128-679: The chief justice of the United States is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of the U.S. federal judiciary . Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution grants plenary power to the president of the United States to nominate, and, with the advice and consent of the United States Senate , appoint "Judges of the supreme Court", who serve until they die, resign, retire, or are impeached and convicted . The existence of
256-459: A Catholic or an Episcopalian . Historically, most justices have been Protestants, including 36 Episcopalians, 19 Presbyterians , 10 Unitarians , 5 Methodists , and 3 Baptists . The first Catholic justice was Roger Taney in 1836, and 1916 saw the appointment of the first Jewish justice, Louis Brandeis . In recent years the historical situation has reversed, as most recent justices have been either Catholic or Jewish. Three justices are from
384-559: A bigger court would reduce the power of the swing justice , ensure the court has "a greater diversity of views", and make confirmation of new justices less politically contentious. There are currently nine justices on the Supreme Court: Chief Justice John Roberts and eight associate justices. Among the current members of the court, Clarence Thomas is the longest-serving justice, with a tenure of 12,091 days ( 33 years, 37 days) as of November 29, 2024;
512-414: A certain degree of inherent authority to manage the matters before them, ranging from setting the dates for trials and hearings to holding parties in contempt or otherwise sanctioning them for improper behavior. In other circumstances their actions are dictated by federal law, the federal rules of procedure, or "local" rules created by the specific court system itself. The chief judge of each district court
640-550: A changing workload in that district. Although the number of Supreme Court justices has remained the same for well over a century, the number of court of appeals judges has more than doubled since 1950, and the number of district court judges has increased more than three-fold in that period. In addition, some district court judges serve on more than one court at a time. Unlike the judges of Article III courts, non-Article III judges are appointed for specified terms of office. Examples include United States magistrate judges and judges of
768-542: A chief justice and five associate justices through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . The size of the court was first altered by the Midnight Judges Act of 1801 which would have reduced the size of the court to five members upon its next vacancy (as federal judges have life tenure ), but the Judiciary Act of 1802 promptly negated the 1801 act, restoring the court's size to six members before any such vacancy occurred. As
896-571: A chief justice and five associate justices. The act also divided the country into judicial districts, which were in turn organized into circuits. Justices were required to "ride circuit" and hold circuit court twice a year in their assigned judicial district. Immediately after signing the act into law, President George Washington nominated the following people to serve on the court: John Jay for chief justice and John Rutledge , William Cushing , Robert H. Harrison , James Wilson , and John Blair Jr. as associate justices. All six were confirmed by
1024-464: A chief justice is only explicit in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 which states that the chief justice shall preside over the impeachment trial of the president; this has occurred three times, for Andrew Johnson , Bill Clinton , and for Donald Trump ’s first impeachment. The chief justice has significant influence in the selection of cases for review , presides when oral arguments are held, and leads
1152-514: A commission, to which the Seal of the Department of Justice must be affixed, before the appointee can take office. The seniority of an associate justice is based on the commissioning date, not the confirmation or swearing-in date. After receiving their commission, the appointee must then take the two prescribed oaths before assuming their official duties. The importance of the oath taking is underscored by
1280-570: A district judge can hear appeals and a circuit judge can try cases). Many federal judges serve on administrative panels like the judicial council for their circuit or the Judicial Conference of the United States . Some of the larger circuit courts like the Ninth Circuit hold regular sessions at multiple locations, and randomly select three-judge panels to hear appeals from all sitting circuit judges regardless of duty station. (Videoconferencing
1408-478: A federal judge. The primary function of the federal judges is to resolve matters brought before the United States federal courts. Most federal courts in the United States are courts of limited jurisdiction, meaning that they hear only cases for which jurisdiction is authorized by the United States constitution or federal statutes. Federal district courts are authorized to hear a wide range of civil and criminal cases. District court judges are recognized as having
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#17328814385411536-549: A floor vote in the Senate. A president may withdraw a nomination before an actual confirmation vote occurs, typically because it is clear that the Senate will reject the nominee; this occurred with President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet Miers in 2005. The Senate may also fail to act on a nomination, which expires at the end of the session. President Dwight Eisenhower 's first nomination of John Marshall Harlan II in November 1954
1664-459: A justice's tenure ends only when the justice dies, retires, resigns, or is removed from office through the impeachment process. Since 1789, 15 presidents have made a total of 22 official nominations to the position. The salary of the chief justice is set by Congress; as of 2024, the annual salary is $ 312,200, which is slightly higher than that of associate justices, which is $ 298,500. The practice of appointing an individual to serve as Chief Justice
1792-512: A justice, but made appointments during their subsequent terms in office. No president who has served more than one full term has gone without at least one opportunity to make an appointment. One of the smallest supreme courts in the world, the U.S. Supreme Court consists of nine members: one chief justice and eight associate justices. The U.S. Constitution does not specify the size of the Supreme Court, nor does it specify any specific positions for
1920-501: A minimum of 10 years of service (70 + 10 = 80). Under section 376 a survivor's annuity to benefit the widow, widower or minor child of the judge may be purchased via a deduction of 2.2% to 3.5% from the retirement benefit. As of 2018 there were 890 authorized Article III judgeships : nine on the Supreme Court, 179 on the courts of appeals, 677 for the US District Courts (includes territorial courts), 16 on
2048-529: A narrow range of cases, specifically "all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party." In 1803, the Court asserted itself the power of judicial review , the ability to invalidate a statute for violating a provision of the Constitution via the landmark case Marbury v Madison . It is also able to strike down presidential directives for violating either
