh (Appointed by Dino Rossi, replacing Arlen Specter, 2009-)

Swing:
Associate Justice Brian Sandoval (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Robert Bork, 2016-)

Liberal wing:
Chief Justice Jerry Brown (Appointed by Bruce Babbitt, replacing Edmund Muskie, 1997-)
Associate Justice Stacey Abrams (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Jack Brooks, 2005-)
Associate Justice Roy Cooper (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Rudy Giuliani, 2006-)

Associate Justice Kamala Harris (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Shirley Hufstedler, 2013-)

Cool list. I like how multiple politicians in this timeline end up as Justices.
 
I don't know much about judges, and thus who an alternate President would nominate, but Bork's confirmation process could have gone differently and he could be on the court.

The usual scenario is that Reagan nominates Bork in 1986 when the GOP still had a majority in the Senate and then nominates Scalia (who was then less controversial than Bork and had the advantage of being an Italian-American) in 1987. But for an argument that Bork might not have had an easy time even in 1986, see my post at https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/justice-robert-bork.392584/#post-12664449
 
Lionel Murphy (Labor)

Often considered a goer for the high court it is uncertain why Murphy took the NSW supremes instead. Murphy was often associated with prominent Sydney racing identities in the 1980s but became naturally deceased prior to the extensive Unsworth royal commissions’ interrogations and so called Greiner Acts.
 
8. The abolition of the power usurped by the Supreme Court of the United States to pass upon the
constitutionality of the legislation enacted by Congress.
For example, in the 1910s Congress placed a tax on the interstate commerce items produced by child labor so that such items would not have an unfair advantage. And in 1918, the “supreme” court ruled, Oh, no, you can’t do that (either 5-4 decision or 6-3)

Congress tried to legislate around this, and in 1922, the court ruled they couldn’t do that either, this time by a bigger majority, I think 8-1.
 
Lionel Murphy (Labor)

Often considered a goer for the high court it is uncertain why Murphy took the NSW supremes instead. . .
Like the Australian flavor. :)

I understand that in a parliamentary system, we have a central court, it just doesn’t have near the power that our supreme court has.
 
Conservative wing:
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas (Appointed by Bo Callaway, replacing Thurgood Marshall, 1991-)
Associate Justice Diane Sykes (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Margaret Heckler, 2003-)
Associate Justice Ted Cruz (Appointed by Lynne Cheney, replacing Reynaldo Garza, 2004-)

Associate Justice Viet Dinh (Appointed by Dino Rossi, replacing Arlen Specter, 2009-)

Swing:
Associate Justice Brian Sandoval (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Robert Bork, 2016-)

Liberal wing:
Chief Justice Jerry Brown (Appointed by Bruce Babbitt, replacing Edmund Muskie, 1997-)
Associate Justice Stacey Abrams (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Jack Brooks, 2005-)
Associate Justice Roy Cooper (Appointed by Ray Mabus, replacing Rudy Giuliani, 2006-)

Associate Justice Kamala Harris (Appointed by Caroline Kennedy, replacing Shirley Hufstedler, 2013-)

Is this from a certain timeline, by the way?
 

Marc

Donor
A couple of contributing thoughts:

You all do know that the American Constitution doesn't actually specify that the number of Supreme Court Judges shall be 9. It could be any number from 3 to N. (3 being the traditional minimum). Which is why Franklin Roosevelt's attempt to add more Judges was legal, if unsuccessful. The opposite is possible: The President and the Senate could let the Court diminish in size by not making appointments.
Mario Cuomo was floated as an alternative to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Needless to say, that would have been a daring and interesting choice - but then the President was "play it safe" Clinton.
Another minor factoid: There are no requirements for Supreme Court Justices. They don't have to have any knowledge of law, or any minimum age, or even be an American citizen. The general assumption has been that the Senate would dismiss anyone truly unqualified...
 

SsgtC

Banned
Here's couple from a timeline I've been working on

Hebert Hadley (R)
Political Views: Progressive, Center-Left
Resume: Missouri Attorney General from 1905 to 1909. Won the 1908 Missouri Governor's election, becoming the only Republican to serve as Governor of Missouri between 1873 and 1921. Successfully prosecuted several anti-trust cases, including against Standard Oil, as Attorney General. Was the Floor Leader for Theodore Roosevelt during the 1912 Republican Convention. Originally offered the position of Attorney General after Roosevelt's election, he declined and asked to be considered for Charles Evans Hughes' open Supreme Court seat instead. Confirmed by a vote of 77-19 in 1913. Served as a staunch Progressive and supporter of Anti-Trust law until his death in 1927.

Frank H Hiscock (R)
Political Views: Center Left
Resume: Nominated to the Supreme Court in 1914 following the death of Justice Horace Lurton. Justice Hiscock had previously served on the New York Court of Appeals. Widely voted with the Progressive wing of the court, though would occasionally side with the Conservatives. Served on the bench until his death in 1946.

Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (R)
Political Views: Left
Resume: The first woman to serve on the Supreme Court, Justice Breckenridge was a radical choice by President Roosevelt when she was nominated to the Supreme Court following the death of Justice Joseph Lamar in 1916. For the first time in history, the Senate held a public hearing on a Supreme Court Nominee. Roosevelt however, could not be swayed from his choice, despite endangering his chance at reelection. After an unprecedented six months, Justice Breckenridge was confirmed to the Supreme Court by a 51-45 margin. A staunch Progressive and supporter of universal suffrage, she was instrumental in striking down many laws that restricted the vote from women and minorites. A strong supporter of civil rights, she was a key vote in ending many laws mandating segregation. She served on the Bench until her death in 1948.

William H Taft (R)
Political Views: Center Right
Resume: Nominated to the position of Chief Justice following the death of Chief Justice Edward White of a stroke in 1916, Chief Justice Taft is widely considered to be one of the finest Justices to have ever served on the Court. Though much farther to the right politically than the man that nominated him, Theodore Roosevelt, Roosevelt had a debt to pay to Taft. He served on the Court until his resignation on June 1, 1929.
 
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Another minor factoid: There are no requirements for Supreme Court Justices. They don't have to have any knowledge of law, or any minimum age, or even be an American citizen. The general assumption has been that the Senate would dismiss anyone truly unqualified...

I just had a nightmare : Justice Donald Trump
 
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