How many Republicans and Democrats are on the US Supreme Court?

Answer 1

Supreme Court justices aren't classified by political party, but by ideology (variations on conservatism, centrism, and liberalism).

Presidents try to nominate justices whom they believe will represent their views and extend their power and influence beyond their term(s) of office. George W. Bush nominated Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito, both right-oriented men who help form the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court developed during the Reagan-Bush era.

It's not necessarily possible to infer a Supreme Court justice's ideology according to the nominating President's political party, however. Justice Souter, who retired in June 2009, was socially progressive, despite being nominated by President George HW Bush. Justice Stevens is also liberal, although he was nominated by President Gerald Ford, a moderate Republican.

The United States' newest Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, but considers herself an independent (the American Bar Association indicates her record of jurisprudence tends toward centrism).

Perhaps most extreme modern examples of ideological mismatch occurred between President Eisenhower, a conservative, and his choice of Chief Justice, Earl Warren, a progressive who was instrumental in advancing civil rights and individual liberties. In fact, of Eisenhower's five Supreme Court appointments, three (Earl Warren, William Brennan, and Potter Stewart) were consistently liberal; one (Charles Evans Whittaker) was a centrist; and one (John Marshall Harlan II) was an intellectual conservative who supported desegregation.

Eisenhower's appointments had the unintended effect of tipping the Supreme Court from conservative to liberal, and may be the reason the Senate Judiciary Committee began screening nominees more thoroughly (Harlan wasn't the first candidate to endure a Senate Judiciary hearing, but his confirmation marked an era of increased Senate scrutiny).


For more information about the current Supreme Court justices' ideological patterns, see Related Questions, below.

Answer 2

4 republicans 3 democrats

Answer 3

5 rep 4dem