2176-560: A national judicial authority consisting of tribunals chosen by the national legislature. It was proposed that the judiciary should have a role in checking the executive's power to veto or revise laws. Eventually, the framers compromised by sketching only a general outline of the judiciary in Article Three of the United States Constitution , vesting federal judicial power in "one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as
2304-482: A particular request. (For example, emergency motions might require a response from only one judge assigned to be on duty for a particular time period, but final decisions in important cases require the whole court.) Appeals courts range in size from 6 ( First Circuit ) to 29 ( Ninth Circuit ). Some judges have specific expertise by virtue of which court they sit on. By statute, the United States Court of Appeals for
2432-450: A president may make temporary appointments to fill vacancies. Recess appointees hold office only until the end of the next Senate session (less than two years). The Senate must confirm the nominee for them to continue serving; of the two chief justices and eleven associate justices who have received recess appointments, only Chief Justice John Rutledge was not subsequently confirmed. No U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made
2560-402: A recess appointment to the court, and the practice has become rare and controversial even in lower federal courts. In 1960, after Eisenhower had made three such appointments, the Senate passed a "sense of the Senate" resolution that recess appointments to the court should only be made in "unusual circumstances"; such resolutions are not legally binding but are an expression of Congress's views in
2688-578: A spokesperson for the federal government's judicial branch and acts as a chief administrative officer for the federal courts. The chief justice presides over the Judicial Conference and, in that capacity, appoints the director and deputy director of the Administrative Office . The chief justice is an ex officio member of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution and, by custom,
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#17328814385412816-601: A stepping stone to a lucrative position in private practice, the Framers' goal of a truly independent judiciary will be placed in serious jeopardy." Each federal judge serves at a particular "duty station" for the duration of their federal service. This is important because of the relationship among several federal statutes. First, 28 U.S.C. § 456(a) entitles federal judges to reimbursement of transportation and "subsistence" expenses incurred while transacting official business away from their duty stations. Section 456 also prescribes that
2944-459: A violation of equal protection ( United States v. Virginia ), laws against sodomy as violations of substantive due process ( Lawrence v. Texas ) and the line-item veto ( Clinton v. New York ) but upheld school vouchers ( Zelman v. Simmons-Harris ) and reaffirmed Roe ' s restrictions on abortion laws ( Planned Parenthood v. Casey ). The court's decision in Bush v. Gore , which ended
3072-587: Is accepted practice in the legislative and executive branches, organizations such as the Federalist Society do officially filter and endorse judges that have a sufficiently conservative view of the law. Jurists are often informally categorized in the media as being conservatives or liberal. Attempts to quantify the ideologies of jurists include the Segal–Cover score , Martin-Quinn score , and Judicial Common Space score. Devins and Baum argue that before 2010,
3200-512: Is elected chancellor of the board. Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 17 people have served as Chief Justice, beginning with John Jay (1789–1795). The current chief justice is John Roberts (since 2005). Five of the 17 chief justices— John Rutledge , Edward Douglass White , Charles Evans Hughes , Harlan Fiske Stone , and William Rehnquist —served as associate justices prior to becoming chief justice. One chief Justice – William Howard Taft – had previously served as President of
3328-429: Is grounded in tradition; while the Constitution mandates that there be a chief justice, it is silent on the subject of how one is chosen and by whom. There is no specific constitutional prohibition against using another method to select the chief justice from among those justices properly appointed and confirmed to the Supreme Court. Three incumbent associate justices have been nominated by the president and confirmed by
3456-436: Is not a constitutional responsibility of the chief justice. The Constitution does not require that the presidential oath be administered by anyone in particular, simply that it be taken by the president. Law empowers any federal or state judge, as well as notaries public , to administer oaths and affirmations . The chief justice ordinarily administers the oath of office to newly appointed and confirmed associate justices, whereas
3584-450: Is one of the smallest supreme courts in the world. David Litt argues the court is too small to represent the perspectives of a country the United States' size. Lawyer and legal scholar Jonathan Turley has advocated for 19 justices, but with the court being gradually expanded by no more than two new members per subsequent president, bringing the U.S. Supreme Court to a similar size as its counterparts in other developed countries. He says that
3712-616: Is primarily remembered for its ruling in Dred Scott v. Sandford , which helped precipitate the American Civil War . In the Reconstruction era , the Chase , Waite , and Fuller Courts (1864–1910) interpreted the new Civil War amendments to the Constitution and developed the doctrine of substantive due process ( Lochner v. New York ; Adair v. United States ). The size of the court
3840-489: Is responsible for overseeing assignments of judges to cases, following a written policy. For reasons of impartiality, this is typically done by a random drawing or rotation. Judges may also be assigned particular types of cases based on their technical expertise or assigned to cases in a specific geographic location. Appeals courts and the Supreme Court use similar systems, but depending on the type of filing, may assign one, three, all, or some other number of judges to deal with
3968-446: Is sometimes now used to reduce the burden of frequent travel on circuit judges.) The discipline process of federal judges is initiated by the filing of a complaint by any person alleging that a judge has engaged in conduct "prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the courts, or alleging that such judge is unable to discharge all the duties of the office by reason of mental or physical disability." If
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4096-507: The 1787 Constitutional Convention established the parameters for the national judiciary . Creating a "third branch" of government was a novel idea ; in the English tradition, judicial matters had been treated as an aspect of royal (executive) authority. Early on, the delegates who were opposed to having a strong central government argued that national laws could be enforced by state courts, while others, including James Madison , advocated for
4224-484: The Chief Justice of the United States . Chief Justice John Roberts has repeatedly pleaded for an increase in judicial pay, calling the situation "a constitutional crisis that threatens to undermine the strength and independence of the federal judiciary". For some partners at leading law firms , especially in major metropolitan areas, becoming a federal judge can represent a more than 90 percent pay cut. Associates at
