Eight Jewish justices have served on the United States Supreme Court, starting with Louis Brandeis in 1916 and running through Elena Kagan, who joined in 2010 and is the only Jewish justice on the nine-member bench as of 2026.
The Eight Justices, in Order
Louis Brandeis was the first, nominated by Woodrow Wilson in 1916. His faith alone drew fierce opposition. Former President William Howard Taft called the nomination “an evil and a disgrace,” six former presidents of the American Bar Association formally opposed it, and both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times labeled Brandeis a radical. The backlash forced the Senate to hold its first-ever Judiciary Committee hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. Confirmation took four months, and the final vote was 47–22.1U.S. Capitol Visitor Center. Senate Resolution to Advise and Consent to the Appointment of Louis D. Brandeis Over nearly two decades on the bench, Brandeis shaped foundational ideas on privacy and argued in dissent that individual states could “serve as a laboratory” for social and economic experiments.2National Archives. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and Social Justice
Benjamin Cardozo came second, nominated by Herbert Hoover in 1932 after serving as chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals. He died in office in 1938, less than six years into his tenure. His most celebrated opinions on tort and contract law actually came from his New York years, and judges still cite them.3Justia. Justice Benjamin Nathan Cardozo
Felix Frankfurter took his seat in 1939 under Franklin D. Roosevelt and served twenty-three years, the longest tenure of any Jewish justice. He became the Court’s leading voice for judicial restraint, arguing that justices should not “pronounce policy” and should uphold laws unless a constitutional violation was obvious. That philosophy produced a narrow view of First Amendment protections and a reluctance to intervene in redistricting disputes.4Oyez. Felix Frankfurter
Arthur Goldberg was nominated by John F. Kennedy in 1962 and served only three years before stepping down at President Lyndon Johnson’s request to become Ambassador to the United Nations. In that short time he wrote the concurrence in Griswold v. Connecticut, arguing that the Ninth Amendment protects fundamental rights beyond those listed in the first eight amendments.5Justia. Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 (1965)
Abe Fortas replaced Goldberg in 1965, nominated by Johnson. He wrote the majority in In re Gault, which established due process rights for juveniles in delinquency proceedings, and Tinker v. Des Moines, protecting student speech in public schools. His tenure ended in 1969 after Life magazine reported he had accepted a $20,000 fee from the family foundation of a financier later convicted of securities fraud. He returned the money and resigned.6Justia. Justice Abe Fortas
Then came a twenty-four-year gap. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, nominated by Bill Clinton in 1993, had argued six landmark gender discrimination cases before the Court as director of the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project. As a justice, she wrote the majority opinion in United States v. Virginia (1996), striking down the Virginia Military Institute’s men-only admissions policy. She served until her death on September 18, 2020.7Supreme Court of the United States. Biography of Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer, also nominated by Clinton, joined in 1994 and retired in 2022. His approach to restraint differed from Frankfurter’s: he focused on the real-world consequences of legal rulings and favored pragmatic interpretation over strict textualism, a position he laid out in his book Reading the Constitution: Why I Chose Pragmatism, Not Textualism.8Oyez. Stephen G. Breyer
Elena Kagan, nominated by Barack Obama in 2010, is the eighth and most recent. She has emphasized writing opinions that non-lawyers can follow. In the 2024–2025 term alone, she authored opinions on FCC regulatory authority, trademark infringement, and Fourth Amendment use-of-force standards.9Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members
The Informal “Jewish Seat”
For more than fifty years an unwritten rule held that one seat on the Court belonged to a Jewish jurist. The chain ran from Brandeis through Cardozo, Frankfurter, Goldberg, and Fortas without interruption, and presidents of both parties felt pressure to maintain it. The idea was never codified, but it carried real weight: when a Jewish justice left, another Jewish nominee was expected to follow.
The tradition ended when Fortas resigned in 1969. Richard Nixon had no interest in continuing the custom and eventually filled the seat with Harry Blackmun, a Methodist. The Court had no Jewish member from that point until Ginsburg arrived in 1993. Modern nominations weigh professional qualifications, judicial philosophy, and broad demographic diversity rather than reserving a chair for any single faith, so the number of Jewish justices at any given time can range from zero to three depending on individual nominations.
No Religious Test for the Bench
Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” The prohibition applies to all executive and judicial officers.10Constitution Annotated. Article VI, Clause 3 – Oaths of Office A president can consider a nominee’s background, and senators can ask about judicial philosophy shaped by personal beliefs, but no one can be formally disqualified from the Court because of their faith or lack of one.
The Court’s Religious Composition in 2026
The current nine justices break down this way: six Catholics (Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Thomas, Alito, Sotomayor, Kavanaugh, and Barrett), two Protestants (Justice Gorsuch, who is Episcopalian, and Justice Jackson), and one Jewish justice (Kagan).9Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members That makes the current bench the most Catholic in the Court’s history and places Jewish representation at its lowest point since 1993.
Whether the count rises again depends on future vacancies. The eight Jewish justices who have served so far shaped privacy rights, due process for juveniles, gender equality, the reach of the Ninth Amendment, and competing theories of judicial restraint.11Supreme Court Historical Society. Backgrounds of the Justices