exist republicJustice Gorsuch recounted a story told by his former boss, Justice White:
These days, I sometimes think back to a day a quarter-century ago when, as a law clerk, I walked along the ground floor corridors of the Supreme Court with my boss, Judge Byron White. As we passed portrait after portrait of former judges, he asked me to name a few of them. As much as I’d like to impress my boss, I admit the answer is about half. I was surprised when the judge said, “Me too. We will soon be forgotten.”
Judge White is right.
At a recent event, Justice Kavanaugh mentioned Justice Robert Jackson, adding, “Or as we like to call him, the first Justice Jackson.” Oops.
Everyone knows Justice Robert Houghwout Jackson, who served from 1941 to 1954. ). Appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, he served from 1893 to 1895. KBJ was the third Jackson Justice.
Shortly before KBJ’s appointment, I listed other judges with the same last name:
- Chief Justice John Marshall (1801-1835) and Justice Thurgood Marshall (1967-1991)
- Judge John Rutledge (1790-1791) and Judge Willie Rutledge (1943-1949)
- Judge Thomas Johnson (1792-1793) and William Johnson (1804-1834)
- Justice Samuel Chase (1796-1811) and Chief Justice Salmon Chase (1864-1873)
- Justice John Marshall Harlan I (1877-1911) and Justice John Marshall Harlan II (1955-1971)
- Judge Lucius Quint C. Lamar (1888-1893) and Judge Joseph Rucker Lamar (1911-1916) – (they were cousins)
- Justice Edward Douglas White (1894-1910) and Justice Byron White (1962-1993)
- Justice John Hessin Clarke (1916-1922) and Justice Tom C. Clark (1945-1967) – (spelling close enough)
- Justice Owen Josephs Roberts (1930-1945) and Chief Justice John C. Roberts (2005-present)