4352-568: The Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. Justices have lifetime tenure , meaning they remain on the court until they die, retire, resign, or are impeached and removed from office. When a vacancy occurs, the president , with the advice and consent of the Senate , appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before the court. When in the majority,
4480-529: The United States , a federal judge is a judge who serves on a court established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution . Often called " Article III judges ", federal judges include the chief justice and associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court , circuit judges of the U.S. Courts of Appeals , district judges of the U.S. District Courts , and judges of the U.S. Court of International Trade . Federal judges are not elected officials , unlike
4608-501: The United States bankruptcy courts , United States Tax Court , United States Court of Federal Claims , and United States territorial courts . Although the term "non-Article III judges" is used to describe the absence of tenure and salary protection, bankruptcy courts are formally designated as divisions of U.S. District Courts, whose district judges are Article III judicial officers. Moreover, in Freytag v. Commissioner , 501 U.S. 868 (1991),
4736-411: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln , was denied the opportunity to appoint a justice by a reduction in the size of the court . Jimmy Carter is the only person elected president to have left office after at least one full term without having the opportunity to appoint a justice. Presidents James Monroe , Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George W. Bush each served a full term without an opportunity to appoint
4864-406: The balance of power between the federal government and states, notably Martin v. Hunter's Lessee , McCulloch v. Maryland , and Gibbons v. Ogden . The Marshall Court also ended the practice of each justice issuing his opinion seriatim , a remnant of British tradition, and instead issuing a single majority opinion. Also during Marshall's tenure, although beyond the court's control,
4992-445: The chief judge of the circuit does not dismiss the complaint or conclude the proceedings, then they must promptly appoint himself or herself, along with equal numbers of circuit judges and district judges, to a special committee to investigate the facts and allegations in the complaint. The committee must conduct such investigation as it finds necessary and then expeditiously file a comprehensive written report of its investigation with
5120-554: The death penalty , ruling first that most applications were defective ( Furman v. Georgia ), but later that the death penalty itself was not unconstitutional ( Gregg v. Georgia ). The Rehnquist Court (1986–2005) was known for its revival of judicial enforcement of federalism , emphasizing the limits of the Constitution's affirmative grants of power ( United States v. Lopez ) and the force of its restrictions on those powers ( Seminole Tribe v. Florida , City of Boerne v. Flores ). It struck down single-sex state schools as
5248-496: The judicial council of the circuit involved. Upon receipt of such a report, the judicial council of the circuit involved may conduct any additional investigation it deems necessary, and it may dismiss the complaint. If a judge who is the subject of a complaint holds their office during good behavior, action taken by the judicial council may include certifying disability of the judge. The judicial council may also, in its discretion, refer any complaint under 28 U.S.C. § 351, along with
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5376-399: The president and vice president and U.S. senators and representatives . Instead, they are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Constitution gives federal judges life tenure , and they hold their seats until they die, resign, or are removed from office through impeachment . Strictly speaking, the term "federal judge" does not include U.S. magistrate judges or
5504-772: The Bill of Rights, such as in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ( First Amendment ), Heller – McDonald – Bruen ( Second Amendment ), and Baze v. Rees ( Eighth Amendment ). Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution , known as the Appointments Clause , empowers the president to nominate and, with the confirmation ( advice and consent ) of the United States Senate, to appoint public officials , including justices of
5632-507: The Congress may from time to time ordain and establish." They delineated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the judicial branch as a whole. The 1st United States Congress provided the detailed organization of a federal judiciary through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . The Supreme Court, the country's highest judicial tribunal, was to sit in the nation's capital and would initially be composed of
5760-601: The Constitution , not independently via Article Three. These judges are often known as "Article One judges". According to the Appointments Clause of Article Two of the U.S. Constitution , all federal judges, including the judges of the Supreme Court and inferior federal courts created by the Congress, shall be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The Constitution does not provide any eligibility criteria – such as age, literacy , citizenship , legal education , legal/ bar or any professional certification , and legal/judicial experience – for one to be appointed as
5888-413: The Constitution or statutory law . Under Article Three of the United States Constitution , the composition and procedures of the Supreme Court were originally established by the 1st Congress through the Judiciary Act of 1789 . As it has since 1869, the court consists of nine justices – the chief justice of the United States and eight associate justices – who meet at
6016-410: The Constitution provides that justices "shall hold their offices during good behavior", which is understood to mean that they may serve for the remainder of their lives, until death; furthermore, the phrase is generally interpreted to mean that the only way justices can be removed from office is by Congress via the impeachment process . The Framers of the Constitution chose good behavior tenure to limit
6144-456: The Court never had clear ideological blocs that fell perfectly along party lines. In choosing their appointments, Presidents often focused more on friendship and political connections than on ideology. Republican presidents sometimes appointed liberals and Democratic presidents sometimes appointed conservatives. As a result, "... between 1790 and early 2010 there were only two decisions that the Guide to
6272-606: The District of Columbia is the duty station of all members of the U.S. Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Second, there are several reasons federal judges need to transact official business outside of their regular courthouse. 28 U.S.C. §§ 291 and 292 authorize a broad variety of temporary reassignments of circuit and district judges, both horizontally (i.e., to other circuits or districts) and vertically (so that
