pictures of current supreme court justices

In August they met in Old City Hall, which served them for a decade.

Philadelphia’s Independence Hall sheltered the Justices for two days in 1791 – all they needed for their February term since they still had no cases to decide. After two sessions in New York (February 1-10, and August 2-3, 1790), the Court reconvened in Philadelphia, joining the rest of the federal government there when it became the new national capitol. The Court heard no cases during its first term. Once a quorum had assembled, the Justices’ first order of business was to appoint a court crier and a clerk, and to admit lawyers to the bar. Only three of the six justices were present, however, so the court was adjourned until the following day. The scene at the Court’s scheduled opening was “uncommonly crowded,” according to the New York Daily Advertiser. A brick arcade shades the ground floor, an open air market where Broad and Waters Streets intersect in what is now the financial district. Justices deliberated on the second floor of the gambrel-roofed hall. The cupola-crowned Royal Exchange in New York City housed the first meeting of the Supreme Court on February 1, 1790, when New York was the nation’s temporary capital.

Pictures of current supreme court justices