Variable Name | Spaeth Name | Normalizations |
---|---|---|
naturalCourt | NATCT | 116 [ view ] |
Although most judicial research is chronologically organized by the term of the Court or by chief justice, many users employ “natural courts” as their analytical frame of reference.
A natural court is a period during which no personnel change occurs. Scholars have subdivided them into “strong” and “weak” natural courts, but no convention exists as to the dates on which they begin and end. Options include 1) date of confirmation, 2) date of seating, 3) cases decided after seating, and 4) cases argued and decided after seating. A strong natural court is delineated by the addition of a new justice or the departure of an incumbent. A weak natural court, by comparison, is any group of sitting justices even if lengthy vacancies occurred.
The values below divide the Courts into strong natural courts, each of which begins when the Reports first specify that the new justice is present but not necessarily participating in the reported case. Similarly, a natural court ends on the date when the Reports state that an incumbent justice has died, retired, or resigned. The courts are numbered consecutively by chief justice as the code at the left-hand margin indicates.
Note, especially, that the Court was without a chief justice during the 1836 term. This was the period between Marshall’s death and Taney’s confirmation.
For more on delineating natural courts, see See Edward V. Heck, “Justice Brennan and the Heyday of Warren Court Liberalism,” 20 Santa Clara Law Review 841 (1980) 842-843 and “Changing Voting Patterns in the Burger Court: The Impact of Personnel Change,” 17 San Diego Law Review 1021 (1980) 1038; Harold J. Spaeth and Michael F. Altfeld, “Measuring Power on the Supreme Court: An Alternative to the Power Index,” 26 Jurimetrics 48 (1985) 55.
Values:
101 | Jay 1 | October 05, 1789–May 11, 1790 |
102 | Jay 2 | May 12, 1790–August 05, 1792 |
103 | Jay 3 | August 06, 1792–March 10, 1793 |
104 | Jay 4 | March 11, 1793–August 11, 1795 |
201 | Rutledge 1 | August 12, 1795–December 15, 1795 |
202 | No Chief (Post-Rutledge) | February 04, 1796–March 07, 1796 |
301 | Ellsworth 1 | March 08, 1796–November 08, 1798 |
302 | Ellsworth 2 | November 09, 1798–April 20, 1800 |
303 | Ellsworth 3 | April 21, 1800–February 03, 1801 |
401 | Marshall 1 | February 04, 1801–May 06, 1804 |
402 | Marshall 2 | May 07, 1804–January 19, 1807 |
403 | Marshall 3 | January 20, 1807–May 03, 1807 |
404 | Marshall 4 | May 04, 1807–November 22, 1811 |
405 | Marshall 5 | November 23, 1811–February 02, 1812 |
406 | Marshall 6 | February 03, 1812–August 31, 1823 |
407 | Marshall 7 | September 01, 1823–June 15, 1826 |
408 | Marshall 8 | June 16, 1826–January 10, 1830 |
409 | Marshall 9 | January 11, 1830–January 13, 1835 |
410 | Marshall 10 | January 14, 1835–March 27, 1836 |
501 | Taney 1 | March 28, 1836–May 11, 1836 |
502 | Taney 2 | May 12, 1836–April 30, 1837 |
503 | Taney 3 | May 01, 1837–January 08, 1838 |
504 | Taney 4 | January 09, 1838–January 09, 1842 |
505 | Taney 5 | January 10, 1842–February 26, 1845 |
506 | Taney 6 | February 27, 1845–September 22, 1845 |
507 | Taney 7 | September 23, 1845–August 09, 1846 |
508 | Taney 8 | August 10, 1846–October 09, 1851 |
509 | Taney 9 | October 10, 1851–April 10, 1853 |
510 | Taney 10 | April 11, 1853–January 20, 1858 |
511 | Taney 11 | January 21, 1858–January 26, 1862 |
512 | Taney 12 | January 27, 1862–July 20, 1862 |
513 | Taney 13 | July 21, 1862–December 09, 1862 |
514 | Taney 14 | December 10, 1862–May 19, 1863 |
515 | Taney 15 | May 20, 1863–December 14, 1864 |
601 | Chase 1 | December 15, 1864–March 13, 1870 |
602 | Chase 2 | March 14, 1870–January 08, 1873 |
603 | Chase 3 | January 09, 1873–March 03, 1874 |
701 | Waite 1 | March 04, 1874–December 09, 1877 |
702 | Waite 2 | December 10, 1877–January 04, 1881 |
703 | Waite 3 | January 05, 1881–May 16, 1881 |
704 | Waite 4 | May 17, 1881–January 08, 1882 |
