U.S. Supreme Court justices
Image by Daderot (Wikimedia)
“And thus commenced the reign of the judges throughout all the land of Zarahemla, among all the people who were called the Nephites; and Alma was the first and chief judge.”
Obviously the answer to the above question is no- I mean Alma didn’t go to Harvard…
Of course good judges can come from other universities! However, it’s interesting that each Supreme Court Justice (listed below) attended either Harvard or Yale, or both.
As in Alma’s time, the United States has chief judges- they’re the Supreme Court. Since its beginning, there’s been about 112 of them. The Supreme Court is made up of one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. Here are some interesting facts about them:
- John G. Roberts, (the Chief Justice of the United States), was born on January 27, 1955 in Buffalo, NY. In high school he studied Latin four years, served as captain of the football team, was a regional champion in wrestling, participated in choir and drama and edited the school newspaper. He graduated Valedictorian. He went to Harvard. In October 2007, he spoke at BYU about importance of the U.S. Constitution. He is the youngest Chief Justice in two centuries. He and his wife have two adopted children. He is Catholic.
- Antonin Scalia, was born on March 11, 1936 in Trenton, NJ. He went to school at Georgetown and Harvard. He taught law at the University of Chicago. He is the longest serving justice (since 1986). He and his wife Maureen McCarthy raised nine children. He is Catholic.
- Anthony Kennedy, was born on July 23, 1936, Sacramento, CA. He attended Stanford and Harvard. He served in National Guard. He is Catholic.
- Clarence Thomas, was born on June 23, 1948 in Pin Point, GA- he is the second African American in the court. He is a descendant of slaves. At age two, his father left the family. His mother worked to support the family. A fire burnt down their home. He was he only black person in high school. He attended Holy Cross and Yale. His first language is Gullah. He is Catholic.
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was born on March 15, 1933, in New York City, NY She is the second female Justice and first Jewish female justice. Her older sister died when she was young and her mother died with cancer the day before her graduation. Her husband Martin Ginsburg died of cancer in June 2010. She studied at Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia.
- Stephen Breyer, was born on August 15, 1938 in San Francisco, California. He and his brother are Eagle scouts. He participated in high school debates. He attended Stanford, Oxford and Harvard. He is fluent in French. He is Jewish.
- Samuel Alito, was born on April 1, 1950 in Trenton NJ. He went to Princeton and Yale. For the first two years of college he was in the ROTC. He became a Captain in the army. He is catholic.
- Sonia Sotomayor, was born on June 25, 1954 in New York City, NY. She’s the 3rd female justice and first Hispanic justice. At age eight she found out she had diabetes, requiring insulin injections. At age eight, her father died. At age ten she knew she would become an attorney. She was Valedictorian in high school. She attended Princeton and Yale. She is catholic.
- Elena Kagan, was born on April 28, 1960 in New York City, NY. She is the fourth female justice. She attended Princeton, Oxford and Harvard. She served as the first female dean of the Harvard Law School. She is Jewish.
“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks.”
-Samuel Adams
My Testament: Once in middle school, some church friends and I took class off and went to a public hearing for senate bill 427. My friend Allen and I spoke against SB 427, because it would redefine the meaning of marriage. Though not all of us will become judges, all of us can have a political voice in standing for what’s right.
cool!