All 116 justices: who appointed them, whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat, and how each one actually voted. Plus the landmark rulings that shaped the country, sorted by what they did.
Each column is one year: how many seated justices leaned which way, and which party's president appointed them. Tap a year to see that Court above.
From 1937 on, lean comes from Martin-Quinn voting scores; before that it is a labeled historians' assessment, and before 1865 most justices are not rated.
A term runs from October to the following summer and is named for the year it starts. "After argument" is the Court's main (plenary) docket: cases briefed, argued and decided with a full opinion. "Summary" decisions are unsigned rulings issued without oral argument. "Other" covers 4–4 ties, which leave the lower court's ruling in place, and decrees. The Court also turns down several thousand requests to hear cases each year; those are not counted here.
Share of each term's decisions coded liberal or conservative by the Supreme Court Database, which judges the outcome relative to the parties in each case (for example, a ruling for a criminal defendant or a civil rights claimant counts as liberal). Its coding is standard in political science but sometimes differs from how the public sees a case. Decisions with no clear direction are left out.
Tap a justice for how their lean was decided, what they're known for and, since 1937, how their voting changed year by year.
Sorted by what the ruling did, not who decided it. Tap one for the vote, who wrote it, and which party's presidents appointed the majority and the dissenters.
Appointed by. Every justice shows the president who appointed them and that president's party: Republican, Democratic, or for the early Court, Federalist, Democratic-Republican or Whig. Washington belonged to no party.
Lean, 1937 on. Political scientists Andrew Martin and Kevin Quinn score every justice every term from their actual votes. Below zero is liberal, above zero conservative. A justice's lean here is the average of their yearly scores: Liberal (−1 or lower), Leans liberal (−1 to −0.5), Moderate (−0.5 to 0.5), Leans conservative (0.5 to 1), Conservative (1 or higher). Justices who moved a lot are flagged.
Lean, 1865–1936. No voting scores exist, so these are labeled as a historians' assessment, with the reason given. Justices whose record is thin or mixed are left "Not rated."
Before 1865. Today's left and right don't fit the early Court's main fights, over federal versus state power and slavery, so these justices are not rated; each card says what they're known for instead.
Rulings. Liberal-leaning means the outcome liberals generally sought: wider civil rights and liberties, more protection for people accused of crimes, or more room for government to regulate the economy. Conservative-leaning is the reverse, including gun rights and limits on federal agencies. Mixed covers rulings about how government is structured and split decisions.
Sources. Justices, votes and dates: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth, Epstein, Martin, Segal, Ruger & Benesh), via the JUDGMENT project, and the Federal Judicial Center. Voting scores: Martin-Quinn scores. Vote lists before 1946 come from the database's older files and a few have been corrected where participation is well documented. Full opinions link to Justia.