Worst Supreme Court Justice of All

Court historians on the hunt for the least effective Supreme Court justice ever have narrowed the field to one, from 1811. Gabriel Duvall, nominated by President James Madison after several other nominees unexpectedly fell through, issued only 18 opinions in 24 years on the bench, and just one, a simple dissent, in Constitutional cases. “To be insignificant for one or two years is child’s play,” wrote University of Chicago law Professor David Currie, but “to maintain a profile of insignificance over a period of a decade or more is an accomplishment of high order.”