Speeches by U.S. Supreme Court Justices

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 It was originally made up of six (now nine) justices who serve on the court until they die or retire.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. Thurgood Marshall—Awarded Jurist of the 21st Century and Retirement Press Conference—8/10/1988 and 6/28/1991 Lewis Powell—Addressing the American Bar Association—8/7/1988 Sandra Day O’Connor—Speech at the National Constitution Ctr—7/4/2003 William Rehnquist—200th Anniversary of Constitution signing—9/18/1987 Antonin Scalia—American Enterprise Institute address and Judiciary Committee testimony—2/21/2006 and 10/5/2011 Anthony Kennedy—Describes the Court in conference and Ninth Circuit District Conference—6/25/2009 and 8/19/2010 David Souter—Harvard Commencement address—5/27/2010 Clarence Thomas—Senate Hearings on Sexual Harassment and Hillsdale College Commencement—10/11/1991 and 5/14/2016 Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Nomination Speech and Society of Women’s Health Research—6/14/1993 and 5/7/2001 Stephen Breyer—Announcing Retirement—1/27/2022 John G. Roberts Cardigan—Commencement address—6/3/2017 Samuel Alito—Speech at Federalist Society Bar Assc.—9/26/2006 Sonia Sotomayor—University of S. Carolina Commencement—5/6/2011 Elena Kagan—Confirmation Hearing Statement—6/28/2010 Neil Gorsuch—Confirmation Hearing Statement—3/20/2017 Brett Kavanaugh—Confirmation Hearing Statement—9/4/2018 Amy Coney Barrett—Nomination Acceptance Speech—10/27/2020 Ketanji Jackson Brown—Confirmation Address—4/8/2022