6400-658: The Federal Circuit has exclusive appellate jurisdiction for patents, trademarks, and certain employee benefits. Because it geographically covers the headquarters of federal agencies, the judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit gain special expertise in administrative and constitutional law. Section 1 of Article Three of the U.S. Constitution provides that federal judges "shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour". This clause has long been interpreted to give federal judges life tenure . Federal judges hold their seats until they resign, die, or are removed from office by impeachment . Although
6528-507: The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy . Under 28 U.S.C. § 3 , when the chief justice is unable to discharge their functions, or when that office is vacant, the chief justice's duties are carried out by the most senior associate justice until the disability or vacancy ends. Currently, Clarence Thomas is the most senior associate justice. Since
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#17328814385416656-533: The Reagan administration to the present, the process has taken much longer and some believe this is because Congress sees justices as playing a more political role than in the past. According to the Congressional Research Service , the average number of days from nomination to final Senate vote since 1975 is 67 days (2.2 months), while the median is 71 days (2.3 months). When the Senate is in recess ,
6784-698: The Recess Appointments Clause, the Senate is in session when it says it is, provided that, under its own rules, it retains the capacity to transact Senate business." This ruling allows the Senate to prevent recess appointments through the use of pro-forma sessions . Lifetime tenure of justices can only be found for US federal judges and the State of Rhode Island's Supreme Court justices, with all other democratic nations and all other US states having set term limits or mandatory retirement ages. Larry Sabato wrote: "The insularity of lifetime tenure, combined with
6912-407: The Senate as Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White in 1910, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1941, and William Rehnquist in 1986. A fourth, Abe Fortas , was nominated to the position in 1968 but was not confirmed. As an associate justice does not have to resign their seat on the court in order to be nominated as Chief Justice, Fortas remained an associate justice. Similarly, when Associate Justice William Cushing
7040-410: The Senate may not set any qualifications or otherwise limit who the president can choose. In modern times, the confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from the press and advocacy groups, which lobby senators to confirm or to reject a nominee depending on whether their track record aligns with the group's views. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducts hearings and votes on whether
7168-581: The Senate on September 26, 1789; however, Harrison declined to serve, and Washington later nominated James Iredell in his place. The Supreme Court held its inaugural session from February 2 through February 10, 1790, at the Royal Exchange in New York City, then the U.S. capital. A second session was held there in August 1790. The earliest sessions of the court were devoted to organizational proceedings, as
7296-870: The Senate, and remained in office until his death in 1811. Two justices, William O. Douglas and Abe Fortas were subjected to hearings from the Judiciary Committee, with Douglas being the subject of hearings twice, in 1953 and again in 1970 and Fortas resigned while hearings were being organized in 1969. On July 10, 2024, Representative Alexandria Ocasia-Cortez filed Articles of Impeachment against justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito , citing their "widely documented financial and personal entanglements." Because justices have indefinite tenure, timing of vacancies can be unpredictable. Sometimes they arise in quick succession, as in September 1971, when Hugo Black and John Marshall Harlan II left within days of each other,
7424-413: The Supreme Court in order to control the Court's agenda through opinion assignment. Indeed, Burger is said to have often changed votes to join the majority coalition, cast "phony votes" by voting against his preferred position, and declined to express a position at conference. The chief justice has traditionally administered the presidential oath of office to new U.S. presidents. This is merely custom, and
7552-552: The Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 17 men have served as Chief Justice: Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States ( SCOTUS ) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States . It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on questions of U.S. constitutional or federal law . It also has original jurisdiction over
7680-472: The Supreme Court, refers to all members of the court simply as "judges". The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the distinctive titles of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States . In 1866, Salmon P. Chase assumed the title of Chief Justice of the United States, and Congress began using the new title in subsequent legislation. The first person whose Supreme Court commission contained
7808-425: The Supreme Court. This clause is one example of the system of checks and balances inherent in the Constitution. The president has the plenary power to nominate, while the Senate possesses the plenary power to reject or confirm the nominee. The Constitution sets no qualifications for service as a justice, such as age, citizenship, residence or prior judicial experience, thus a president may nominate anyone to serve, and
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#17328814385417936-454: The U.S. Constitution stipulates that the chief justice shall preside over the Senate trial of an impeached president of the United States. Three chief justices have presided over presidential impeachment trials : Salmon P. Chase ( 1868 trial of Andrew Johnson ), William Rehnquist ( 1999 trial of Bill Clinton ), and John Roberts ( 2020 trial of Donald Trump ; Roberts declined to preside over Trump's second trial in 2021 , which took place after
8064-617: The U.S. Supreme Court designated as important and that had at least two dissenting votes in which the Justices divided along party lines, about one-half of one percent." Even in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, Democratic and Republican elites tended to agree on some major issues, especially concerning civil rights and civil liberties—and so did the justices. But since 1991, they argue, ideology has been much more important in choosing justices—all Republican appointees have been committed conservatives and all Democratic appointees have been liberals. As
8192-580: The US Court of Federal Claims* and nine on the Court of International Trade . The total number of active federal judges is constantly in flux, for two reasons. First, judges retire or die, and a lapse of time occurs before new judges are appointed to fill those positions. Second, from time to time Congress will increase (or, less frequently, decrease) the number of federal judgeships in a particular judicial district, usually in response to shifting population numbers or
