On Monday, the Supreme Court threw out a Texas abortion access law that would have resulted in the closing of all but a handful of clinics in the state. Kennedy (R), Sotomayor (D), Ginsburg (D), Kagan (D), and Breyer (D) were the majority, while Alito (R), Roberts (R), and Thomas (R) were the dissenters.
To better understand the Court’s ruling, here is a closer look at each of the Justices. Note the low religious diversity (five justices are Roman Catholic and the other three are Jewish), educational diversity (all eight received their law degrees from the Ivy League), geographic diversity (five are from the Northeast, two from the West Coast, and one from the South), and racial diversity (six are white, one is Hispanic, and one is black). Thus, the supreme court justices’ demographics should definitely be considered when understanding the Court’s decisions.
Read more about the supreme court justices’ demographics below.
Samuel Alito, Associate Justice
Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey
Party Affiliation: Republican Party
State: New Jersey
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race: White
Education: Princeton University ’72, Yale University Law School ’75
Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice
Birthplace: San Francisco, California
Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
State: Massachusetts
Religion: Jewish
Race: White
Education: Stanford University ’59, Harvard University Law School ’64
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
State: New York
Religion: Jewish
Race: White
Education: Cornell University ’54, Columbia University Law School ’59
Elena Kagan, Associate Justice
Birthplace: New York, New York
Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
State: Massachusetts
Religion: Jewish
Race: White
Education: Princeton University ’81, Harvard University Law School ’86
Anthony Kennedy, Associate Justice
Birthplace: Sacramento, California
Party Affiliation: Republican Party
State: California
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race: White
Education: Stanford University ’58, Harvard University Law School ’61
John Roberts, Chief Justice
Birthplace: Buffalo, New York
Party Affiliation: Republican Party
State: Maryland
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race: White
Education: Harvard University ’76, Harvard University Law School ’79
Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice
Birthplace: New York, New York
Party Affiliation: Democratic Party
State: New York
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race: Hispanic Origin
Education: Princeton University ’76, Yale University Law School ’79
Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice
Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia
Party Affiliation: Republican Party
State: Georgia
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race: Black
Education: College of the Holy Cross ’71, Yale University Law School ’74
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