Speeches by U.S. Supreme Court Justices

Summary

The highest federal court in the country and the head of the judicial branch of government was established in 1789 by article three of the US Constitution. It was originally made up of six (now nine) justices who serve on the court until they die or retire. The Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed (or denied) by the US Senate. Included here are speeches given by eighteen past and present Supreme Court justices including: the first African-American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall who served from 1967 to 1991, and the first woman justice, Sandra Day O’Connor who sat on the bench from 1981 until her retirement in 2006. In addition to O’Connor there are an additional five women that are featured. All eighteen represent various ideologies and vary from strict Originalists to the Progressive “Living Document Constitutionalists.”

Produced by the Speech Resource Company and fully narrated by Robert Wikstrom.

1. Thurgood Marshall—Awarded Jurist of the 21st Century and Retirement Press Conference—8/10/1988 and 6/28/1991

2. Lewis Powell—Addressing the American Bar Association—8/7/1988

3. Sandra Day O’Connor—Speech at the National Constitution Ctr—7/4/2003

4. William Rehnquist—200th Anniversary of Constitution signing—9/18/1987

5. Antonin Scalia—American Enterprise Institute address and Judiciary Committee testimony—2/21/2006 and 10/5/2011

6. Anthony Kennedy—Describes the Court in conference and Ninth Circuit District Conference—6/25/2009 and 8/19/2010

7. David Souter—Harvard Commencement address—5/27/2010

8. Clarence Thomas—Senate Hearings on Sexual Harassment and Hillsdale College Commencement—10/11/1991 and 5/14/2016

9. Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Nomination Speech and Society of Women’s Health Research—6/14/1993 and 5/7/2001

10. Stephen Breyer—Announcing Retirement—1/27/2022

11. John G. Roberts Cardigan—Commencement address—6/3/2017

12. Samuel Alito—Speech at Federalist Society Bar Assc.—9/26/2006

13. Sonia Sotomayor—University of S. Carolina Commencement—5/6/2011

14. Elena Kagan—Confirmation Hearing Statement—6/28/2010

15. Neil Gorsuch—Confirmation Hearing Statement—3/20/2017

16. Brett Kavanaugh—Confirmation Hearing Statement—9/4/2018

17. Amy Coney Barrett—Nomination Acceptance Speech—10/27/2020

18. Ketanji Jackson Brown—Confirmation Address—4/8/2022