History UsefulNotes / AmericanCourts

* Earl Warren (1953 – 1969) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower. Previously California's Attorney General and later Governor and the 1948 Republican vice presidential nominee, Warren was the mastermind behind Japanese internment. He seemed to highly regret this decision later in life and [[MustMakeAmends tried to make up for it]] with his Court rulings. Eisenhower nominated him expecting Warren to be a conservative, but he shocked everyone by taking the Court in a highly liberal direction.[[note]]Particularly Eisenhower, who was at the same time being advised that his next appointment would probably have to be a Northeastern liberal Democrat--ultimately picking arch-liberal William J. Brennan of the UsefulNotes/NewJersey Supreme Court--to solidify his standing in the 1956 election.[[/note]] Starting with ''Brown v. Board of Education'', which ended school segregation, the Warren Court gave several rulings which considerably changed American politics. The Warren Court fought against racism and segregation, required states to allow interracial marriage, and ruled in favor of civil rights bills. Other notable achievements of the Warren Court include declaring schools cannot force students to read the Bible or pray, declaring that withholding evidence is illegal, that state legislature districts must be roughly equal in population (“one man, one vote”), that police officers have to [[MirandaWarning tell someone their rights when they are arrested]], that there is a right to privacy, that “actual malice” had to be proven to sue a newspaper for libel, courts have to provide counsel for those who can’t afford one themselves, and that contraceptives are completely legal. Widely controversial during his time, there were many “Impeach Earl Warren” signs across the DeepSouth while he was on the bench. Considered the most powerful Chief Justice besides Marshall, and usually ranks behind only him. As a side note, he also chaired the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was solely responsible for the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, thus earning him a place in [[WhoShotJFK JFK conspiracy lore]].

Third, you should know that as a former British colony, the United States uses UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw system at both the federal and state level (except Louisiana, which, being a former [[UsefulNotes/TheFrenchColonialEmpire French colony]], uses a code based on [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts the French civil-law system]][[note]]Not to be confused with plain "civil law", the branch of the law used to judge non-criminal actions like contracts or lawsuits[[/note]]). This has a strong effect on how courts are set up and what they are and are not allowed to do.

* Roger B. Taney (1836 – 1864) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson. A Marylander and the first Catholic to sit on the Court. He previously served as Attorney General and Secretary of the Treasury, the latter in a recess appointment that was rejected by the Senate. He was previously nominated to an Associate Justice seat, but that nomination wasn’t acted on before the end of that Senate session. While the Marshall Court tended to favor giving power to the federal government in their decisions, the Taney Court usually favored the states. Slavery was becoming the big issue of the country while he was Chief Justice, and a lot of Court decisions during his time have to do with the subject. These include the ''Film/{{Amistad}}'' case. However, one in particular has found its place in the history books – the infamous Dred Scott decision. In 1857's ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', he ruled that African-Americans, whether free men or slaves, were ''not legally citizens of the United States'', could not become free by entering free territory, had no legal rights, and that Congress could not outlaw slavery. Abolitionists' outrage over the ''Dred Scott'' decision was yet another factor pushing the nation closer to the impending [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]]. UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln may or may not have sought to throw Taney in prison (rumors to this effect spread even at the time but evidence has always been lacking), and some in Congress sought to impeach him. Understandably, he's usually called the worst for that case alone. Taney County, Missouri, home of the popular tourist town of Branson, is named for him.

The United States is pretty much the only Western nation that still puts people to death as punishment for a crime - among economically developed countries, you can add Japan, Taiwan, South Korea[[note]]though it hasn't done so since 1997[[/note]], Malaysia, and Singapore. At present, the federal government, the US military, 27 out of 50 states, and American Samoa retain the death penalty. A 28th state (New Mexico) still has inmates on death row because they only abolished the death penalty in the past few years and the state legislation signed did not make the ban retroactive; conversely, when New Jersey (2007), Illinois (2011), Maryland (2013), and Colorado (2020) passed legislation abolishing the death penalty their governors also commuted the sentences of those already on death row to life imprisonment instead (Connecticut's didn't when similar legislation was passed in 2012 but its Supreme Court ruled the ban had to be retroactive a few years later). Note that having the death penalty available on the books does not mean it'll actually be used in a qualifying verdict. Seven retention states (Arizona, California, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania) have a moratorium in place which basically suspended it until further notice (in North Carolina's case, because the state's medical board refuses to allow any of its members to participate in any further executions and the state cannot carry one out without it); six other states haven't conducted any executions since 2010. The federal government executed 13 people in the last seven months of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's presidency (July 2020–January 2021) after having carried out no executions since 2003. One of these was the first federal execution of a woman since 1953.[[note]]Admittedly, this particular case was especially grotesque. The perp had driven from her home in Kansas to Missouri, strangled a pregnant woman, performed a crude C-section, and went home with the baby, leaving the mother to die. (The baby survived and was returned to the father after the perp was arrested.) The kidnapping was under federal jurisdiction once she took the baby because she crossed into Missouri to commit the crime. The federal kidnapping statute allows for the death penalty if any innocent party dies as a direct result of the crime.[[/note]]

