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25-594: There were eight justices serving on the Supreme Court at the time the Act was enacted. The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 had provided that the Court be reduced in size from ten to seven justices, but the reduction was to occur only as seats were vacated. Only one seat was vacated between the 1866 and 1869 Acts (this was in addition to the one vacancy that already existed when the 1866 Act took effect). The 1869 Act set

50-469: A further reduction in the number of seats in hopes of winning approval for an increase in the justices' salaries. Congress did not approve an increase in judicial salaries until 1871, after it had returned the size of the Court to nine seats. List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by seat The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest ranking judicial body in

75-414: A justice from each circuit allowed Southern slaveowners to dominate the Supreme Court. After reducing the number of all-southern circuits in 1862, Congress in 1866 left only two circuits that comprised only former slave states, and only one that comprised only former Confederate states . The reduction in the size of the Supreme Court nullified the pending nomination of Henry Stanbery to the tenth seat on

100-490: A restructured system of nine circuits, and within another year had abolished the California Circuit, placed California and Oregon in a Tenth Circuit, and reorganized the mid-western states. The 1866 Act ended a period in which the arrangement of the states into circuits was frequently reorganized. Since then, the geographical outline of the circuits has only been altered by the addition of new states to circuits and

125-456: The 40th Congress at the close of the session in March 1869, but fell victim to a pocket veto from outgoing president Andrew Johnson . The act was the third time that Congress had created circuit judgeships. The first time was the soon-repealed Judiciary Act of 1801 , and the second was a single circuit judgeship in the frontier state of California which only lasted from 1855 to 1863. Though

150-556: The U.S. district courts . Judicial Circuits Act The Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 (ch. 210, 14  Stat.   209 ) reorganized the United States circuit courts and provided for the gradual elimination of several seats on the Supreme Court of the United States . It was signed into law on July 23, 1866, by President Andrew Johnson . It in effect denied him the opportunity of appointing any justices to

175-463: The United States . Established by Article III of the Constitution , the detailed structure of the Court was laid down by the 1st United States Congress in 1789. Congress specified the Court's original and appellate jurisdiction , created 13 judicial districts, and fixed the number of justices at six – one chief justice and five associate justices . The number of justices on

200-424: The order of precedence of the inaugural justices to occupy those seats, which was based upon the seniority of their commission from President George Washington following their confirmation by the U.S. Senate . The fifth original associate justice seat, and the simultaneously created seventh and eighth seats, are numbered according to the order in which each seat's first occupant received their commission from

225-461: The Act's efficacy, before being superseded by the Judiciary Act of 1869 . Thus, it never actually happened that the Court was reduced to seven in accordance with the language of the 1866 Act; rather, while it was in effect the Court comprised first nine and then eight justices. With the 1869 Act, Congress set the size of the Supreme Court at a total of nine justices once again. However, because

250-554: The Court and prevented President Andrew Johnson from appointing a justice during the remainder of his term. The legislation owed less to the Republican opposition and to Johnson, who signed the act, than to the efforts of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase . The first draft of the bill proposed a return to nine justices, thus preventing tie votes on the Court and providing a justice for each circuit. In private communication with influential members of Congress and fellow justices, Chase urged

275-633: The Court at nine members: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Supreme Court of the United States shall hereafter consist of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices, any six of whom shall constitute a quorum; and for the purposes of this act there shall be appointed an additional associate justice of said court. (bold added) The 1869 Act had

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300-417: The Court to its new de jure strength of nine. The subsequent stability in circuit organization ended a period of frequent rearrangement of the states within the circuits. After establishing nine circuits in 1837, Congress in 1842 shifted several southern states in order to accommodate transportation routes used by the justices when traveling on circuit. In 1862 Congress incorporated six additional states into

325-447: The Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869. The following tables detail the succession of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States by seat . There are no formal numbers or names for the individual seats of associate justices, which are listed in this article simply by number, as well as by the date each was established by Congress. The numbering of associate justice seats 1–4 reflects

