EDITORIAL: List of All-White Members of RI Supreme Court v. Non-White Members

EDITORIAL: List of All-White Members of RI Supreme Court v. Non-White Members

The number of members of the Rhode Island Supreme Court who were -- and are -- white is 75. Members of the Court who were non-white, that would be zero.

Chief Justices who were -- and are -- white, 35. Non-white, that would be zero.

In Rhode Island's history, there may be no more segregated place in all of Rhode Island, than the highest court.

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List of White Members of RI Supreme Court                List of Non-White Members of RI Supreme Court

 

Chief Justices                                                                   Chief Justices

Gideon Cornell 1747 - 1749                                               0

Joshua Babcock 1749 - 1751

Stephen Hopkins 1751 - 1755

Francis Willett 1756 - 1756

John Gardner 1756 - 1761

Samuel Ward 1761 - 1762

Jeremiah Niles 1762 - 1763

Joshua Babcock 1762 - 1764

John Cole 1764 - 1765

Joseph Russell 1765 - 1767

James Helme 1767 - 1768

Joseph Russell 1769 - 1769

James Helme 1769 - 1770

Stephen Hopkins 1770 - 1776

Metcalf Bowler 1776 - 1777

William Greene 1777 - 1778

Shearjashub Bourn 1778 - 1781

Jabez Bowen 1781 - 1781

Paul Mumford 1781 - 1785

William Ellery 1785 - 1786

Paul Mumford 1786 - 1788

Othniel Gorton 1788 - 1791

Daniel Owen 1791 - 1795

Peleg Arnold 1795 - 1809

Thomas Arnold 1809 - 1810

Peleg Arnold 1810 - 1812

Daniel Lyman 1812 - 1816

James Burrill, Jr. 1816 - 1817

Tristam Burges 1817 - 1818

James Fenner 1819 - 1819

Isaac Wilbour 1819 - 1827

Samuel Eddy 1827 - 1835

Job Durfee 1843 - 1848

Richard W. Green 1848 - 1854

William R. Staples 1854 - 1856

Samuel Ames 1856 - 1866

Charles S. Bradley 1866 - 1868

George A. Brayton 1868 - 1875

Thomas Durfee 1875 - 1891

Charles Matteson 1891 - 1900

John H. Stiness 1900 - 1903

Pardon E. Tillinghast 1904 - 1905

William W. Douglas 1905 - 1908

Edward C. Dubois 1909 - 1913

Clarke H. Johnson 1913 - 1917

Clarke F. Parkhurst 1917 - 1920

William A. Sweetland 1920 - 1929

Charles F. Stearns 1929 - 1935

Edmund W. Flynn 1935 - 1957

Francis B. Condon 1958 - 1965

Thomas H. Roberts 1966 - 1976

Joseph A. Bevilacqua 1976 - 1986

Thomas F. Fay 1986 - 1993

Joseph R. Weisberger 1993 - 2001

Frank J. Williams 2001 - 2008

Paul A. Suttell  2009 - present

Justices                                                                                                                                                Justices

 

1747 - 1749 Stephen Hopkins Joshua Babcock Josiah Arnold John Howland                                   0

1749 - 1751 Jonathan Randall, William Hopkins, William Hall, John Walton, William Richmond, Benjamin Hazard

1751 - 1755 Joseph Russell, Joseph Clarke

1756 - 1761 Joseph Lippitt 

1761 - 1762 Thomas Wickham John Burton 

1762 - 1763 Nicholas Easton  Samuel Nightingale

1762 - 1764 Thomas Cranston John Cole  Thomas Greene Silas Niles 

1764 - 1765 Job Bennet, Jr.,  Stephen Potter 

1765 - 1767 William Hall  
Job Bennet, Jr. Gideon Comstock Benoni Hall  
Henry Harris Metcalf Bowler Nathanial Searle 

1770 - 1776 
James Helme 
William Greene 
Joseph Russell 

1776 - 1777 
Shearjashub Bourn Jabez Bowen  
Thomas Wells 

1777 - 1778 
Perez Richmond 

1778 - 1781 
Paul Mumford Christopher Lippitt

1781 - 1781 
William Ellery (declined) Peter Phillips  
Rufus Hopkins   

1781 - 1785 
Thomas Tillinghast Pardon Gray 
Ambrose Page (declined) David Howell 
Jonathan Jenckes William West 

1785 - 1786 
Thomas Arnold 
Joseph Hazard

1786 - 1788 
Gilbert Devol 
Walter Cooke 

1786 - 1788 
Gilbert Devol 
Walter Cooke 

1788 - 1791 
Simeon Clarke, Jr.  
Daniel Owen  
Sylvester Robinson Ezekiel Gardner, Jr. 

1791 - 1795 
Carder Hazard 
William Taggart 
Joshua Bicknall 

1795 - 1809 
Joseph Hoxsie 
George Brown 
Thomas Holden 
John Allen  
Joseph Reynolds 
Henry Remington William Marchant William Anthony Benjamin Johnson 

1810 - 1812 Jeffrey Hazard Joseph Cundall Charles Brayton Thomas Westcott

1819 - 1819 
Isaac Wilbour 
Daniel Champlin, John D’Wolf, Thomas Buffum  

1819 - 1827 
Dutee Arnold  
John DeWolf 
Luke Drury 
Wheeler Martin Samuel Randall 
Isaac Fiske 
Nathan Brown Samuel Eddy

1827 - 1835 
Job Durfee 
Levi Haile  
William R. Staples George A. Brayton

1854 - 1856 
Alfred Bosworth Sylvester G. Shearman 

1856 - 1866 
J. Russell Bullock Thomas Durfee

1868 - 1875 
Walter S. Burgess Elisha R. Potter

1875 - 1891 
Charles Matteson John H. Stiness Pardon E. Tillinghast George A. Wilbur

1891 - 1900 
Horatio Rogers  William W. Douglas

1900 - 1903 
Benjamin M. Bosworth Edward C. Dubois John Taggard Blodgett

1904 - 1905 
Clarke H. Johnson 

1909 - 1913 
Christopher F. Parkhurst William H. Sweetland 
Darius Baker

1917 - 1920 
Charles F. Stearns

1920 - 1929 
Walter B. Vincent 
Elmer J.  Rathbun 
John W. Sweeney 
Chester W. Barrows 

1929 - 1935 
J. Jerome Hahn
John S. Murdock

1935 - 1957 
William W. Moss 
Antonio A. Capotosto 
Hugh B. Baker 
Francis B. Condon  
Jeremiah E. O’Connell

1966 - 1976 
F. Frederick Frost
William E. Powers
Thomas. J. Paolino
Alfred H. Joslin 
John F. Doris 
Thomas F. Kelleher 

1976 - 1986 
Joseph R.Weisberger Florence K. Murray 
Donald F. Shea

1993 - 2001 
Maureen McKenna Goldberg John J. Bourcier 
Robert G. Flanders, Jr. Victoria Lederberg     

2001 - 2008 
Paul A. Suttell  
William P. Robinson III 
Francis X. Flaherty

2009 - 2020
Gilbert V. Indeglia

(source: RI Supreme Court)