* Anthony Kennedy (appointed in 1988, served until 2018) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. Born and raised in Sacramento, UsefulNotes/{{California}}. Not related to [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy those]] [[UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy other]] [[UsefulNotes/TedKennedy Kennedys]]. Appointed from the Ninth Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/GeraldFord. Famous for being a swing vote. Something of a libertarian, he believes in states' rights but also believes that some individual rights come first. Gave some rulings that were major gains for the gay community (e.g. ''United States v. Windsor'' (2013), requiring the federal government to recognize gay marriages performed in the US; ''Lawrence v. Texas'' (2003), holding bans on gay sex unconstitutional; and ''Obergefell v. Hodges'' (2015), making same-sex marriage a right nationwide.)

* Sandra Day O'Connor (appointed in 1981, served until 2006) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. First female Justice. Previously served on the Arizona Court of Appeals. While she often sided with the conservative wing, she was a swing vote later on. Immediately after her retirement from the Supreme Court, Arizona State University named its law school after her. Currently the oldest living former Justice, having turned 93 in March 2023.

* Robert H. Jackson (appointed in 1941, served until 1954) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt. Had previously been both Attorney General and Solicitor General under Roosevelt.

* Stanley Matthews (appointed in 1881, served until 1889) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield. Previously a Senator from Ohio. He was initially nominated by UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes, whom he was good friends with, but his nomination drew controversy due to being too close to railroad interests and his nomination was acted on before Hayes left office. His renomination by Garfield was also controversial and he was ultimately confirmed by only one vote, the closest margin in history.

* Fred M. Vinson (1946 – 1953) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/HarryTruman. A member of a prominent Kentucky political family, Vinson had been Truman’s friend since they both served in Congress (Truman as a Senator from Missouri, Vinson in the House from Kentucky) in the 1930s. One of the few people to serve in all three branches; besides representing Kentucky in Congress, he (briefly) served as Truman’s Secretary of the Treasury. He also sat in the D.C. Circuit from 1937 to 1943, having been appointed to the position by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt before resigning to become Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization. Currently the last Chief Justice appointed by a Democrat. Most notable for refusing to hear the appeal of the Hollywood Ten during the early years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

* Stephen Breyer (appointed in 1994, served until 2022) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/BillClinton. Born and raised in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco and appointed from the 1st Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter. Generally on the liberal side. He believes that the point of government policy is to encourage the public and voters to get involved in government decisions.

* Anthony Kennedy (appointed in 1988, served until 2018) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. Born and raised in Sacramento, UsefulNotes/{{California}}. Not related to [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy those]] [[UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy other]] [[UsefulNotes/TedKennedy Kennedys]]. Appointed from the 9th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/GeraldFord. Famous for being a swing vote. Something of a libertarian, he believes in states' rights but also believes that some individual rights come first. Gave some rulings that were major gains for the gay community (e.g. ''United States v. Windsor'' (2013), requiring the federal government to recognize gay marriages performed in the US; ''Lawrence v. Texas'' (2003), holding bans on gay sex unconstitutional; and ''Obergefell v. Hodges'' (2015), making same-sex marriage a right nationwide.)

