with an ax in Fall River, Massachusetts. Moody assisted in the prosecution even though the crime took place outside the Eastern District of Massachusetts, where he was district attorney. Borden was acquitted.
Which Supreme Court justices have been Catholic?
The first Catholic appointed to the Court was Chief Justice Roger Taney, nominated to the Court by President Andrew Jackson in 1835. The other Catholic justices are: Edward D. White, Joseph McKenna, Pierce Butler, Frank Murphy, William Brennan, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito.
Which U.S. Supreme Court justices have been Jewish?
The first Jewish justice was Louis Brandeis, nominated to the Court by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916. The other Jewish justices are Benjamin Cardozo, Felix Frankfurter, Arthur J. Goldberg, Abe Fortas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer.
Who was the tallest U.S. Supreme Court justice?
Horace Gray, who served on the Court from 1882 to 1902, was the tallest justice at six feet six inches tall. Gray reached this height at the age of thirteen.
Who was the shortest U.S. Supreme Court justice?
Alfred Moore, who served on the Court from 1800 to 1804, was the smallest justice at less than five feet tall and weighing less than 90 pounds.
Which justice was disbarred twice?
Justice Stephen Field was disbarred twice while serving in an administrative position in Marysville, California. He was also jailed for contempt of court. The setbacks proved to be temporary as Field later served six years on the California Supreme Court before his thirty-four-year tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Who is the only Supreme Court justice to play the role of a justice in a movie?
Justice Harry Blackmun starred as Justice Joseph Story in the movie Amistad in 1997. The Steven Spielberg–directed movie was popular with audiences and garnered four Academy Award nominations.
Which U.S. Supreme Court justice has made more than one singing appearance at the Washington Opera?
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg participated with Justice Antonin Scalia as an extra in 1994 for a production of Ariadne auf Naxos. In 2003, Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Anthony Kennedy served as extras for a 2003 production of Die Fledermaus. Ginsburg had said that if she could pick any career, it would be an opera singer.
U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lover of opera, has appeared as a singing extra in two different productions. Getty Images.
Which justice participated in a National Public Radio trivia quiz?
In 2007, Justice Stephen Breyer participated in National Public Radio’s news quiz show, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” He was asked three rock-n-roll questions—relating to David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Ozzy Osbourne—and missed them all.
Who were the nation’s first three chief justices?
The first three chief justices of the U.S. Supreme Court were John Jay, John Rutledge, and Oliver Ellsworth. Jay served from 1789 to 1795. Rutledge, who had served as an associate justice from 1789 to 1791, served as chief justice for only five months in 1795. He was a recess appointment and the Senate rejected his nomination. Ellsworth served from 1796 to 1800 after sitting associate justice William Cushing became the second chief justice nominee of President George Washington to be rejected by the Senate in 1796.
Which justices served on these first three courts?
Twelve justices served on the courts of John Jay, John Rutledge (who also served as an associate justice), and Oliver Ellsworth. Besides the chief justices themselves, the justices were William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, Thomas Johnson, William Paterson, Samuel Chase, Bushrod Washington, and Alfred Moore.
What positions did Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth hold before serving as chief justice?
John Jay had a distinguished political career in his home state of New York, including serving as a delegate at the Continental Congress and later becoming president of that colonial governmental body. He also served as chief justice of the New York state court, minister to Spain, and secretary of foreign affairs under President George Washington. He acted as a special envoy to Great Britain while serving as chief justice of the Supreme Court, which led to the adoption of a treaty between the two nations called the Jay Treaty.
John Rutledge also had a distinguished political career from his home state of South Carolina. He served as a member of the South Carolina Commons House of Assembly, acting South Carolina attorney general, a member of the Continental Congress, president of the South Carolina General Assembly, governor of South Carolina, judge of the Chancery Court of South Carolina, and chief member of the South Carolina delegation to the Philadelphia Convention (which formed the U.S. Constitution). Rutledge also served as an associate justice on the Court for seventeen months.
Oliver Ellsworth had an impressive political career in his home state of Connecticut, serving as a member of the Connecticut General Assembly, the Hartford County state attorney, a member of the Continental Congress, a judge on the Connecticut Superior Court, a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention, and U.S. senator. He also served as commissioner to France while he served as chief justice.
What position did President George Washington first offer to Jay?
President Washington first offered Jay the position of secretary of state, which Jay declined. Then, Washington made him the nation’s first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Why did these chief justices leave the Court?
Jay left the Court to become governor of New York, a position he coveted more than the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The Court in those early days was not considered a top position, as many early justices left for state positions or state judgeships.
Rutledge first served as one of the Court’s original six associate justices, though he never actually heard a case on the Court due to illness. Rutledge did hear some cases in his capacity of “riding circuit,” as the Judiciary Act of 1789 required Supreme Court justices to serve as circuit court judges. Rutledge left the Court as an associate justice for what he considered a better position—chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.
In July 1795, President Washington appointed Rutledge to the position of chief justice while Congress was in recess (a so-called recess appointment). However, Rutledge had to leave the Court after the U.S. Senate failed to confirm him by a vote of 14–10. Many senators opposed Rutledge’s nomination because of political
