Rachel Evans
The religious composition of the Supreme Court of the United States has been a topic of discussion, with the current court comprising six Catholics, two Protestants, and one Jew. This is in contrast to the religious diversity of the United States, where about 45% of Americans are Protestants, 22% are Catholic, and 2% are Jewish. The court's majority of Catholic justices has sparked questions and commentary, with some critics derisively referring to it as a Catholic boys club. Historically, the court has had a Catholic seat, but now, it is perceived by some as a Catholic court. This shift has been attributed to various factors, including the lobbying efforts of the Catholic Church, the influence of devout Christians in Republican administrations, and the legal profession's appeal to Catholics.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Total number of justices | 115 |
| Number of Catholic justices | 15 |
| First Catholic justice | Roger B. Taney |
| Year of appointment of first Catholic justice | 1836 |
| Current number of Catholic justices | 6 |
| Current Catholic justices | John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett |
| Percentage of Catholic justices | 13.04% |
| Percentage of U.S. population that identifies as Catholic | 20-22% |
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What You'll Learn
John Roberts is the third Catholic Chief Justice
The first Catholic Chief Justice was Roger B. Taney, appointed in 1836 by Andrew Jackson. The second, Edward Douglass White, was appointed as an associate justice in 1894 but also went on to become Chief Justice. Joseph McKenna was appointed in 1898, making two Catholics on the court until White's death in 1921. This marked the inconsistent tradition of having a "Catholic seat" on the court.
The appointment of John Roberts in 2005 made him the fourth sitting Catholic justice, with Samuel Alito becoming the fifth in 2006 and Sonia Sotomayor the sixth in 2009. The current court has six Catholics in the majority, with Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. This is a significant shift from the court's historical composition, which was predominantly white male Protestants of Anglo or Northwestern European descent.
The overrepresentation of Catholics on the Supreme Court has been a topic of discussion, with critics characterising it as a "Catholic boys club". While the reasons for this trend are debated, some suggest that Republican presidents have increasingly selected from a pool of well-qualified Catholic lawyers. This shift may also reflect a move away from past prejudices that associated Catholicism with being "un-American".
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Catholics make up 67% of the court
The Supreme Court of the United States has long been dominated by white male Protestants of Anglo or Northwestern European descent. Before the 20th century, a few Catholics were appointed, but diversity concerns centred on geographic representation rather than religion. However, in recent years, the Court has been characterised as a "Catholic boys club", with six out of nine Supreme Court Justices being Catholic, constituting 67% of the Court. This is despite the fact that only around 20-22% of the US population identifies as Catholic.
The first Catholic justice, Roger B. Taney, was appointed chief justice in 1836. It took 58 years for the second Catholic justice, Edward Douglass White, to be appointed in 1894. He also went on to become chief justice. Joseph McKenna, appointed in 1898, was the third Catholic justice. This period marked the beginning of an inconsistently observed "tradition" of having a "Catholic seat" on the court.
The current six Catholic justices are Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Roberts, who became Chief Justice in 2005, was the third Catholic Chief Justice and the fourth Catholic on the court. His appointment was followed by that of Samuel Alito, who became the fifth Catholic on the court and the eleventh in its history. With Alito's appointment, the court had a Catholic majority for the first time.
The fact that most recent Catholic appointees have also been ideologically conservative has led to the court being labelled a "Catholic boys club". The reasons for the court's religious composition are debated, with some arguing that it reflects a step forward from former views of Catholicism as "un-American". The disproportionate number of Catholics on the court has also been attributed to the efforts of Republican presidents and their advisors, who have sought to appoint conservative Catholic justices as part of a broader agenda.
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There have been 15 Catholic justices in total
The United States Supreme Court has had 15 Catholic justices in total, out of 115 justices in total. The first Catholic justice, Roger B. Taney, was appointed chief justice in 1836 by Andrew Jackson. The second, Edward Douglass White, was appointed as an associate justice in 1894, but also went on to become chief justice. Joseph McKenna, appointed in 1898, was the third Catholic justice. Pierce Butler, appointed in 1923, and Frank Murphy, appointed in 1940, were also Catholic justices.
In 2005, John Roberts became the third Catholic Chief Justice and the fourth Catholic on the court. At this time, Catholics became the majority on the court for the first time in its history. On January 31, 2006, Samuel Alito became the fifth Catholic justice, and on August 6, 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the sixth.
