Membership of Supreme Court

Membership of the Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court is composed of nine Justices: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices.
Appointments to the Supreme Court are for life, which means Justices serve until they pass away, retire, or are impeached and convicted by Congress.

Supreme Court Justices are nominated by the President and, if approved by the Senate, appointed to the Court.
The Senate Judiciary Committee typically conducts confirmation hearings for each nominee. This involves public hearings and debate, followed by a committee vote.
If a majority of the Judiciary Committee approves the nominee, the nomination proceeds to the full Senate. A simple majority vote is required for the Senate to confirm and appoint the nominee.

Justices come from varying professional and educational backgrounds, although most hold law degrees and have worked as judges, academics or in legal practice.
It has become increasingly common for nominees to have prior judicial experience.
Only a third of all justices in Supreme Court history have had prior experience on the bench.

The Supreme Court’s representation of gender, race, and other demographic characteristics is a constant matter of debate.
The first woman to serve as a Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, was only appointed in 1981.
As of 2020, only three women serve on the Supreme Court.
The first African American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, was appointed in 1967. As of 2020, only three African American Justices have ever served.

Supreme Court Justices don’t represent constituencies and are not expected to be representative in the same way as elected officials.
However, over time, the idea of an ideological balance on the Court has become more prominent. Presidents will often attempt to nominate Justices they believe align ideologically with them.
This has led to a fairly consistent conservative-liberal split on the court, with many decisions split along these ideological lines.

One criticism of the Supreme Court’s membership is its lack of term limits, leading to Justices serving for decades and potentially creating a disconnect with the modern society and law they interpret.
Critics often express concern over the intense politicisation of recent confirmation processes, which threaten the perceived impartiality of the Court.
Additionally, the lack of diversity on the Supreme Court has been criticised for not fully representing the demographic makeup of the United States.