Why are there so many Supreme Court justices from New York City?

[The Arizonan]

Why is it that four justices on the Supreme Court are from New York City alone? You'd figure that they would be from all over the country.

There was even a political cartoon showing how the four justices represent four different boroughs of New York City and there was a person representing Staten Island saying "What about me?"

[Antonio the Sixth]

Well, it would make sense for SC Justices to come predominantly from places that have top-ranking Law Schools.

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It's also hilarious that the Supreme Court doesn't have a Protestant.

[All Along The Watchtower]

It's also hilarious that the Supreme Court doesn't have a Protestant.

But not really that surprising, considering that mainline Protestants have been declining as a share of the US population (even in the elite/Establishment population, where they have historically been dominant) for several decades now, and that non-mainliners (especially evangelicals-both black and white) are quite likely statistically underrepresented among elite law school graduates.

Also, it's not like presidents these days are particularly interested in nominating Protestants to the Supreme Court. If you're a Democratic president, the political returns aren't that great for nominating a Protestant, while if you're a Republican, mainliners aren't exactly known for being the most politically conservative group these days - and finding an evangelical candidate who would survive a Senate confirmation hearing might be a bit hard. Lastly, since mainline Protestants are rather evenly split between the parties (nationwide) and kinda  have a reputation for being (relative) "Moderate Heroes" (both politically and theologically ) , when combined with them being emblematic of the historical Establishment, perhaps both Republican and Democratic presidents reckon that they're not a target demographic that they need to "reach out" to.


Alternatively, this could all be a big coincidence, and I'm over-speculating. meh, effortposts.

[TJ in Oregon]

It's also hilarious that the Supreme Court doesn't have a Protestant.

But not really that surprising, considering that mainline Protestants have been declining as a share of the US population (even in the elite/Establishment population, where they have historically been dominant) for several decades now, and that non-mainliners (especially evangelicals-both black and white) are quite likely statistically underrepresented among elite law school graduates.

Also, it's not like presidents these days are particularly interested in nominating Protestants to the Supreme Court. If you're a Democratic president, the political returns aren't that great for nominating a Protestant, while if you're a Republican, mainliners aren't exactly known for being the most politically conservative group these days - and finding an evangelical candidate who would survive a Senate confirmation hearing might be a bit hard. Lastly, since mainline Protestants are rather evenly split between the parties (nationwide) and kinda  have a reputation for being (relative) "Moderate Heroes" (both politically and theologically ) , when combined with them being emblematic of the historical Establishment, perhaps both Republican and Democratic presidents reckon that they're not a target demographic that they need to "reach out" to.


Alternatively, this could all be a big coincidence, and I'm over-speculating. meh, effortposts.

Yes, you're overspeculating. Absolutely no one votes based on the religion of Supreme Court nominees.

The right answer is probably small sample size. It's a statistical outlier.