Justices On The Supreme Court: Constitutional Number

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest-ranking judicial body in the country, established by Article III of the US Constitution. The Court has undergone several changes since its inception, including in its size and structure. The number of justices on the Supreme Court has varied over time, ranging from five to ten, but it has been consistently composed of nine justices since the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1869. The current composition includes one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, who are appointed by the President with the confirmation of the Senate and typically hold their offices for life. The Supreme Court plays a crucial role in the constitutional system of government, serving as the final arbiter of justice and safeguarding civil rights and liberties.

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Supreme Court justices and their appointment

The number of justices on the Supreme Court has varied over time. When the Judiciary Act of 1789 created the U.S. Supreme Court, it consisted of six members: a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The current number of Supreme Court justices is nine, which was set by the Judiciary Act of 1869.

The process of appointing a Supreme Court justice is outlined in the U.S. Constitution and involves the President and the Senate. When a vacancy arises on the Court, the President nominates a candidate. The nomination is then considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which holds public hearings to evaluate the nominee's qualifications, background, and judicial philosophy. The Committee then decides whether to report the nomination favorably, unfavorably, or without a recommendation to the full Senate. The Senate debates the nomination and conducts a confirmation vote, requiring a simple majority to confirm or reject the nominee.

The President can make recess appointments to the Supreme Court when the Senate is not in session. However, such appointments have been rare and generally frowned upon. President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed three Supreme Court Justices through recess appointments, including Chief Justice Earl Warren.

Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed for life, and their salaries cannot be reduced during their tenure. While impeachment by the House of Representatives is possible, no Justice has ever been removed from office. The inclusion of diverse Justices, such as the first female Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the first African-American Justice Thurgood Marshall, has added to the Court's evolution.

The history of the number of justices

The number of justices on the Supreme Court has changed several times since its establishment in 1789. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the U.S. Supreme Court, setting the number of justices at six: one chief justice and five associate justices.

Over the following decades, the size of the Court fluctuated. An 1801 act would have reduced the Court's size to five members, but an 1802 act prevented this from happening. The size of the Court was increased to seven members in 1807, to nine in 1837, and to ten in 1863. An 1866 act was set to reduce the Court's size to seven members, but before a third vacancy occurred, the Judiciary Act of 1869 restored the Court's size to nine members, where it has remained since.

The Supreme Court is the only court established by the United States Constitution, and it is the highest-ranking judicial body in the United States. While the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, it permits Congress to decide how to organize it, including setting the number of justices. The current Court consists of nine justices: one chief justice and eight associate justices.

Diversity of the Court

The Supreme Court of the United States was founded in 1789 with six members: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The Court's first members were all white Protestant males. Since then, the Court has gained a few notable "firsts" in terms of diversity.

In 1916, Louis Brandeis became the first Jewish Justice. In 1836, Roger Brooke Taney became the first Catholic Justice. Thurgood Marshall, who joined the Court in 1967, was the first African-American Justice. Sandra Day O'Connor, who joined in 1981, was the first female Justice. In 2009, Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic Justice. Most recently, in 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first African-American female Justice.

Despite these milestones, the Court has been criticized for a lack of diversity. In 2023, 38% of sitting justices were former prosecutors, while only 9% were former public defenders. In the same year, 18 states had no justices who identified as people of color, and South Carolina had an all-male state supreme court bench.

However, there have been some improvements in diversity in recent years. In 2023, the percentage of women on state supreme court benches increased to 42%, and the percentage of people of color increased to 19%. Seventeen states now have female majorities on their state supreme court benches, and Illinois, Nevada, and Michigan swore in Black women justices for the first time in history.

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Tenure of justices

The number of justices on the Supreme Court has varied over time. The Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the U.S. Supreme Court, initially established a Court consisting of six members: a Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The size of the Court fluctuated over the following decades before settling at its current size of nine members with the Judiciary Act of 1869.

Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States serve for life, during "good behaviour". This means that they serve until they die, resign, retire, or are impeached and removed from office. In theory, a Justice may be impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate, but in practice, legislative impeachment and removal are rare. In the history of the Court, only one Justice, Samuel Chase, has been impeached, and no Justice has ever been removed. Justices' salaries may not be reduced while they are in office.

The average tenure of justices has increased significantly over time. Before the 1950s, justices spent an average of 11 to 15 years on the Court. For the 89 justices who had left the Court by 1970, the average length of tenure was about 15 years. By 2024, the average tenure of justices who had left the Court since 1970 had risen to around 25 years. The longest-serving justice in the history of the Court was William O. Douglas, who served for 36 years and 209 days.

The length of justices' tenures has been a source of controversy in recent years, with critics arguing that term limits or mandatory retirement ages are necessary to balance accountability with judicial independence and to reduce the likelihood of age-related disabilities. Fixed, 18-year terms have been proposed as an alternative to life tenure, with the aim of insulating the confirmation process from partisan politics and promoting a more diverse court. However, some analysts argue that term limits could increase the politicization of the Court and lead to sudden and radical changes in doctrine.

Removal of justices

The removal of justices from the Supreme Court is a rare occurrence and can only be effectuated through impeachment. The Constitution vests the power to impeach federal judges in the House of Representatives, which has, since 1803, impeached only 15 judges, with an average of one impeachment every 14 years. Of these 15 impeachments, only eight were followed by convictions in the Senate, which holds the power to remove impeached judges.

The only Supreme Court Justice to have been impeached was Samuel Chase, who was appointed by President George Washington. In 1804, Chase was impeached by the House for allowing his political views to interfere with his decisions and "tending to prostitute" the court and his position. He was, however, acquitted by the Senate in 1805, and no other Supreme Court Justice has been impeached since.

While impeachment at the state level is similarly rare, there have been a few instances. For example, in 1994, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen was impeached and removed from office for asking a doctor to write fraudulent drug prescriptions, improperly communicating with lawyers and a trial judge about a pending case, and lying under oath. In 2000, New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice David Brock was impeached for improper communications in two cases and for lying under oath, but the state Senate declined to remove him.

The threat of impeachment proceedings has, on occasion, led to the resignation of justices before formal impeachment. For example, in 1969, Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas resigned before he could be impeached for accepting $20,000 a year for life from the family of a Wall Street titan jailed for SEC violations.

Despite the rarity of impeachment, there have been numerous calls for the impeachment of Supreme Court Justices by people across the political spectrum.

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