705 | Waite 5 | January 09, 1882–April 02, 1882 |
706 | Waite 6 | April 03, 1882–January 17, 1888 |
707 | Waite 7 | January 18, 1888–October 07, 1888 |
801 | Fuller 1 | October 08, 1888–January 05, 1890 |
802 | Fuller 2 | January 06, 1890–January 04, 1891 |
803 | Fuller 3 | January 05, 1891–October 09, 1892 |
804 | Fuller 4 | October 10, 1892–March 03, 1893 |
805 | Fuller 5 | March 04, 1893–March 11, 1894 |
806 | Fuller 6 | March 12, 1894–January 05, 1896 |
807 | Fuller 7 | January 06, 1896–January 25, 1898 |
808 | Fuller 8 | January 26, 1898–December 07, 1902 |
809 | Fuller 9 | December 08, 1902–March 01, 1903 |
810 | Fuller 10 | March 02, 1903–December 16, 1906 |
811 | Fuller 11 | December 17, 1906–January 02, 1910 |
812 | Fuller 12 | January 03, 1910–October 09, 1910 |
813 | No Chief (Post-Fuller) | October 10, 1910–December 18, 1910 |
901 | White 1 | December 19, 1910–March 17, 1912 |
902 | White 2 | March 18, 1912–October 11, 1914 |
903 | White 3 | October 12, 1914–June 04, 1916 |
904 | White 4 | June 05, 1916–October 08, 1916 |
905 | White 5 | October 09, 1916–July 10, 1921 |
1001 | Taft 1 | July 11, 1921–October 01, 1922 |
1002 | Taft 2 | October 02, 1922–January 01, 1923 |
1003 | Taft 3 | January 02, 1923–February 18, 1923 |
1004 | Taft 4 | February 19, 1923–March 01, 1925 |
1005 | Taft 5 | March 02, 1925–February 23, 1930 |
1101 | Hughes 1 | February 24, 1930–June 01, 1930 |
1102 | Hughes 2 | June 02, 1930–March 13, 1932 |
1103 | Hughes 3 | March 14, 1932–August 18, 1937 |
1104 | Hughes 4 | August 19, 1937–January 30, 1938 |
1105 | Hughes 5 | January 31, 1938–January 29, 1939 |
1106 | Hughes 6 | January 30, 1939–April 16, 1939 |
1107 | Hughes 7 | April 17, 1939–February 04, 1940 |
1108 | Hughes 8 | February 05, 1940–July 02, 1941 |
1201 | Stone 1 | July 03, 1941–February 15, 1943 |
1202 | Stone 2 | February 16, 1943–September 30, 1945 |
1203 | Stone 3 | October 01, 1945–June 23, 1946 |
1301 | Vinson 1 | June 24, 1946–August 23, 1949 |
1302 | Vinson 2 | August 24, 1949–October 11, 1949 |
1303 | Vinson 3 | October 12, 1949–October 04, 1953 |
1401 | Warren 1 | October 05, 1953–October 08, 1954 |
1402 | Warren 2 | October 09, 1954–March 27, 1955 |
1403 | Warren 3 | March 28, 1955–October 15, 1956 |
1404 | Warren 4 | October 16, 1956–February 24, 1957 |
1405 | Warren 5 | February 25, 1957–October 13, 1958 |
1406 | Warren 6 | October 14, 1958–March 24, 1962 |
1407 | Warren 7 | March 25, 1962–September 30, 1962 |
1408 | Warren 8 | October 01, 1962–October 03, 1965 |
1409 | Warren 9 | October 04, 1965–October 01, 1967 |
1410 | Warren 10 | October 02, 1967–May 13, 1969 |
1411 | Warren 11 | May 14, 1969–June 22, 1969 |
1501 | Burger 1 | June 23, 1969–June 08, 1970 |
1502 | Burger 2 | June 09, 1970–September 22, 1971 |
1503 | Burger 3 | September 23, 1971–January 06, 1972 |
1504 | Burger 4 | January 07, 1972–November 11, 1975 |
1505 | Burger 5 | November 12, 1975–December 18, 1975 |
1506 | Burger 6 | December 19, 1975–September 24, 1981 |
1507 | Burger 7 | September 25, 1981–September 25, 1986 |
1601 | Rehnquist 1 | September 26, 1986–June 25, 1987 |
1602 | Rehnquist 2 | June 26, 1987–February 17, 1988 |
1603 | Rehnquist 3 | February 18, 1988–September 30, 1990 |
1604 | Rehnquist 4 | October 01, 1990–October 06, 1991 |
1605 | Rehnquist 5 | October 07, 1991–August 09, 1993 |
1606 | Rehnquist 6 | August 10, 1993–August 02, 1994 |
1607 | Rehnquist 7 | August 03, 1994–September 28, 2005 |
1701 | Roberts 1 | September 29, 2005–January 30, 2006 |
1702 | Roberts 2 | January 31, 2006–August 08, 2009 |
1703 | Roberts 3 | August 09, 2009–August 06, 2010 |
1704 | Roberts 4 | August 07, 2010–February 13, 2016 |
1705 | Roberts 5 | February 14, 2016–April 09, 2017 |
1706 | Roberts 6 | April 10, 2017–October 05, 2018 |
1707 | Roberts 7 | October 06, 2018–September 18, 2020 |
1708 | Roberts 8 | September 19, 2020–October 26, 2020 |
1709 | Roberts 9 | October 27, 2020–June 29, 2022 |
1710 | Roberts 10 | June 30, 2022– |