That is only true of living justices. A number of SCOTUS justices in the past had no legal backgrounds whatsoever, with the last such judge serving until 1957.
> A number of SCOTUS justices in the past had no legal backgrounds whatsoever, with the last such judge serving until 1957.
What you are saying is strictly, clearly incorrect.
In fact, not only has every person who has served as a SCOTUS justice been an attorney, but every person nominated has been an attorney. [0]
Stanley Forman Reed, to whom you are referring as the person who retired in 1957, attended but did not graduate from law school - perhaps that's the source of your confusion? In any case, Reed had a long, storied career as an attorney before being nominated to the Court.
Again: every person for whom a nomination has been submitted by a POTUS to the Senate has been an practicing attorney, barred in one or more US States. There has not been a single exception. And certainly no nomination even approaching "no legal background whatsoever."
