Most Influential Supreme Court Justices Ever

John Marshall

The 'Great Chief Justice' single-handedly built the Court's power from nothing, using Marbury v. Madison in 1803 to invent judicial review out of thin constitutional air. Thirty-four years at the helm let him entrench federal supremacy and contract rights before anyone could seri

Years on Court: 1801–1835Year Confirmed: 1801Chief Justice: ✓Landmark Opinions (approx.): 50 opinionsHistorical Impact: 10/10Still Cited Today: 9/10

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Earl Warren

A former California governor with no judicial background, Warren turned the Court into an engine of social change, unanimously dismantling school segregation in Brown v. Board in 1954. The 'Warren Court' era redefined criminal rights, voting rights, and free speech in ways that s

Years on Court: 1953–1969Year Confirmed: 1953Chief Justice: ✓Landmark Opinions (approx.): 20 opinionsHistorical Impact: 9.5/10Still Cited Today: 8.5/10

added by IJRin 5 rankingsEarl Warren

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Before she was 'Notorious RBG,' Ginsburg was the lawyer who argued gender-discrimination cases before the very Court she'd later join, then spent 27 years writing majority opinions and blistering dissents on equality. Her Ledbetter dissent literally prompted a new federal law. Sh

Years on Court: 1993–2020Year Confirmed: 1993Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 15 opinionsHistorical Impact: 8.5/10Still Cited Today: 8/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsRuth Bader Ginsburg

Thurgood Marshall

Marshall argued Brown v. Board as a lawyer before ever sitting on the bench, then spent 24 years as a justice defending the rights of the poor and marginalized. His lived understanding of how law actually affects people gave his opinions and dissents a moral force rivals lacked.

Years on Court: 1967–1991Year Confirmed: 1967Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 12 opinionsHistorical Impact: 8.5/10Still Cited Today: 7.5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsThurgood Marshall

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Known as 'The Great Dissenter,' Holmes spent three decades arguing for judicial restraint while quietly authoring the free-speech test — 'clear and present danger' — that still governs First Amendment law. His dissents were often ignored in his lifetime, then became majority law

Years on Court: 1902–1932Year Confirmed: 1902Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 20 opinionsHistorical Impact: 8.5/10Still Cited Today: 8/10

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Antonin Scalia

Scalia arrived in 1986 and made originalism a household word, arguing the Constitution means only what its text meant at ratification. His 2008 Heller opinion single-handedly reinterpreted the Second Amendment as an individual right, reshaping gun law nationwide. Even justices wh

Years on Court: 1986–2016Year Confirmed: 1986Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 15 opinionsHistorical Impact: 8.5/10Still Cited Today: 8/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsAntonin Scalia

William Brennan

The quiet strategist of the liberal era, Brennan was the vote-counter and coalition-builder behind many Warren and Burger Court landmarks, from libel law's Sullivan standard to expanding equal protection. He served 34 years, longer than almost anyone, and used that longevity to k

Years on Court: 1956–1990Year Confirmed: 1956Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 18 opinionsHistorical Impact: 8/10Still Cited Today: 7/10

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Louis Brandeis

The first Jewish justice confirmed to the Court, Brandeis pioneered the 'Brandeis Brief,' introducing real-world social science evidence into legal argument for the first time. His concurrences on privacy and free speech, especially in Whitney v. California, laid groundwork for r

Years on Court: 1916–1939Year Confirmed: 1916Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 10 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7.5/10Still Cited Today: 7/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsLouis Brandeis

Sandra Day O'Connor

The first woman on the Supreme Court, O'Connor became the Court's most consequential swing vote for a quarter-century, deciding abortion, affirmative action, and campaign finance cases by herself in the middle. Her 'undue burden' standard in Planned Parenthood v. Casey redefined

Years on Court: 1981–2006Year Confirmed: 1981Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 8 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7.5/10Still Cited Today: 6.5/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsSandra Day O'Connor

