# newest justice to the supreme court?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 3, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252 "2003-09-03T01:58:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![the\_duke\_69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@the\_duke\_69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_duke_69)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252/1 "2003-09-03T01:58:29Z")

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Who is the most recent appointed justice to the supreme court? thanks for all the help.

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**Author:** ![randomlyblanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@randomlyblanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randomlyblanks)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252/2 "2003-09-03T02:05:46Z")

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Steven Breyer

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252/3 "2003-09-03T05:47:35Z")

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Two words, while they fully answer the question, hardly qualifies as “all the help”. So:

The sitting justices of the USSC in seniority order

Nixon nominations  
William Rehnquist (sworn in January 7, 1972 - sworn in as Chief Justice September 26, 1986 - age 80)

Ford nominations  
John Paul Stevens (sworn in December 19, 1975 - age 83)

Reagan nominations  
Sandra Day O’Connor (sworn in September 25, 1981 - age 73)  
Antonin Scalia (sworn in September 26, 1986 - age 67)  
Anthony M. Kennedy (sworn in February 18, 1988 - age 67)

Bush nominations  
David Souter (sworn in October 9, 1990 - age 64)  
Clarence Thomas (sworn in October 23, 1991.- age 55)

Clinton nominations  
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (sworn in August 10, 1993 - age 70)  
Stephen Breyer (sworn in August 3, 1994 - age 65)

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**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newest-justice-to-the-supreme-court/199252/4 "2003-09-03T15:00:32Z")

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Former Associate Justice Rehnquist became Chief when Reagan elevated him upon the resignation of Chief Justice Warren Burger. Most chief justices had not previously been members of the Court, although according to ongoing speculation in legal circles it seems likely that if the current Chief retires anytime soon the next chief will be elevated from the eight associate justices.

–Cliffy