This is a list of U.S. Supreme Court justices who owned slaves at any point in their lives. Slavery was legal in parts of the United States from the American Revolutionary War through the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in December, 1865, shortly after the conclusion of the American Civil War.

Justice Chief or Associate Approximate numberof slaves held While on federal bench? Notes 1 John Jay Chief 17 Yes Owned five slaves as late as 1800; advocate for gradual emancipation and first president of the New York Manumission Society. 2 John Rutledge Associate & Chief 60+ Yes Lifelong slave owner. Argued for slavery before the Constitutional Convention. Rescued by enslaved people after a suicide attempt. Owned one slave on his death in 1800. Related by marriage to the abolitionist Grimké sisters. 4 James Wilson Associate 1 Yes One of the proposers of the Three-fifths Compromise. Helped to write but opposed including the Fugitive Slave Clause. While purporting to be an opponent of slavery, owned one household slave, freed in 1794. 6 James Iredell Associate 14+ Yes Was openly against the practice of slavery, especially the slave trade, while continuing to enslave people. Freed some during his lifetime. 7 Thomas Johnson Associate 50+1800 Census: "1800 United States Federal Census" Year: 1800; Census Place: Frederick, Frederick, Maryland; Series: M32; Roll: 10; Page: 148; Image: 156; Family History Library Film: 193663 Yes Had enslaved people working at his and his brothers' factory, Catoctin Furnace. Runaway slave ads and records of sale survive. 9 Samuel Chase Associate 15 Yes Despite owning slaves, was opposed to slavery on a religious basis. 11 Bushrod Washington Associate 83Fifteen boys under 14 years old and 16 girls, 10 males and 7 females between 14 and 25, 7 males and 5 females between 26 and 44, and 7 males and 11 females older than 45 in 1820 U.S. Federal Census for Truro Parish, Fairfax County Virginia p. 15 of 15 Yes Heir to Mount Vernon and the enslaved people who worked and lived on the property. Helped found the American Colonization Society. 12 Alfred Moore Associate 48 Yes Moore's plantation, Buchoi, was raided by British forces during the Revolutionary War, who seized livestock and freed enslaved people. 13 John Marshall Chief 150+ Yes Lifelong slave owner; provided venture capital to slave speculators. 14 William Johnson Associate unknown Yes Critical voice in the case of Denmark Vesey's slave rebellion. "Opposed abolition while also opposing inhumane treatment of Africans." 16 Thomas Todd Associate 261820 United States Census for Frankfort, Franklin County, Kentucky, p. 2 of 9, available on ancestry.com Yes 17 Gabriel Duvall Associate ~200 Yes Enslaved people built his house, Marietta (Glenn Dale, Maryland). As an attorney prior to serving on the Court, represented enslaved people suing for their freedom. 20 Robert Trimble Associate 23 unknown Prior to joining the Court, involved in the case of the slave ship Antelope. 21 John McLean Associate 3+ Yes Vocal opponent of slavery prior to joining and while sitting on the Court. Dissented in slave cases of Prigg v. Pennsylvania and Dred Scott v. Sandford. Known to have purchased enslaved people and freed them subsequently. 23 James M. Wayne Associate 100+ unknown Concurrence in Dred Scott decision. Freed enslaved woman he had three children with. 24 Roger B. Taney Chief 8+ No Manumitted "most (but not all)" of his slaves as young man. Some manumissions delayed until the 1840s. "Deeply committed to slavery". Wrote the Dred Scott decision. 25 Philip P. Barbour Associate 54 Yes While in Congress, advocated for admission of Missouri as a slave state during the Missouri Compromise and upheld Missouri's ban on the entry of free Black Americans (legally deemed non-citizens).https://founders.archives.gov/?q=slave%20Correspondent%3A%22Barbour%2C%20James%22&s=1111311111&r=1 "One of the largest slave owners in Orange County" 26 John Catron Associate 10 Yes Lifelong slave owner; father of an extramarital child by an enslaved woman named Sally. Concurrence in Dred Scott decision. 27 John McKinley Associate 12 Yes 28 Peter V. Daniel Associate 8+1830 U.S. Federal Census for Monroe Ward, Richmond (Independent City), Virginia pp. 17-18 of 80 Yes Concurrence in Dred Scott decision. "The most pro-southern and proslavery of all the justices." 33 John A. Campbell Associate 14 No Freed his slaves before joining the Court. Concurrence in Dred Scott decision. Quit the court at outbreak of Civil War and was later appointed Confederate Assistant Secretary of War; he "bitterly opposed" Reconstruction and organized multiple lawsuits in opposition. 36 Samuel Freeman Miller Associate unknown No Freed his slaves before he left Kentucky for Iowa in 1850. 44 John Marshall Harlan Associate unknown No Had a mixed-race half-brother, Robert James Harlan. Owned "a few household slaves", and did not free his slaves until the abolishment of slavery. "The Great Dissenter," he ultimately became one of the court's staunchest defenders of equal rights. 49 Lucius Q. C. Lamar Associate 311860 U.S. Federal Census, Slave Schedule for Lafayette County, Mississippi p.70 of 98, available on ancestry.com No Staunch proslavery activist and speaker.

See also Lists of United States public officials who owned slaves Slavery in the District of Columbia History of the Supreme Court of the United States List of court cases in the United States involving slavery

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