Following is a list of justices of the Idaho Supreme Court. Idaho was made a territory on March 4, 1863, and the first justices of the Territorial Supreme Court were appointed by President Abraham Lincoln. Following statehood in 1890, the state constitution provided for three justices. By an amendment in 1919, the number was increased and fixed at five, composed of a chief justice and four associate justices, which commenced in January 1921 and remains the present size of the court.
The first female justice on the court was Linda Copple Trout, she was first appointed in 1992 and later served as chief justice. Cathy Silak was appointed the following year and was elected to the court in 1994, being the first woman to be elected to Idaho Supreme Court (Trout ran unopposed in 1996). Silak served through 2000, suffering the only election defeat for an incumbent on the court since 1944. Following the retirement of Trout in 2007, the court was all-male until the election of Robyn Brody in November 2016. With the appointment of Colleen Zahn in 2021 and Cynthia Meyer in 2023, the court currently has a female majority.
Idaho Territorial Court Chief justices of the Idaho Territorial Court Sidney Edgerton (March 10, 1863 – July 25, 1864) Silas Woodson (July 25, 1864 – February 28, 1865) John R. McBride (February 28, 1865 – July 18, 1868) Thomas J. Bowers (July 18, 1868 – April 9, 1869) David Noggle (April 9, 1869 – January 14, 1875) M. E. Hollister (January 14, 1875 – January 13, 1879) William George Thompson (January 13, 1879 – June 10, 1879) John T. Morgan (June 10, 1879 – August 14, 1885) James B. Hays (August 14, 1885 – September 29, 1888) Hugh W. Weir (September 29, 1888 – May 1889) James H. Beatty (May 1889 – July 3, 1890)
State supreme court JusticeSeatBeganEndedChief JusticeLaw School118911917CJ 1891–92;1899–1900;1905–061909–10218911901CJ 1893–94318911896CJ 1895–96318971903CJ 1897–98219011907CJ 1901–02 3119031935 19141947 CJ 1903–04;1907–08; 1913–14;1939–41; 1945–46 Willamette University College of Law, 1891219071914CJ 1911–12North Indiana Law School, 1881319141915.219141949CJUniversity of Michigan Law School, 189031915193319201942 CJ 1919–20Georgetown University Law Center, 1899119171923CJ Cornell Law School, 1890319211925CJ 1924-1925 University of Central Missouri, 1880419211925 Harvard Law School, 1902519211926CJWashington University School of Law, 1885119231930CJ 1926–29 National University School of Law, 1906419251955CJ 1930–31319251929 University of Wisconsin Law School, 1902519261933CJ 1931–32 University of North Carolina School of Law, 189x319291933119301931119321932 University of Idaho College of Law, 1913519331950CJ119331935 University of Michigan, 190731942 1945 ^ 319451948 Cumberland School of Law, 1902119471949 University of Idaho, 1927 219491959CJ Drake University Law School, 1910119491959CJ University of Michigan, 1908 319491969CJ University of Idaho, 1919519501954 University of Idaho, 1925519541968CJ 196x–63 University of Idaho, 1919419551956 University of Idaho, 1927 419561976CJ University of Idaho, 1943 119591965CJ 1963–65 University of Idaho, 1921219591982CJ University of Idaho, 1940 (est.)119661971 University of Idaho, 1936319691987CJ 1983–87 University of Idaho, 1948519691989CJ 1987–89 University of Washington School of Law, 1951 119711993CJ 198x–83; 1989–93University of Idaho, 1956419761994 University of Idaho, 1949219821989 University of Idaho, 1959319881999 Harvard University, 1962219891992 University of Idaho, 1972519891997CJ 1993–97 University of Idaho, 1956219922007CJ 1997–2004 University of Idaho, 197711993 2000 ^ UC Berkeley School of Law, 1976419952007CJ 2004–07 Harvard University, 1964519972003 University of Idaho, 1963319992005 University of Idaho, 1964120012017CJ 2007–11 University of Idaho, 1976520032021CJ 2011–15; 2017–20 University of Idaho, 1974320052017CJ 2015–17 Northwestern University School of Law, 1967420072017 University of Chicago Law School, 1968220072018 University of Idaho, 198532017Incumbent Sturm College of Law, 199712017IncumbentCJ 2021–present J. Reuben Clark Law School, 1987 420182023 University of Idaho, 198222019Incumbent Brigham Young University, 1990 52021Incumbent University of Idaho, 2000 42023Incumbent S.J. Quinney College of Law, 1987 Beginning in 1983, the Chief Justice was determined by an election among the five justices of the court. Previously the position rotated to the justice with the least amount of time remaining in his term. ^defeated in statewide election: Dunlap (1944), Silak (2000)
References
External links Idaho State Historical Society listing of justices from 1890–1993 Idaho Blue Book – 2013–14 – Judicial branch