William Rehnquist

Rehnquist spent 19 years as Chief Justice steering a federalism revival, reviving states' rights limits on Congress that had lain dormant since the New Deal. He also presided over the Clinton impeachment trial and the contested Bush v. Gore decision in 2000. His tenure proved a d

Years on Court: 1972–2005 (Chief from 1986)Year Confirmed: 1972Chief Justice: ✓Landmark Opinions (approx.): 15 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7.5/10Still Cited Today: 6.5/10

added by IJRin 2 rankingsWilliam Rehnquist

Hugo Black

A former Alabama senator turned absolutist on the First Amendment, Black spent 34 years arguing the Bill of Rights should apply fully against the states, a view that eventually won through incorporation doctrine. His Gideon v. Wainwright opinion guaranteed criminal defendants the

Years on Court: 1937–1971Year Confirmed: 1937Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 10 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7/10Still Cited Today: 6/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsHugo Black

John Marshall Harlan (the Elder)

Harlan stood almost entirely alone in 1896, writing the lone dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson warning that 'separate but equal' would poison the Constitution — a warning vindicated 58 years later in Brown v. Board. He also dissented against limiting the Civil Rights Act's reach in t

Years on Court: 1877–1911Year Confirmed: 1877Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 5 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7/10Still Cited Today: 6.5/10

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Clarence Thomas

Now the longest-serving justice on the current Court, Thomas has spent over three decades as the most consistent originalist voice, often writing solo concurrences pushing colleagues further right on gun rights, affirmative action, and administrative power. Long dismissed as a si

Years on Court: 1991–presentYear Confirmed: 1991Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 8 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7/10Still Cited Today: 7/10

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John Roberts

The current Chief Justice has spent nearly two decades trying to protect the Court's institutional legitimacy while presiding over major shifts on campaign finance, healthcare, and abortion. His surprise vote saving the Affordable Care Act in 2012 remains his defining act of judi

Years on Court: 2005–presentYear Confirmed: 2005Chief Justice: ✓Landmark Opinions (approx.): 10 opinionsHistorical Impact: 7/10Still Cited Today: 7.5/10

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Joseph Story

Appointed at just 32, Story became the Court's first great legal scholar, writing influential commentaries on the Constitution that shaped how generations of lawyers understood federal power. His opinions helped cement admiralty law and federal jurisdiction as national, not state

Years on Court: 1812–1845Year Confirmed: 1812Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 8 opinionsHistorical Impact: 6.5/10Still Cited Today: 5.5/10

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Felix Frankfurter

A Harvard law professor before joining the bench, Frankfurter championed judicial restraint, arguing courts should defer to elected legislatures rather than impose their own values. His influence came less from landmark majorities than from mentoring a generation of clerks and sh

Years on Court: 1939–1962Year Confirmed: 1939Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 6 opinionsHistorical Impact: 6/10Still Cited Today: 5/10

added by IJRin 3 rankingsFelix Frankfurter

Byron White

A former NFL player and JFK appointee, White spent 31 years as a pragmatic centrist who rarely made headlines but wrote hundreds of opinions across nearly every area of law. His dissent in Roe v. Wade and majority in Bowers v. Hardwick marked him as unpredictable, refusing easy i

Years on Court: 1962–1993Year Confirmed: 1962Chief Justice: —Landmark Opinions (approx.): 6 opinionsHistorical Impact: 5.5/10Still Cited Today: 5/10

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Warren Burger

Nixon appointed Burger hoping for a conservative counterweight to the Warren Court, but Burger's tenure ironically produced Roe v. Wade and upheld school busing for desegregation. His 17 years as Chief were marked more by administrative reforms to court efficiency than by a coher

Years on Court: 1969–1986Year Confirmed: 1969Chief Justice: ✓Landmark Opinions (approx.): 8 opinionsHistorical Impact: 5.5/10Still Cited Today: 4.5/10

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