* John Paul Stevens (appointed in 1975, served until 2010) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/GeraldFord. Appointed from the 7th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. While he was moderately conservative during his appellate court service and early Supreme Court tenure, he had moved to the liberal wing by the end of his service. The longest-lived Justice ever, passing away at age 99 in 2019, and also the second-oldest to serve (behind Oliver Wendell Holmes), retiring about a week before turning 90.
* David Souter (appointed in 1990, served until 2009) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush. Appointed from the 1st Circuit, to which he was also appointed by Bush. Had previously served as Attorney General of New Hampshire and on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. It's said that Bush nominated him because there were no records about his stances on controversial issues, therefore, the Democratic majority of the senate, at that time, had no reason to vote against him. The move backfired when he started becoming a reliable vote for the liberal bloc. He ended up retiring when Democrats had the presidency and a Senate supermajority, giving Obama the chance to easily appoint a young liberal judge like Sotomayor.

* Harry Blackmun (appointed in 1970, served until 1994) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. Appointed from the 8th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower. Author of the majority opinion in ''Roe v. Wade'', the case that made abortion a right. While initially voting similarity to Chief Justice Warren Burger, whom he was good friends with, he eventually became one of the most liberal justices.

* Thurgood Marshall (appointed in 1967, served until 1991) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson. First African-American Justice. Was previously LBJ's Solicitor General and was on the 2nd Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy. As Chief Counsel for the NAACP, he successfully argued many cases before the Supreme Court, most notably ''Brown v. Board of Education''. He was a leader of the liberal bloc. Marshall's name was added to that of Baltimore/Washington International Airport in 2005.

* Potter Stewart (appointed in 1958, served until 1981) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower. Appointed from the 6th Circuit, to which he was also appointed by Eisenhower. Most famous for the phrase "I know it when I see it", stated in his concurring opinion in ''Jacobellis v. Ohio'', a 1964 obscenity case.[[labelnote:Context]]He stated that the Constitution protected all obscenity except "hard-core pornography". The famous phrase was a workaround for what he saw as an almost impossible task of defining exactly what fell within that term.[[/labelnote]] He was a swing vote.

* John Marshall Harlan II (appointed in 1955, served until 1971) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower. Appointed from the 2nd Circuit, to which he was also appointed by Eisenhower. Grandson of the first Justice Harlan (see below). He was generally a conservative.

* Sherman Minton (appointed in 1949, served until 1956) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/HarrySTruman. Appointed from the 7th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt. Had previously served as Senator from Indiana. He was conservative-leaning. The bridge that carries Interstate 64 across the Ohio River from his childhood home of New Albany, Indiana to Louisville bears his name.

* Willis Van Devanter (appointed in 1910, served until 1937) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft. Appointed from the 8th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt. He was one of the conservative "Four Horsemen" during the 1930s.

* Joseph [=McKenna=] (appointed in 1898, served until 1925) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley. Had previously served as [=McKinley=]'s Attorney General, on the 9th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison, and as Representative from California.

* William R. Day (appointed in 1902, served until 1922) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt. Appointed from the 6th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley. Before that, he served as [=McKinley's=] Secretary of State.

* David Josiah Brewer (appointed in 1889, served until 1910) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison. Appointed from the 8th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur. He was the nephew of fellow Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field. He was one of a small number of justices not born in the U.S. -- he was born in modern-day Turkey to American parents.

* Howell Edmunds Jackson (appointed in 1893, served until 1895) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison. Appointed from the 6th Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/GroverCleveland. Previously served as a Senator from Tennessee.
* Samuel Blatchford (appointed in 1882, served until 1893) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur. Appointed from the 2nd Circuit, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes. Had previously served on the District Court for the Southern District of New York to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson.

* Fred M. Vinson (1946 – 1953) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/HarryTruman. A member of a prominent Kentucky political family, Vinson had been Truman’s friend since they both served in Congress (Truman as a Senator from Missouri, Vinson in the House from Kentucky) in the 1930s. One of the few people to serve in all three branches; besides representing Kentucky in Congress, he (briefly) served as Truman’s Secretary of the Treasury. He also sat in the D.C. Circuit from 1937 to 1943, having been appointed to the position by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt before resigning to become Director of the Office of Economic Stabilization. Currently the last Chief Justice appointed by a Democrat. Most notable for refusing to hear the appeal of the Hollywood Ten during the early years of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

* Melville Fuller (1888 – 1910) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/GroverCleveland. From Maine. Fuller avoided military service during the Civil War, and the Senate nearly didn’t confirm him because of this. The phrase “Equal Justice Under Law” – which is engraved on the Supreme Court building – comes from one of his rulings, though it is really a BeamMeUpScotty. The notorious ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' ruling, which legalized racial segregation and gave the world the phrase [[BlatantLies "separate but equal"]] was given during his time on the bench, with Fuller joining the Associate Justice who gave the ruling.