8320-520: The United States . The United States Constitution does not explicitly establish an office of the Chief Justice but presupposes its existence with a single reference in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." Nothing more is said in the Constitution regarding the office. Article III, Section 1 , which authorizes the establishment of
8448-501: The United States or of any state while holding their congressional seats, the chief justice and the other members of the federal judiciary are not barred from serving in other positions. John Jay served as a diplomat to negotiate the Jay Treaty , Robert H. Jackson was appointed by President Truman to be the U.S. prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials of leading Nazis, and Earl Warren chaired
8576-482: The age of 70 years 6 months and refused retirement, up to a maximum bench of 15 justices. The proposal was ostensibly to ease the burden of the docket on elderly judges, but the actual purpose was widely understood as an effort to "pack" the court with justices who would support Roosevelt's New Deal. The plan, usually called the " court-packing plan ", failed in Congress after members of Roosevelt's own Democratic Party believed it to be unconstitutional. It
8704-402: The agenda for the weekly meetings where the justices review the petitions for certiorari , to decide whether to hear or deny each case. The Supreme Court agrees to hear less than one percent of the cases petitioned to it. While associate justices may append items to the weekly agenda, in practice this initial agenda-setting power of the chief justice has significant influence over the direction of
8832-451: The appointments of relatively young attorneys who give long service on the bench, produces senior judges representing the views of past generations better than views of the current day." Sanford Levinson has been critical of justices who stayed in office despite medical deterioration based on longevity. James MacGregor Burns stated lifelong tenure has "produced a critical time lag, with the Supreme Court institutionally almost always behind
8960-536: The behest of Chief Justice Chase , and in an attempt by the Republican Congress to limit the power of Democrat Andrew Johnson , Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act of 1866, providing that the next three justices to retire would not be replaced, which would thin the bench to seven justices by attrition. Consequently, one seat was removed in 1866 and a second in 1867. Soon after Johnson left office,
9088-525: The case of Edwin M. Stanton . Although confirmed by the Senate on December 20, 1869, and duly commissioned as an associate justice by President Ulysses S. Grant , Stanton died on December 24, prior to taking the prescribed oaths. He is not, therefore, considered to have been a member of the court. Before 1981, the approval process of justices was usually rapid. From the Truman through Nixon administrations, justices were typically approved within one month. From
9216-403: The chief justice decides who writes the opinion of the court ; otherwise, the most senior justice in the majority assigns the task of writing the opinion. On average, the Supreme Court receives about 7,000 petitions for writs of certiorari each year, but only grants about 80. It was while debating the separation of powers between the legislative and executive departments that delegates to
9344-446: The committee reports out the nomination, the full Senate considers it. Rejections are relatively uncommon; the Senate has explicitly rejected twelve Supreme Court nominees, most recently Robert Bork , nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Although Senate rules do not necessarily allow a negative or tied vote in committee to block a nomination, prior to 2017 a nomination could be blocked by filibuster once debate had begun in
9472-482: The conferences where cases are discussed and tentatively voted on by the justices. They normally speak first and so have influence in framing the discussion. Although the chief justice votes first—the court votes in order of seniority—they may strategically pass in order to ensure membership in the majority if desired. It is reported that: Chief Justice Warren Burger was renowned, and even vilified in some quarters, for voting strategically during conference discussions on
9600-503: The court (by order of seniority following the Chief Justice) include: For much of the court's history, every justice was a man of Northwestern European descent, and almost always Protestant . Diversity concerns focused on geography, to represent all regions of the country, rather than religious, ethnic, or gender diversity. Racial, ethnic, and gender diversity in the court increased in the late 20th century. Thurgood Marshall became
9728-497: The court continued to favor government power, upholding the internment of Japanese Americans ( Korematsu v. United States ) and the mandatory Pledge of Allegiance ( Minersville School District v. Gobitis ). Nevertheless, Gobitis was soon repudiated ( West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette ), and the Steel Seizure Case restricted the pro-government trend. The Warren Court (1953–1969) dramatically expanded
9856-437: The court initially had only six members, every decision that it made by a majority was also made by two-thirds (voting four to two). However, Congress has always allowed less than the court's full membership to make decisions, starting with a quorum of four justices in 1789. The court lacked a home of its own and had little prestige, a situation not helped by the era's highest-profile case, Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), which
9984-425: The court is composed of six justices appointed by Republican presidents and three appointed by Democratic presidents. It is popularly accepted that Chief Justice Roberts and associate justices Thomas , Alito , Gorsuch , Kavanaugh , and Barrett, appointed by Republican presidents, compose the court's conservative wing, and that Justices Sotomayor , Kagan , and Jackson , appointed by Democratic presidents, compose
10112-562: The court the most conservative since the 1930s as well as calls for an expansion in the court's size to fix what some saw as an imbalance, with Republicans having appointed 14 of the 18 justices immediately preceding Amy Coney Barrett . In April 2021, during the 117th Congress , some Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced the Judiciary Act of 2021, a bill to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 seats. It met divided views within
10240-466: The court's procedures and inner workings are governed by the rules of protocol based on the seniority of the justices. The chief justice always ranks first in the order of precedence —regardless of the length of the officeholder's service (even if shorter than that of one or more associate justices). This elevated status has enabled successive chief justices to define and refine both the court's culture and its judicial priorities. The chief justice sets
10368-427: The court's liberal wing. Prior to Justice Ginsburg's death in 2020, the conservative Chief Justice Roberts was sometimes described as the court's 'median justice' (with four justices more liberal and four more conservative than he is). Darragh Roche argues that Kavanaugh as 2021's median justice exemplifies the rightward shift in the court. United States federal judge [REDACTED] [REDACTED] In
