Current Supreme Court Justices and Who Appointed Them (2024)

On Monday, an initial draft majority opinion of the Supreme Court was leaked to the public, showing the court intends to vote to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which guaranteed broad access to abortion in every state.

The final decision from the court is expected in roughly two months, but the leaked majority opinion suggests that anti-abortion activists will be declaring a victory, overturning the 1973 legislation. The leaked draft, revealed and obtained by Politico, said that abortion rights should be determined individually by each state.

The court has become increasingly partisan since October 2020, when in the final weeks of Donald Trump's presidency, it gained a six-three supermajority of conservative over liberal judges.

Here are the Supreme Court Justices and the presidents that appointed them:

John Roberts, chief justice of the United States

Robert is a conservative judge who was appointed by George W. Bush as chief justice of the court in 2005, taking his seat on September 29 that year.

The New York-born judge was previously United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2003, and formerly served as an associate counsel to President Ronald Reagan and in the White House. Later, between 1989 and 1993, he was the principal deputy solicitor general at the U.S Department of Justice.

His track record suggests he supports some abortion restrictions, but it is not yet clear how he will vote on whether to uphold Roe v. Wade.

Clarence Thomas, associate justice

President George Bush nominated Thomas as an associate justice and he took his seat on October 23, 1991.

The Georgia native worked as assistant secretary for civil rights, U.S. Department of Education and chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission during the 1980s. Between 1990 and 1991, he served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Thomas has previously tried to say that abortion rights were opened by the eugenics movement —a debunked theory from the early 1900s that said white Caucasians had superior genes. However, an author of one of the main works that Thomas cited about abortion discredited the judge's claims in an article for The Atlantic.

Stephen Breyer, associate justice

President Bill Clinton nominated Breyer as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat on August 3, 1994.

Breyer has experience serving as a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals, as well as lecturing in places such as Harvard Law School and the universities of Sydney and Rome.

Breyer has announced his intention to return at the end of the 2021-2022 term and will be succeeded by Kentaji Brown Jackson, who will be the first Black woman to serve as a justice in the court.

Unlike Thomas and Roberts, Breyer has demonstrated his commitment to protecting sexual and reproductive rights, including abortion.

Samuel A. Alito, associate justice

George W. Bush nominated Alito as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat on January 31, 2006.

Alito was previously appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 1990. He also has previous stints working for the U.S. Department of Justice.

The leaked majority opinions to strike back Roe v. Wade was written by Alito, who said it was "egregiously wrong from the start."

Sonia Sotomayor, associate justice

Bronx-born Sotomayor attended Princeton University and Yale Law School, before going on to work as assistant district attorney for the New York County District Attorney's Office between 1979 and 1984. After going into commercial law at Pavia & Harcourt between 1984 and 1992, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she took her seat on August 8, 2009.

Sotomayor, along with the other two Democratic-appointed justices, are working on one or more dissents to overturn Roe v. Wade, a person familiar with the court's deliberations told Politico.

Elena Kagan, associate justice

Obama nominated Kagan as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 10, 2010. She took her seat on August 7, 2010. She has repeatedly voted in favor of abortion rights.

Prior to that, she was Solicitor General of the United States and served for four years in the Clinton Administration.

Neil M. Gorsuch, associate justice

Gorsuch was nominated to the court by President Donald Trump, assuming his seat on April 10, 2017. He previously taught at the University of Colorado Law school, and on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. In his 10 year-tenure on Colorado's 10th Circuit, he never ruled on abortion rights.

Brett M. Kavanaugh, associate justice

Trump nominated Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat on October 6, 2018.

He was previously Associate Counsel and then Senior Associate Counsel to President George W. Bush, and Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary for Bush. In 2006, he was appointed a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Kavanaugh has consistently supported abortion restrictions.

Amy Coney Barrett, associate justice

Barrett was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was nominated by Trump as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. She took her seat on October 27, 2020.

She was previously a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and before that she was a law professor at Notre Dame Law School, Indiana.

Barrett has previously argued that abortions aren't necessary because women can always give their babies up for adoption.

Although she was praised by Republicans for being the first anti-abortion female judge appointed to the bench and is outspoken about her Catholic faith, Barrett so far has not revealed much about her views on Roe v. Wade.