* Earl Warren (1953 – 1969) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower. Previously California's Attorney General and later Governor and the 1948 Republican vice presidential nominee, Warren was the mastermind behind Japanese internment. He seemed to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone highly regret]] this decision later in life and [[MustMakeAmends tried to make up for it]] with his Court rulings. Eisenhower nominated him expecting Warren to be a conservative, but he shocked everyone by taking the Court in a highly liberal direction.[[note]]Particularly Eisenhower, who was at the same time being advised that his next appointment would probably have to be a Northeastern liberal Democrat--ultimately picking arch-liberal William J. Brennan of the UsefulNotes/NewJersey Supreme Court--to solidify his standing in the 1956 election.[[/note]] Starting with ''Brown v. Board of Education'', which ended school segregation, the Warren Court gave several rulings which considerably changed American politics. The Warren Court fought against racism and segregation, required states to allow interracial marriage, and ruled in favor of civil rights bills. Other notable achievements of the Warren Court include declaring schools cannot force students to read the Bible or pray, declaring that withholding evidence is illegal, that state legislature districts must be roughly equal in population (“one man, one vote”), that police officers have to [[MirandaWarning tell someone their rights when they are arrested]], that there is a right to privacy, that “actual malice” had to be proven to sue a newspaper for libel, courts have to provide counsel for those who can’t afford one themselves, and that contraceptives are completely legal. Widely controversial during his time, there were many “Impeach Earl Warren” signs across the DeepSouth while he was on the bench. Considered the most powerful Chief Justice besides Marshall, and usually ranks behind only him. As a side note, he also chaired the Warren Commission, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald was solely responsible for the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy, thus earning him a place in [[WhoShotJFK JFK conspiracy lore]].

* Robert Trimble (appointed in 1826, served until 1828) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/JohnQuincyAdams.

* James F. Byrnes (appointed in 1941, served until 1942) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt. Previously a Senator and Representative from South Carolina. Left the Court to head a key agency in the UsefulNotes/{{homefront|USA}} during WWII; would later serve as Secretary of State and Governor of South Carolina. The last Justice who never attended law school; he apprenticed under a lawyer and "read for the law" before passing the bar exam, still a common practice at the turn of the 20th century. Also has the shortest total tenure of any Justice, having served for a total of 452 days.[[note]]Although both of John Rutledge's stints on the Court as Associate Justice and Chief Justice were shorter, Rutledge's ''total'' service was longer than both Byrnes and Thomas Johnson (below).[[/note]]

* Edward Terry Sanford (appointed in 1923, served until 1930) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/WarrenGHarding. Appointed from the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Middle District of Tennessee, to which he was appointed by UsefulNotes/TheodoreRoosevelt, under whom he had previously served as Assistant Attorney General.

* John Archibald Campbell (appointed in 1853, served until 1861) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/FranklinPierce.

* William Rehnquist (1986 – 2005) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. Swedish-American from UsefulNotes/{{Wisconsin}}. He was an Associate Justice for 14 years before becoming Chief, having been appointed to the position by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon. A conservative Justice, he tried to limit the growth of federal power after decades of liberal expansion. Typically favored states in his decisions. Rehnquist ran the Court fairly after the overbearing Burger alienated the other Justices, which made him well-liked even by those who disagreed with him. (In)famously wore four yellow stripes on his robes after seeing a production of ''Theatre/{{Iolanthe}}'' and liking the Lord Chancellor's robes. Also infamously had to defend himself against charges of racism during his confirmation hearing, as during his time as a clerk to Justice Robert H. Jackson he wrote a memo arguing that ''Plessy v. Ferguson'' should not be overturned. Rehnquist insisted that this memo reflected Justice Jackson's opinion and not his own, and though Jackson's secretary insisted that he never had clerks do this and most scholars of the Court find Rehnquist's explanation implausible, he was easily confirmed. On the other hand Rehnquist on several times wrote opinions that relied on ''Brown v. Board of Education'' as precedent, so if that memo reflected his beliefs at the age of 28 it's unlikely he still believed in segregation by the time of his appointment. He presided over the impeachment trials of UsefulNotes/BillClinton, becoming the second Chief Justice to do so.

