General Discussion

Justice John Marshall (Don't know much about him, but he had to be brilliant; using a relatively minor, unimportant case, he created the principle of judicial review!)

Justice Stephen Douglas

Justice Earl Warren

Justice Thurgood Marshall

Justice John Stevens

Justice Ruth Ginsburg

I cannot pare it down beyond those six. I just can't.

Breyer, meh. I have to give Sotomayor and Kagan more time on the bench before I can assess them. In particular, I want to see what they do after Ginsburg leaves the bench. I have high hopes for Sotomayor than for Kagan, but I hope I am proven wrong.

I am not nominating Sandra Day O'Connor as an all time great justice, but she did fight for a "health of the mother" exception to every bad decision a Republican court made about choice. She deserves kudos for that. She had to work as a legal secretary after being graduated from law school because no one was hiring women lawyers in her day. I give her props for that, too.