 For most of the existence of the Court , geographic diversity was a key concern of presidents in choosing justices to appoint . This was prompted in part by the early practice of Supreme Court justices also " riding circuit " — individually hearing cases in different regions of the country . In 1789 , the United States was divided into judicial circuits , and from that time until 1891 , Supreme Court justices also acted as judges within those individual circuits . George Washington was careful to make appointments " with no two justices serving at the same time hailing from the same state " . Abraham Lincoln broke with this tradition during the Civil War , and " by the late 1880s presidents disregarded it with increasing frequency " . 