* Salmon P. Chase (1864 – 1873) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. The first Chief Justice not from the East Coast (although born in New Hampshire, he was raised in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}--Cincinnati, to be exact). He was a noted abolitionist in the years before the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, and he served as Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. Before that, he served as Senator and Governor of Ohio. During the Civil War, he transformed the American currency system and introduced a modern system of banknotes. Chase was a very vain man and put his face on the bills he designed in an attempt to build up his popular support. He wanted to run for President and had previously challenged Lincoln for the Republican nomination in 1860, but Lincoln convinced him not to on the promise that he'd become Chief Justice when old Taney finally kicked the bucket. Most notable for his support of rights for African Americans and generally ruling in favor of Reconstruction. Chase admitted the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Supreme Court. He presided over the impeachment trial of UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson, the first of three presidential impeachment trials in American history. He would later unsuccessfully seek the Presidential nomination for the Democratic Party in 1868 and the Liberal Republican Party in 1872. The Court expanded from six to nine members while he was Chief Justice. He's on the $10,000 bill, which has been discontinued since 1969. He is the namesake of Chase Bank, one of the nation's largest, although he had nothing to do with its founding. A law school that started its life in Cincinnati and moved across the Ohio River when it was taken over by Northern Kentucky University also bears his name.

* Salmon P. Chase (1864 – 1873) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. The first Chief Justice not from the East Coast (although born in New Hampshire, he was raised in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}--Cincinnati, to be exact). He was a noted abolitionist in the years before the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, and he served as Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. Before that, he served as Senator and Governor of Ohio. During the Civil War, he transformed the American currency system and introduced a modern system of banknotes. Chase was a very vain man and put his face on the bills he designed in an attempt to build up his popular support. He wanted to run for President and had previously challenged Lincoln for the Republican nomination in 1860, but Lincoln convinced him not to on the promise that he'd become Chief Justice when old Taney finally kicked the bucket. Most notable for his support of rights for African Americans and generally ruling in favor of Reconstruction. Chase admitted the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Supreme Court. He presided over the impeachment trial of UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson, the first of three presidential impeachment trials in American history. The Court expanded from six to nine members while he was Chief Justice. He's on the $10,000 bill, which has been discontinued since 1969. He is the namesake of Chase Bank, one of the nation's largest, although he had nothing to do with its founding. A law school that started its life in Cincinnati and moved across the Ohio River when it was taken over by Northern Kentucky University also bears his name.

* Salmon P. Chase (1864 – 1873) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. The first Chief Justice not from the East Coast (although born in New Hampshire, he was raised in UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}}--Cincinnati, to be exact). He was a noted abolitionist in the years before the UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, and he served as Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasury. Before that, he served as Senator and Governor of Ohio. During the Civil War, he transformed the American currency system and introduced a modern system of banknotes. Chase was a very vain man and put his face on the bills he designed in an attempt to build up his popular support. He wanted to run for President, but Lincoln convinced him not to on the promise that he'd become Chief Justice when old Taney finally kicked the bucket. Most notable for his support of rights for African Americans and generally ruling in favor of Reconstruction. Chase admitted the first African-American attorney to argue a case before the Supreme Court. He presided over the impeachment trial of UsefulNotes/AndrewJohnson, the first of three presidential impeachment trials in American history. The Court expanded from six to nine members while he was Chief Justice. He's on the $10,000 bill, which has been discontinued since 1969. He is the namesake of Chase Bank, one of the nation's largest, although he had nothing to do with its founding. A law school that started its life in Cincinnati and moved across the Ohio River when it was taken over by Northern Kentucky University also bears his name.

* John Marshall Harlan (appointed in 1877, served until 1911) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes. Most famous for being the sole dissenter in ''Plessy v. Ferguson''; his position would be {{vindicated|ByHistory}} in 1954 with the ''Brown'' decision. Had previously served as Attorney General of Kentucky. As noted above, his grandson of the same name would also serve on the Court.

