After making a statistical study of 105 versions of the Supreme Court since its inception, law professor Benjamin H. Barton has concluded that the current Roberts Court is unusual in ways that go beyond the obvious, such as the fact that it is the first to have three women and the first to have no Protestants. According to Barton, it is short on “real life” experiences.

 

The Roberts court is the first in history to have no members who have served in elected office. According to Barton, only two justices in history have worked for a private law firm and both of them are on the current court: Stephen Breyer and Samuel Alito.

 

Of the nine sitting justices, only Sonia Sotomayor has served as a trial court judge and none served in state courts.

 

Supporters of the Roberts court can point to the heavy academic background of the justices, which totals 95 years for all nine. However, Barton views the Roberts court as unusually “cloistered” because most of their experience was in appeals courts. “The mere act of sentencing defendants or witnessing jury verdicts means that trial judges see the effects of their work daily, notes Barton. “Moreover, trial judges have a particularly critical experience of the American justice system: they work with juries. In a time of expanded judicial power, the Court has been notably suspicious of juries.”

-David Wallechinsky

 

How is the Roberts Court Unusual? A Law Professor Counts the Ways (by Robert Barnes, Washington Post)

An Empirical Study of Supreme Court Justice Pre-Appointment Experience (by Benjamin H. Barton, University of Tennessee College of Law)