U. S. Supreme Court

[mathman]

Has there ever been anyone on the U.S. Supreme Court who was not a lawyer?

[James R]

I very much doubt it. A court sort of requires trained lawyers, doesn't it?

[mathman]

It may be logical, but I don't believe there is any legal requirement. So my question still remains open.

[Tiassa]

Here's the list if anyone's interested in searching. I recommend the biographies, not the backgrounds.

http://www.oyez.org/oyez/portlet/justices/

Just picking a few at random, I come across Henry Baldwin (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/22/biography), who was, indeed, a lawyer. But how's this for a Supreme Court Justice?Baldwin wrote almost nothing of interest for the Court on the Constitution and there is little evidence of a coherent constitutional vision in the totality of his work. In the words of one scholar, "His influence on American law was negligible and his presence on the Supreme Court was probably counterproductive."

He appeared to suffer from occasional bouts of mental illness that made him obstreperous and even offensive to others. He did not get along with his fellow justices; and he was violent and ungovernable on the bench in his last years. When he died, his friends had to take up a collection to bury him because he was so deeply in debt.Did you know that President George Washington's nephew, Bushrod (http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/legal_entity/11/biography) (seriously!), a "short, untidy man," whose tenure is considered "average to forgettable," also served our nation's highest court?

[darktr00per]

We need come common people in politics/law

[Spyke]

Weird. On that oyuz link, when you click on the name of a justice and it takes you to their page, on the links grouping to the left, where you choose from the links 'background', 'bio', etc., one of the links is 'baseball', and it gives you a multiple choice question such as, Chief Justice John Marshall is most like player A, B, C, or D. It did that on each of the various justices I clicked on. Is there a connection to that site and baseball? Or is there some natural connection between the sport and the Supreme Court that I've overlooked?

[darktr00per]

Technocracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[darktr00per]

American democracy is limited and out dated!!!

[Soil Puzzled]

when you make a comment like that, you either explain or will be casted off as a loud anitamerican hothead.

[YadaYada]

Mathman,
Has there ever been anyone on the U.S. Supreme Court who was not a lawyer?
Do you feel that a mix would be preferable?