* Roger B. Taney (1836 – 1864) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson. A Marylander and the first Catholic to sit on the Court. While the Marshall Court tended to favor giving power to the federal government in their decisions, the Taney Court usually favored the states. Slavery was becoming the big issue of the country while he was Chief Justice, and a lot of Court decisions during his time have to do with the subject. These include the ''Film/{{Amistad}}'' case. However, one in particular has found its place in the history books – the infamous Dred Scott decision. In 1857's ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', he ruled that African-Americans, whether free men or slaves, were ''not legally citizens of the United States'', could not become free by entering free territory, had no legal rights, and that Congress could not outlaw slavery. Abolitionists' outrage over the ''Dred Scott'' decision was yet another factor pushing the nation closer to the impending [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]]. UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln may or may not have sought to throw Taney in prison (rumors to this effect spread even at the time but evidence has always been lacking), and some in Congress sought to impeach him. Understandably, he's usually called the worst for that case alone. Taney County, Missouri, home of the popular tourist town of Branson, is named for him.

* Sandra Day O'Connor (appointed in 1981, served until 2006) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan. First female Justice. Previously served on the Arizona Court of Appeals. While she often sided with the conservative wing, she was a swing vote later on. Immediately after her retirement from the Supreme Court, Arizona State University named its law school after her. Currently the oldest living former Justice, having turned 92 in March 2022.

* Stanley Matthews (appointed in 1881, served until 1889) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield. Previously a Senator from Ohio.

-->-- '''UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft''', President of the United States (1909-1913) and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1921-1930)

* New York has a perversely complicated court system, made even more so by the weird naming. The New York Supreme Court is a trial court, akin to the Superior Court in California; the intermediate appeals court is the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court; and the high court of the state is the Court of Appeals. (This isn't even getting into the half-dozen other courts in the state.)

* Louisiana has a Civil Law system modeled on the Napoleonic Code, rather than the English [[UsefulNotes/TheCommonLaw Common Law]] system practiced everywhere else. Again, the distinction is largely insignificant unless you are a defendant or lawyer, although it does mean that LoopholeAbuse is easier in Louisiana courts than elsewhere: one of the features of the common law is that the judge has extensive power to declare "no loopholes", especially in civil cases; the [[UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts French law]], developed out of a visceral hatred of judge-made law (see [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki's]] article on the ''ancien regime'' ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlement parlements]]'' for why), has no such provision.

* Mahlon Pitney (appointed in 1912, served until 1922) – Nominated by UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft. Previously a Representative from New Jersey.

This is where the action (and the [[CourtroomAntic antics]]) takes place. Federal trial courts are known as "District Courts" and serve a judicial district consisting of all or part of a state. The names of these courts can get kind of weird; for instance, the federal District Court for the Central District of UsefulNotes/{{California}} is based in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles (the Southern District being in San Diego). State trial courts have different names depending on the state, but in fiction they'll invariably be called "Superior Courts" because that's what California calls them and [[CreatorProvincialism the rest of the country is just like California, right]]?

* '''Pleadings''' - in which the plaintiff accuses the defendant of wronging them in a ''complaint''. This must be served upon the defendant, and a whole cottage industry of "process servers" exists to make sure the defendant physically receives the papers.[[note]]If you've ever seen ''Film/PineappleExpress'', it's what Creator/SethRogen's character [[OneHourWorkWeek nominally]] does for a living.[[/note]] Usually today, the defendant is mailed the complaint and the process server is only brought in if the defendant doesn't respond to the mailing, although as you might expect there are variations state to state (for instance, in Pennsylvania, process must be served by the county sheriff or one of the county sheriff's deputies, unless you're serving someone in Philadelphia, where you can use a private process server instead; on the other hand, across the Delaware in New Jersey, there are circumstances where all you have to do is send the papers by regular U.S. Mail and Certified Mail, return receipt requested, and then hope the certified mail is not returned as undeliverable). The defendant typically responds by an ''answer'' to the complaint, which very often will include their own complaints against the plaintiff(s) and possibly also against third-parties at the same time (which they are required to bring in the same case or else risk losing the opportunity to ever plead them under a doctrine known as "''res judicata''" or "''claim preclusion''"). Alternatively, the defendant can make any of several motions or pleadings, depending on the procedural rules of the jurisdiction, that seek to have the complaint dismissed or parts of it stricken on procedural grounds.