28 U.S.C. § 4
Section 4 · Precedence of associate justices
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 226 court decisions — leading case Hannah v. Larche (1960)
Most recently applied in United States v. Marilyn Mosby (July 2025)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 9 U.S.C. § 4 · 12 U.S.C. § 4 · 13 U.S.C. § 4
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Associate justices shall have precedence according to the seniority of their commissions. Justices whose commissions bear the same date shall have precedence according to seniority in age.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §322 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §216, 36 Stat. 1152).
Minor changes in phraseology were made.