350-642: The Supreme Court. Two more seats were added in 1837, as a result of the Eighth and Ninth Circuits Act (5  Stat.   176 ); one of these (seat 7 below) was later abolished as a result of the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866. The Supreme Court reached its peak size in 1863, when the Tenth Circuit Act (12  Stat.   794 ) became law, and a tenth justice joined the Court. After fluctuating from nine to ten to eight members over

375-469: The Supreme Court. It was the first major legislation dealing with the judiciary following the American Civil War . The Act redrew the boundaries of the judicial circuits and reduced the number of circuits from ten to nine. It also provided for the gradual reduction in the number of seats on the Supreme Court from the ten that had been authorized in 1863 to seven and established in large measure

400-399: The United States and six associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum; and the said court shall hold one term annually at the seat of government, and such adjourned or special terms as it may find necessary for the despatch of business. (bold added) As it happened, only two seats , those of John Catron and James Moore Wayne , were abolished during the brief three-year interval of

425-484: The associate justice seats established in 1789 (seat 5 below) was later abolished, as a result of the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866 (14  Stat.   209 ), which provided for the gradual elimination of seats on the Supreme Court until there would be seven justices. In 1807, Congress passed the Seventh Circuit Act (2  Stat.   420 ), which added a sixth associate justice to

450-415: The associate justices had the duty to sit at least one term in the circuit every two years. The circuit court could be held by the circuit judge, the Supreme Court justice, or the two could hold the court together, in which case the Supreme Court justice would preside. Up until this time, circuit courts were normally only staffed by district judges and Supreme Court justices "riding circuit". The salary of

475-484: The circuit court judgeships created was set at $ 5,000 (equivalent to $ 114,450 in 2023) a year. In addition, the act stipulated that federal judges (including Supreme Court justices) who had served for ten years or more would receive a pension upon their retirement. The pension was set at the salary of the judge at the time of retirement. A judge had to be at least seventy years old at the time of retirement. An earlier version of this legislation had been approved by

500-412: The death of Robert Cooper Grier created another vacancy in 1870 before a ninth justice could be appointed to the Court, the Court's de facto strength was actually reduced to the seven that had been stipulated by the 1866 Act, albeit shortly after that Act was no longer in force. Eventually, Grier was replaced by William Strong , and Joseph P. Bradley was installed in the lately created seat, restoring

525-537: The division of two large circuits in the twentieth century. The geographical reorganization of the circuits in 1866 coincided with the broader effort of the Republican majority in Congress to reduce what it considered the disproportionate influence enjoyed by the southern states before the Civil War. Between 1837 and 1862, five of the nine circuits comprised exclusively slave states. The tradition of appointing

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550-405: The effect of creating a single new seat, filled by the appointment of Joseph P. Bradley . In addition, the 1869 Act stipulated that each of the nine circuit courts of the United States would have a circuit judge appointed who would reside in that locale and have the same power and jurisdiction as the Supreme Court justice assigned to the circuit. It was stipulated that the chief justice and each of

575-409: The geographical outlines of the circuits ever since. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no vacancy in the office of associate justice of the supreme court shall be filled by appointment until the number of associate justices shall be reduced to six; and thereafter the said supreme court shall consist of a chief justice of

600-489: The law did not abolish circuit riding by the justices of the Supreme Court, it significantly reduced the burden by requiring each justice to attend circuit court in each district within his circuit only once every two years. Circuit court riding would later be abolished by the Judiciary Act of 1891 . The circuit courts themselves were abolished by the Judicial Code of 1911 , which transferred their trial jurisdiction to

625-461: The president following Senate confirmation. Seats six, nine, and 10 are numbered according to the order in which each was created by statute. The start date is the date the justice took the judicial oath of office, and the end date is the date of the justice's death, resignation, or retirement. The Judiciary Act of 1789 (1  Stat.   73 ) set the number of Supreme Court justices at six: one chief justice and five associate justices. One of

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