10496-472: The court's members. The Constitution assumes the existence of the office of the chief justice, because it mentions in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 that "the Chief Justice" must preside over impeachment trials of the President of the United States . The power to define the Supreme Court's size and membership has been assumed to belong to Congress, which initially established a six-member Supreme Court composed of
10624-458: The court's national prestige. In doing so, Marshall would often write the opinions himself and actively discouraged dissenting opinions. Associate Justice William Johnson eventually persuaded Marshall and the rest of the court to adopt its present practice: one justice writes an opinion for the majority, and the rest are free to write their own separate opinions or not, whether concurring or dissenting. The chief justice's formal prerogative—when in
10752-514: The court. In 1930, former Associate Justice Charles Evans Hughes was confirmed as Chief Justice. Additionally, in December 1800, former Chief Justice John Jay was nominated and confirmed to the position a second time but ultimately declined it, opening the way for the appointment of John Marshall . Along with their general responsibilities as a member of the Supreme Court, the chief justice has several unique duties to fulfill. Article I, Section 3 of
10880-463: The court. Nonetheless, a chief justice's influence may be limited by circumstances and the associate justices' understanding of legal principles ; it is definitely limited by the fact that they have only a single vote of nine on the decision whether to grant or deny certiorari. Despite the chief justice's elevated stature, their vote carries the same legal weight as the vote of each associate justice. Additionally, they have no legal authority to overrule
11008-416: The discussion of cases among the justices. Additionally, when the court renders an opinion, the chief justice, if in the majority, chooses who writes the court's opinion; however, when deciding a case, the chief justice's vote counts no more than that of any other justice . While nowhere mandated, the presidential oath of office is by tradition administered by the chief justice. The chief justice serves as
11136-794: The electoral recount during the 2000 United States presidential election , remains especially controversial with debate ongoing over the rightful winner and whether or not the ruling should set a precedent. The Roberts Court (2005–present) is regarded as more conservative and controversial than the Rehnquist Court. Some of its major rulings have concerned federal preemption ( Wyeth v. Levine ), civil procedure ( Twombly – Iqbal ), voting rights and federal preclearance ( Shelby County ), abortion ( Gonzales v. Carhart and Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ), climate change ( Massachusetts v. EPA ), same-sex marriage ( United States v. Windsor and Obergefell v. Hodges ), and
11264-499: The end of Trump's presidency. Senate president pro-tempore Patrick Leahy presided). All three presidents were acquitted in the Senate. Although the Constitution is silent on the matter, the chief justice would, under Senate rules adopted in 1999 prior to the Clinton trial, preside over the trial of an impeached vice president. This rule was established to preclude the possibility of a vice president presiding over their own trial. Many of
11392-440: The financial blow is to spend only a few years on the bench and then return to private practice or go into private arbitration, but such turnover creates a risk of a revolving door judiciary subject to regulatory capture . Roberts has warned that "judges are no longer drawn primarily from among the best lawyers in the practicing bar" and "If judicial appointment ceases to be the capstone of a distinguished career and instead becomes
11520-470: The first African-American justice in 1967. Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice in 1981. In 1986, Antonin Scalia became the first Italian-American justice. Marshall was succeeded by African-American Clarence Thomas in 1991. O'Connor was joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman on the Court, in 1993. After O'Connor's retirement Ginsburg was joined in 2009 by Sonia Sotomayor ,
11648-1206: The first Hispanic and Latina justice, and in 2010 by Elena Kagan. After Ginsburg's death on September 18, 2020, Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed as the fifth woman in the court's history on October 26, 2020. Ketanji Brown Jackson is the sixth woman and first African-American woman on the court. There have been six foreign-born justices in the court's history: James Wilson (1789–1798), born in Caskardy , Scotland; James Iredell (1790–1799), born in Lewes , England; William Paterson (1793–1806), born in County Antrim , Ireland; David Brewer (1889–1910), born to American missionaries in Smyrna , Ottoman Empire (now İzmir , Turkey); George Sutherland (1922–1939), born in Buckinghamshire , England; and Felix Frankfurter (1939–1962), born in Vienna , Austria-Hungary (now in Austria). Since 1789, about one-third of
11776-418: The first cases did not reach it until 1791. When the nation's capital was moved to Philadelphia in 1790, the Supreme Court did so as well. After initially meeting at Independence Hall , the court established its chambers at City Hall. Under chief justices Jay, Rutledge, and Ellsworth (1789–1801), the court heard few cases; its first decision was West v. Barnes (1791), a case involving procedure. As
11904-558: The force of Constitutional civil liberties . It held that segregation in public schools violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ( Brown v. Board of Education , Bolling v. Sharpe , and Green v. County School Bd. ) and that legislative districts must be roughly equal in population ( Reynolds v. Sims ). It recognized a general right to privacy ( Griswold v. Connecticut ), limited
12032-407: The full Senate. President Lyndon B. Johnson 's nomination of sitting associate justice Abe Fortas to succeed Earl Warren as Chief Justice in 1968 was the first successful filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee. It included both Republican and Democratic senators concerned with Fortas's ethics. President Donald Trump 's nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia 's death
12160-529: The hope of guiding executive action. The Supreme Court's 2014 decision in National Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning limited the ability of the president to make recess appointments (including appointments to the Supreme Court); the court ruled that the Senate decides when the Senate is in session or in recess. Writing for the court, Justice Breyer stated, "We hold that, for purposes of
12288-454: The impeachment and acquittal of Justice Samuel Chase from 1804 to 1805 helped cement the principle of judicial independence . The Taney Court (1836–1864) made several important rulings, such as Sheldon v. Sill , which held that while Congress may not limit the subjects the Supreme Court may hear, it may limit the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts to prevent them from hearing cases dealing with certain subjects. Nevertheless, it
12416-569: The judges of lesser federal tribunals such as the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts , the U.S. Court of Federal Claims , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces , the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims , the U.S. Tax Court , and other " Article One tribunals ". Nor does it apply to the administrative law judges of federal government agencies. Although these judges serve on courts of the federal government, they do not have life tenure, and their authority derives from Congress via Article One of
