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 It was originally made up of six (now nine) justices who serve on the court until they die or retire.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