Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States. The number of Associate Justices is ruled by the United States Congress and is currently set at eight by the Judiciary Act of 1869.

How they are nominated[change | change source]

The President "shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint... Judges of the supreme Court." Although the Constitution refers to them as "Judges of the Supreme Court," the title actually used is "Associate Justice," introduced in the Judiciary Act of 1789.[1] Associate justices were traditionally styled "Mr. Justice" in court opinions, but the title was shortened to "Justice" in 1980, a year before the first female justice was appointed.[2]

Duties[change | change source]

Each of the Justices of the Supreme Court has a single vote in deciding the cases argued before it; the Chief Justice's vote counts no more than that of any other Justice.

Succession process[change | change source]

Under 28 USC 3, when the Chief Justice is unable to discharge his functions, or that office is vacant, his duties are carried out by the most senior Associate Justice until the disability or the vacancy ends.

Current justices[change | change source]

The current Associate Justices are (in order of seniority):

Justice /
birthdate and place
Appointed by SCV Age at Start date /
length of service
Previous position or office
(most recent prior to joining the Court)
Replaced
Start Present
Clarence Thomas
(1948-06-23) June 23, 1948 (age 75)
Pin Point, Georgia
G. H. W. Bush 52–48 43 75 October 23, 1991
32 years, 153 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1990–1991) Marshall
Samuel Alito
(1950-04-01) April 1, 1950 (age 73)
Trenton, New Jersey
G. W. Bush 58–42 55 73 January 31, 2006
18 years, 53 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1990–2006) O'Connor
Sonia Sotomayor
(1954-06-25) June 25, 1954 (age 69)
The Bronx, New York
Obama 68–31 55 69 August 8, 2009
14 years, 229 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1998–2009) Souter
Elena Kagan
(1960-04-28) April 28, 1960 (age 63)
Manhattan, New York
Obama 63–37 50 63 August 7, 2010
13 years, 230 days
Solicitor General of the United States (2009–2010) Stevens
Neil Gorsuch
(1967-08-29) August 29, 1967 (age 56)
Denver, Colorado
Trump 54–45 49 56 April 10, 2017
6 years, 349 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (2006–2017) Scalia
Brett Kavanaugh
(1965-02-12) February 12, 1965 (age 59)
Washington, D.C.
Trump 50–48 53 59 October 6, 2018
5 years, 170 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2006–2018) Kennedy
Amy Coney Barrett
(1972-01-28) January 28, 1972 (age 52)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Trump 52–48 48 52 October 27, 2020
3 years, 149 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (2017–2020) Ginsburg
Ketanji Brown Jackson
(1970-09-14) September 14, 1970 (age 53)
Washington, D.C.
Biden 53–47 52 53 June 30, 2022
1 year, 268 days
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2021–2022) Breyer
     Source: [3]

References[change | change source]

  1. "A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875". memory.loc.gov.
  2. Joan Biskupic, Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), 101.
  3. "Current Members". www.supremecourt.gov. Washington, D.C.: Supreme Court of the United States. Retrieved October 21, 2018.

Other websites[change | change source]