12544-471: The justices have been U.S. military veterans. Samuel Alito is the only veteran currently serving on the court. Retired justices Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy also served in the U.S. military. Justices are nominated by the president in power, and receive confirmation by the Senate, historically holding many of the views of the nominating president's political party. While justices do not represent or receive official endorsements from political parties, as
12672-497: The largest U.S. law firms with judicial clerkship experience already earn as much as a federal judge in their first year as full-time associates. When those attorneys eventually become experienced partners and reach the stage in life where one would normally consider switching to public service, their interest in joining the judiciary is tempered by the prospect of a giant pay cut back to what they were making 10 to 20 years earlier (adjusted for inflation). One way for attorneys to soften
12800-830: The legal orthodoxy is that judges cannot be removed from office except by Congressional impeachment, several legal scholars, including William Rehnquist , Saikrishna Prakash , and Steven D. Smith, have argued that the Good Behavior Clause may, in theory, permit removal by way of a writ of scire facias filed before a federal court, without resort to impeachment. Deaths of United States federal judges in active service may also have profound political and procedural effects, as such circumstances present substantially less opportunity for preparation for an orderly succession. As of 2024, federal judges' annual salaries are: $ 246,300 for district judges, $ 257,900 for circuit judges, $ 298,500 for associate Supreme Court justices , and $ 312,200 for
12928-412: The majority—to assign which justice will write the court's opinion is perhaps their most influential power, as this enables them to influence the historical record. They may assign this task to the individual justice best able to hold together a fragile coalition, to an ideologically amenable colleague, or to themselves. Opinion authors can have a large influence on the content of an opinion; two justices in
13056-494: The modified title was Melville Fuller in 1888. The associate justice title was not altered in 1866 and remains as originally created. The chief justice, like all federal judges , is nominated by the president and confirmed to office by the U.S. Senate . Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution specifies that they "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior." This language has been interpreted to mean that judicial appointments are effectively for life and that once in office,
13184-405: The more moderate Republican justices retired, the court has become more partisan. The Court became more divided sharply along partisan lines with justices appointed by Republican presidents taking increasingly conservative positions and those appointed by Democrats taking moderate liberal positions. Following the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett in 2020 after the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg ,
13312-428: The most recent justice to join the court is Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose tenure began on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the Senate on April 7. This graphical timeline depicts the length of each current Supreme Court justice's tenure (not seniority, as the chief justice has seniority over all associate justices regardless of tenure) on the court: The court currently has five male and four female justices. Among
13440-461: The nation's boundaries grew across the continent and as Supreme Court justices in those days had to ride the circuit , an arduous process requiring long travel on horseback or carriage over harsh terrain that resulted in months-long extended stays away from home, Congress added justices to correspond with the growth such that the number of seats for associate justices plus the chief justice became seven in 1807 , nine in 1837 , and ten in 1863 . At
13568-412: The new president Ulysses S. Grant , a Republican, signed into law the Judiciary Act of 1869 . This returned the number of justices to nine (where it has since remained), and allowed Grant to immediately appoint two more judges. President Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to expand the court in 1937. His proposal envisioned the appointment of one additional justice for each incumbent justice who reached
13696-447: The nine justices, there are two African American justices (Justices Thomas and Jackson ) and one Hispanic justice (Justice Sotomayor ). One of the justices was born to at least one immigrant parent: Justice Alito 's father was born in Italy. At least six justices are Roman Catholics , one is Jewish , and one is Protestant . It is unclear whether Neil Gorsuch considers himself
13824-408: The nomination should go to the full Senate with a positive, negative or neutral report. The committee's practice of personally interviewing nominees is relatively recent. The first nominee to appear before the committee was Harlan Fiske Stone in 1925, who sought to quell concerns about his links to Wall Street , and the modern practice of questioning began with John Marshall Harlan II in 1955. Once
13952-514: The party, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi did not bring it to the floor for a vote. Shortly after taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden established a presidential commission to study possible reforms to the Supreme Court. The commission's December 2021 final report discussed but took no position on expanding the size of the court. At nine members, the U.S. Supreme Court
14080-399: The power to remove justices and to ensure judicial independence . No constitutional mechanism exists for removing a justice who is permanently incapacitated by illness or injury, but unable (or unwilling) to resign. The only justice ever to be impeached was Samuel Chase , in 1804. The House of Representatives adopted eight articles of impeachment against him; however, he was acquitted by
14208-418: The record of any associated proceedings and its recommendations for appropriate action, to the Judicial Conference of the United States . The Judicial Conference may exercise its authority under the judicial discipline provisions as a conference, or through a standing committee appointed by the chief justice. Judges who meet their age and service requirements may retire and will then earn their final salary for
14336-687: The remainder of their life, plus cost-of-living increases. The "Rule of 80" is the commonly used shorthand for the age and service requirement for a judge to retire, or assume senior status , as set forth in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, section 371(c). Beginning at age 65, judges may retire at their current salary, or take senior status, after performing 15 years of active service as an Article III judge (65 + 15 = 80). A sliding scale of increasing age and decreasing service (66 + 14, 67 + 13, 68 + 12, 69 + 11) results in eligibility for retirement compensation at age 70 with
