List of conservative US justices

This is a list of prominent US justices of the Supreme Court, and other courts, and also prominent legal scholars who are regarded as conservative by scholars.[1][2][3] They believe in conservative judicial philosophy, which usually include judicial restraint, respect for precedence, textualism, originalism and opposition to judicial activism. [4][5][6][7] Many of them are members of the conservative Federalist Society.[8][9]

Supreme Court justices

• Associate Justice Willis Van Devanter [10] (1859–1941; in Supreme Court: 1910–1937)
• Associate Justice James Clark McReynolds [10](1862–1946; in Supreme Court: 1914–1941)
• Associate Justice George Sutherland [10] (1862–1942; in Supreme Court: 1922–1938)
• Associate Justice Pierce Butler [10] (1866–1939; in Supreme Court: 1922–1939)
• Chief Justice William Rehnquist [11] (1924–2005; in Supreme Court as Chief Justice: 1986–2005; as Associate Justice: 1972–1986)
• Associate Justice Antonin Scalia [5] (1936–2016; in Supreme Court: 1986–2016) Also a legal scholar, Scalia is widely regarded as the most important originalist and one of the most influential justices in Supreme Court history.
• Associate Justice Clarence Thomas [12][13][14] (1948–; in Supreme Court: 1991–)
• Associate Justice Samuel Alito [15] (1950–; in Supreme Court: 2006–)

Prominent others

• Raoul Berger [16] (1901–2000; legal scholar, widely regarded as the first prominent originalist)
• Robert Bork [6] (1927–2012; Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Solicitor General, legal scholar and very prominent originalist)
• Edwin Meese [17] (1931–; US Attorney General)
• Richard Posner [18][19] (1939–; Judge of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, legal scholar, economist and very important figure in law and economics)
• Theodore Olson [17] (1940–; US Solicitor General)
• John Ashcroft [17] (1942–; US Attorney General)
• Roger Pilon [20] (1942–; libertarian legal theorist)
• Richard Epstein [21] (1943–; legal scholar and a prominent figure in law and economics)
• Kenneth Starr[22] (1946–; judge, Solicitor General, academic and independent counsel)
• Edith Brown Clement[23] (1948–; judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit)
• Frank H. Easterbrook [24][25] (1948–; Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and legal scholar)
• Alex Kozinski [17] (1950–; Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)
• Randy Barnett [26] (1952–; legal scholar and a prominent originalist)
• Thomas B. Griffith [27] (1954–; Judge of the US Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit)
• Michael W. McConnell [28] (1955–; judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and legal scholar)
• Peter Keisler [29] (1960–; Assistant Attorney General of the United States for Civil Division and co-founder of the Federalist Society)
• Paul Clement[29] (1966–; academic and US Solicitor General)
• Reed O'Connor[30][31] (1965–; U.S. District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas)

See also

• Federalist Society
• Four Horsemen
• Law and economics
• Originalism
• Textualism

References

1. Martin, Andrew D.; Quinn, Kevin M. (2002). "Dynamic Ideal Point Estimation via Markov Chain Monte Carlo for the U.S. Supreme Court, 1953–1999" (PDF). Political Analysis. 10 (2): 134–153. doi:10.1093/pan/10.2.134.
2. Martin, Andrew D.; Quinn, Kevin M. (2 May 2001). "The Dimensions of Supreme Court Decision Making: Again Revisiting The Judicial Mind". CiteSeerX 10.1.1.24.1490. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
3. Martin, Andrew D.; Quinn, Kevin M.; Epstein, Lee (2005). "The Median Justice on the United States Supreme Court". North Carolina Law Review. 83: 1275–1322.
4. https://www.nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/conservatives-and-the-court
5. See "A Matter of Interpretation", supra; see also, A. Scalia, Originalism: the Lesser Evil Archived February 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, 57 U. Cin. L. Rev. 849.
6. See R. Bork, The tempting of America: The political seduction of the law.
7. See R. Barnett, An Originalism for non-Originalists, 45 Loy. L. Rev. 611; R. Barnett, Restoring the Lost Constitution.
8. Fletcher, Michael (July 29, 2005). "What the Federalist Society Stands For". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
9. Farrell, Henry (May 17, 2017). "Trump's values are abhorrent to the Federalist Society of conservative lawyers. That doesn't stop them from helping him". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
10. Ball, Howard. Hugo L. Black: Cold Steel Warrior. Oxford University Press.2006. ISBN 0-19-507814-4. Page 89.
11. Yoo, John (April 27, 2005). "He Advocated Limitations of Public Power". Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 28, 2005. Retrieved October 27, 2008.
12. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (June 27, 2012). "An Older, More Conservative Court". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
13. Totenberg, Nina (October 11, 2011). "Clarence Thomas' Influence On The Supreme Court". NPR. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
14. Toobin, Jeffrey (August 29, 2011). "Partners". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
15. Granick, Jennifer and Sprigman, Christopher (June 27, 2013) "The Criminal N.S.A.", The New York Times
16. Bennett, Robert & Solum, Lawrence (2011). Originalism: A Debate. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. pp. 160–65, 195. ISBN 978-0-8014-4793-8.
17. Carter, Terry (September 2001). "The In Crowd". ABA Journal. 87: 52.
18. Witt, John Fabian (2016-10-07). "The Provocative Life of Judge Richard Posner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
19. "The judicial philosophy of Richard Posner". The Economist. 2017-09-09. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
20. cato.org
21. "Defining Richard Epstein: A renowned libertarian takes on a new mantle | NYU School of Law". www.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved October 7, 2016.
22. DeParle, Jason (2005-08-01). "Debating the Subtle Sway of the Federalist Society". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
23. "Who Is Edith Brown Clement?". ABC News. July 19, 2005. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
24. "ANALYSIS: BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S DECISION TO END THE PRACTICE OF CONSULTING THE ABA ABOUT POTENTIAL NOMINEES FOR FEDERAL JUDGESHIPS BEFORE MAKING THEIR NAMES PUBLIC". National Public Radio. March 23, 2001. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
25. Liptak, Adam (March 30, 2009). "Legal Group's Neutrality Is Challenged". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
26. See R. Burnett. Originalism for non-Originalists, 45 Loy. L. Rev. 611; R. Barnett, Restoring the Lost Constitution.
27. Sarat, Austin (2013). Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Volume 61. Emerald Group Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 9781781906200.
28. "StackPath". fedsoc.org. Archived from the original on 2019-02-16. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
29. Hollis-Brusky, Amanda (2015). Ideas with Consequences: The Federalist Society and the Conservative Counterrevolution. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199385522.
30. Fernandez, Manny (2018-12-15). "In Weaponized Courts, Judge Who Halted Affordable Care Act Is a Conservative Favorite". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
31. "A look at the low-key Texas judge who tossed Obamacare shows a history of notable conservative cases". Dallas News. 2018-12-18. Retrieved 2018-12-22.