Here is a look at the Supreme Court of the United States.
Facts:
The US Supreme Court was created in accordance with Article III, section 1 of the Constitution of the United States and by the authority of the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789.
February 2, 1790 – The first court assembles in New York City.
Nine justices comprise the US Supreme Court, one chief justice and eight associate justices.
The number of associate justices may be fixed by Congress and under the authority of the act of June 25, 1948 (28 U.S.C. 1).
The president of the United States nominates candidates for the Supreme Court. They must be approved by the US Senate.
The approval process for the chief justice is the same as it is for the associate justices.
Once approved, all justices serve for life. Congress can remove a justice through impeachment for corrupt behavior or other abuses of office, but this has never happened.
Chief justices are sworn in by the outgoing chief justices. Associate justices are sworn in by the current chief justice or one of the other associate justices.
Each justice oversees at least one of the 12 Federal Judicial Circuit Courts.
John G. Roberts (Chief Justice)
Birth date: January 27, 1955
September 5, 2005 – President George W. Bush nominates Judge John Roberts to be Chief Justice of the United States following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
September 29, 2005 – Confirmed by the United States Senate.
October 3, 2005 – Sworn into office.
Oversees the District of Columbia Circuit, the Fourth Circuit and the Federal Circuit.
Born in Buffalo, New York; attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School; served as judge on the US Court of Appeals for District of Columbia Circuit 2003-2005.
Anthony M. Kennedy
Birth date: July 23, 1936
November 11, 1987 – To fill the seat vacated by Justice Lewis Powell’s retirement, President Ronald Reagan nominates Judge Kennedy to the Supreme Court after the confirmation failures of nominees Robert Bork and Douglas Ginsburg.
February 18, 1988 – Sworn into office.
Oversees the Ninth Circuit.
Born in Sacramento, California; attended London School of Economics, Stanford University and Harvard Law School; practiced law privately from 1961-1975; was a professor of at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific from 1963-1975; appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1975.
Clarence Thomas
Birth date: June 23, 1948
July 1, 1991 – Nominated to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush to fill the seat of the retiring Thurgood Marshall.
October 23, 1991 – Sworn into office.
Oversees the Eleventh Circuit.
Born in Pin Point, Georgia, near Savannah; attended Holy Cross College and Yale Law School; was Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982-1990; became a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1990.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Birth date: March 15, 1933
June 14, 1993 – Nominated by President Bill Clinton.
August 10, 1993 – Sworn into office.
Oversees the Second Circuit.
Born in Brooklyn, New York; attended Cornell University, Harvard and Columbia Law Schools; was a professor at Rutgers University School of Law and Columbia Law School from 1963-1980; served as the ACLU’s general counsel from 1973-1980; appointed judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1980.
Stephen G. Breyer
Birth date: August 15, 1938
May 13, 1994 – Nominated by President Bill Clinton.
August 3, 1994 – Sworn into office.
Oversees the First Circuit.
Born in San Francisco; attended Stanford University, Oxford University and Harvard Law School; served as Special Prosecutor and Special Counsel to the Senate during Watergate; held various positions, including professor and lecturer, at Harvard Law School from 1967-1994 and also as a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government from 1977-1980; served as a judge of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit from 1980-1994.
Samuel Alito
Birth date: April 1, 1950
October 31, 2005 – Nominated by President George W. Bush to replace Sandra Day O’Connor.
January 31, 2006 – Confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts.
Oversees the Third and Fifth Circuits.
Born in Trenton, New Jersey; attended Princeton University and Yale Law School; named as the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1987; appointed to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, New Jersey in 1990.
Sonia Sotomayor
Birth date: June 25, 1954
May 26, 2009 – Is nominated by President Barack Obama to replace Justice David Souter on the US Supreme Court.
August 8, 2009 – Sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts as the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice.
Oversees the Tenth Circuit.
Born in New York, New York (Bronx); attended Princeton University and Yale Law School; served as assistant district attorney for New York County in 1979; President George H.W. Bush nominated Sotomayor as associate judge at the US District Court, Southern District of New York in 1992; President Clinton nominated Sotomayor to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1997.
Elena Kagan
Birth date: April 28, 1960
May 10, 2010 – President Obama nominates Kagan to be a justice on the US Supreme Court.
August 7, 2010 – Sworn into office by Chief Justice John Roberts as the 112th Supreme Court Justice.
Oversees the Sixth and Seventh Circuits.
Born in New York, New York; attended Princeton University, Worcester College at Oxford University and Harvard University; was editor of the Harvard Law Review; clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall; associate Counsel to President Bill Clinton; first female Dean of Harvard University Law School; President Obama named Kagan to be US solicitor general in 2009.
Neil Gorsuch
Birth date: August 29, 1967
January 31, 2017 – Gorsuch is nominated by President Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
April 10, 2017 – Sworn into office by Justice Anthony Kennedy.
Oversees the Eighth Circuit.
Born in Denver, Colorado; attended Columbia University, Harvard Law School and Oxford University; founded a student publication at Columbia called the Federalist Paper; clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy; George W. Bush nominated him to serve as judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.