14464-423: The role of religion in public school, most prominently Engel v. Vitale and Abington School District v. Schempp , incorporated most guarantees of the Bill of Rights against the states, prominently Mapp v. Ohio (the exclusionary rule ) and Gideon v. Wainwright ( right to appointed counsel ), and required that criminal suspects be apprised of all these rights by police ( Miranda v. Arizona ). At
14592-435: The same majority, given the opportunity, might write very different majority opinions. A chief justice who knows the associate justices well can therefore do much—by the simple act of selecting the justice who writes the opinion of the court—to affect the general character or tone of an opinion, which in turn can affect the interpretation of that opinion in cases before lower courts in the years to come. The chief justice chairs
14720-569: The same time, the court limited defamation suits by public figures ( New York Times Co. v. Sullivan ) and supplied the government with an unbroken run of antitrust victories. The Burger Court (1969–1986) saw a conservative shift. It also expanded Griswold ' s right to privacy to strike down abortion laws ( Roe v. Wade ) but divided deeply on affirmative action ( Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ) and campaign finance regulation ( Buckley v. Valeo ). It also wavered on
14848-595: The seniormost associate justice will normally swear in a new chief justice. If the chief justice is ill or incapacitated, the oath is usually administered by the seniormost member of the Supreme Court. Eight times, someone other than the chief justice of the United States administered the oath of office to the president. Since the tenure of William Howard Taft , the office of chief justice has moved beyond just first among equals . The chief justice also: Unlike Senators and Representatives, who are constitutionally prohibited from holding any other "office of trust or profit" of
14976-407: The shortest period of time between vacancies in the court's history. Sometimes a great length of time passes between vacancies, such as the 11-year span, from 1994 to 2005, from the retirement of Harry Blackmun to the death of William Rehnquist , which was the second longest timespan between vacancies in the court's history. On average a new justice joins the court about every two years. Despite
15104-554: The state of New York, two are from Washington, D.C., and one each is from New Jersey, Georgia, Colorado, and Louisiana. Eight of the current justices received their Juris Doctor from an Ivy League law school : Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and John Roberts from Harvard ; plus Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh , Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas from Yale . Only Amy Coney Barrett did not; she received her Juris Doctor at Notre Dame . Previous positions or offices, judicial or federal government, prior to joining
15232-600: The substantive due process doctrine to its first apogee ( Adkins v. Children's Hospital ). During the Hughes , Stone , and Vinson courts (1930–1953), the court gained its own accommodation in 1935 and changed its interpretation of the Constitution , giving a broader reading to the powers of the federal government to facilitate President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal (most prominently West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish , Wickard v. Filburn , United States v. Darby , and United States v. Butler ). During World War II ,
15360-468: The times." Proposals to solve these problems include term limits for justices, as proposed by Levinson and Sabato and a mandatory retirement age proposed by Richard Epstein , among others. Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 78 argued that one benefit of lifetime tenure was that, "nothing can contribute so much to its firmness and independence as permanency in office." Article Three, Section 1 of
15488-447: The variability, all but four presidents have been able to appoint at least one justice. William Henry Harrison died a month after taking office, although his successor ( John Tyler ) made an appointment during that presidential term. Likewise, Zachary Taylor died 16 months after taking office, but his successor ( Millard Fillmore ) also made a Supreme Court nomination before the end of that term. Andrew Johnson, who became president after
15616-424: The verdicts or interpretations of the other eight judges or tamper with them. The task of assigning who shall write the opinion for the majority falls to the most senior justice in the majority. Thus, when the chief justice is in the majority, they always assign the opinion. Early in his tenure, Chief Justice John Marshall insisted upon holdings which the justices could unanimously back as a means to establish and build
15744-521: Was defeated 70–20 in the Senate, and the Senate Judiciary Committee reported that it was "essential to the continuance of our constitutional democracy" that the proposal "be so emphatically rejected that its parallel will never again be presented to the free representatives of the free people of America." The expansion of a 5–4 conservative majority to a 6–3 supermajority during the first presidency of Donald Trump led to analysts calling
15872-546: Was last changed in 1869, when it was set at nine. Under the White and Taft Courts (1910–1930), the court held that the Fourteenth Amendment had incorporated some guarantees of the Bill of Rights against the states ( Gitlow v. New York ), grappled with the new antitrust statutes ( Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. United States ), upheld the constitutionality of military conscription ( Selective Draft Law Cases ), and brought
16000-407: Was nominated and confirmed as Chief Justice in January 1796 but declined the office, he too remained on the court. Two former associate justices subsequently returned to service on the court as Chief Justice. John Rutledge was the first. President Washington gave him a recess appointment in 1795. However, his subsequent nomination to the office was not confirmed by the Senate, and he left office and
16128-459: Was not acted on by the Senate; Eisenhower re-nominated Harlan in January 1955, and Harlan was confirmed two months later. Most recently, the Senate failed to act on the March 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland, as the nomination expired in January 2017, and the vacancy was filled by Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of President Trump. Once the Senate confirms a nomination, the president must prepare and sign
16256-619: Was reversed within two years by the adoption of the Eleventh Amendment . The court's power and prestige grew substantially during the Marshall Court (1801–1835). Under Marshall, the court established the power of judicial review over acts of Congress, including specifying itself as the supreme expositor of the Constitution ( Marbury v. Madison ) and making several important constitutional rulings that gave shape and substance to
16384-627: Was the second. Unlike the Fortas filibuster, only Democratic senators voted against cloture on the Gorsuch nomination, citing his perceived conservative judicial philosophy, and the Republican majority's prior refusal to take up President Barack Obama 's nomination of Merrick Garland to fill the vacancy. This led the Republican majority to change the rules and eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court nominations. Not every Supreme Court nominee has received
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