As of 2020, six out of nine Supreme Court Justices were Catholic. These included Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
The overrepresentation of Catholics on the Supreme Court has been a cause for concern, with some critics derisively referring to the court as "a Catholic boys' club." The court's composition has also been described as a step forward from former views of Catholicism as "un-American."
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Two-thirds of the court were raised Catholic
The demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States encompass the gender, ethnicity, and religious, geographic, and economic backgrounds of the 116 people who have been appointed and confirmed as justices to the Supreme Court. For its first 180 years, justices were almost always white male Protestants of Anglo or Northwestern European descent. Prior to the 20th century, a few Catholics were appointed, but concerns about diversity on the court were mainly in terms of geographic diversity.
The first Catholic justice, Roger B. Taney, was appointed chief justice in 1836 by Andrew Jackson. The second, Edward Douglass White, was appointed as an associate justice in 1894, but also went on to become chief justice. Joseph McKenna was appointed in 1898, placing two Catholics on the court until White's death in 1921. This period marked the beginning of an inconsistently observed "tradition" of having a "Catholic seat" on the court.
In 2005, John Roberts became the third Catholic Chief Justice and the fourth Catholic on the court. Shortly thereafter, Samuel Alito became the fifth on the court, and the eleventh in the history of the court. Alito's appointment gave the court a Catholic majority for the first time in its history. In contrast to historical patterns, the court has gone from having a "'Catholic seat' to being what some have characterized as a "Catholic court".
With Breyer's appointment in 1994, there were two Catholic justices, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy, and two Jewish justices, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Clarence Thomas, who had been raised as a Catholic but had attended an Episcopal church after his marriage, returned to Catholicism later in the 1990s. For the first time in the history of the court, Protestants were no longer an absolute majority. The first Catholic plurality on the court occurred in 2005, when Chief Justice Rehnquist was succeeded in office by Chief Justice John Roberts, who became the fourth sitting Catholic justice.
In 2020, six of the nine Supreme Court Justices were Catholic. They were Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Two-thirds of the current Supreme Court were raised in the Catholic faith, though Catholics make up only about 20 percent of the U.S. population.
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The first Catholic justice was appointed in 1836
The first Catholic justice, Roger B. Taney, was appointed chief justice in 1836 by President Andrew Jackson. He was the fifth Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, succeeding John Marshall. Taney was initially nominated in 1835 to fill a vacancy left by retiring Associate Justice Gabriel Duvall, but the Senate did not reach a decision before the end of its session. After the Democrats gained more seats in the 1834 and 1835 Senate elections, Jackson re-nominated Taney in July 1835. Despite opposition from the Whig Party, Taney was confirmed by the Senate in March 1836 and sworn into office on March 28, 1836.
Taney's appointment marked a significant shift in the demographics of the Supreme Court, which had previously been dominated by white male Protestants of Anglo or Northwestern European descent. While a few Catholics had been appointed to the Court prior to the 20th century, concerns about diversity focused primarily on geographic representation rather than religious or ethnic diversity. Taney himself was a slave-owning Maryland tobacco farmer who later emancipated the enslaved people he inherited and spoke out against slavery.
During his tenure as Chief Justice, Taney presided over the most notorious Supreme Court decision in American history, Dred Scott v. Sandford (or Dred Scott v. Sanford). In this case, Taney ruled that slaves were property under the Fifth Amendment and that African Americans, whether enslaved or freed, were not U.S. citizens. This decision, issued in the years leading up to the Civil War, fuelled the fire of the abolition movement and permanently damaged Taney's reputation.
Taney served as Chief Justice until his death in 1864, making his tenure the second-longest of any Chief Justice at 28 years. His successor, Salmon Portland Chase, was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln.
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Frequently asked questions
Three out of 17 Chief Justices have been Catholic.
Roger B. Taney, Edward Douglass White, and John Roberts.
There have been 15 Catholic justices out of 115 justices total.
Around 20%-22% of the US population identifies as Catholic.
There are various theories as to why there are so many Catholic justices. One theory is that Republican presidents have been choosing from a pool of increasingly Catholic lawyers. Another theory is that there is a long tradition in the US of Catholics entering the legal profession.
