The Supreme Court justices are the nine judges who sit on the highest court in the United States, consisting of one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices who are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and serve for life. Their rulings bind every other court in the country, which is why each appointment shapes American law for decades.
Who Sits on the Court Right Now
Nine justices currently serve, listed below in order of seniority. Seniority sets seating at oral argument and the order of speaking in private conference, but every justice casts an equal vote.1Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members
- John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States, appointed 2005
- Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, appointed 1991
- Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice, appointed 2006
- Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice, appointed 2009
- Elena Kagan, Associate Justice, appointed 2010
- Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice, appointed 2017
- Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice, appointed 2018
- Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice, appointed 2020
- Ketanji Brown Jackson, Associate Justice, appointed 2022
One practical consequence of seniority: when the Chief Justice is in the majority on a decision, the Chief assigns who writes the opinion. When the Chief is in dissent, the most senior justice in the majority makes that call.
Why Nine Justices
The Constitution does not fix the number. Article III vests federal judicial power in “one supreme Court” and leaves the size of the bench to Congress.2Constitution Annotated. Article III – Judicial Branch Congress changed the number six times between 1789 and 1869, starting with six justices under the original Judiciary Act. The current count of nine, with a quorum of six, has been set by federal statute since 1869.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1 The odd number helps prevent ties, though 4–4 splits still happen when a justice is recused. A tie leaves the lower court’s ruling in place and sets no national precedent.
How a Justice Gets on the Bench
Article II gives the President the power to nominate “Judges of the supreme Court,” subject to the Senate’s advice and consent.4Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 2 Clause 2 In practice, the process moves through several stages.
When a seat opens, the President selects a nominee after consulting advisors, reviewing judicial records, and weighing the political dynamics of confirmation. The nominee then appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee for public hearings that can run several days, with senators questioning the candidate on legal philosophy, judicial temperament, and past decisions. The committee votes on whether to send the nomination to the full Senate, which confirms by a simple majority of senators present.
Once confirmed, the new justice takes two oaths before taking the bench: a constitutional oath required of all federal officials and a separate judicial oath pledging to “administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich.”5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 453
No Formal Qualifications
The Constitution sets no requirements for age, citizenship, legal training, or prior judicial experience. In theory, the President could nominate someone who never went to law school. In practice, every justice in the Court’s history has been a trained lawyer, and most served as federal appellate judges before their appointment. The current bench includes former circuit court judges, a former solicitor general, and former law professors.
Lifetime Tenure and How Seats Open
Article III states that federal judges “hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” a phrase borrowed from English law that functions as a lifetime appointment.6Constitution Annotated. Overview of Good Behavior Clause The idea is insulation from political pressure. A justice who never faces reelection or reappointment can rule based on legal reasoning without worrying about popularity.
Vacancies usually come through retirement or death in office. Retirement works a little differently for justices than for other federal judges. Lower court judges can take “senior status” and keep hearing a reduced caseload, but justices who step down are generally classified as “retired” and do not continue to decide cases at the Supreme Court level. Retired justices may sit on lower federal courts by designation.
The Constitution also allows removal through impeachment by the House followed by conviction by the Senate.7United States Courts. Judges and Judicial Administration Journalists Guide No justice has ever been removed this way. Justice Samuel Chase was impeached in 1804 and acquitted by the Senate in 1805, and that remains the only impeachment of a sitting justice.
What Justices Are Paid
As of January 2026, the Chief Justice earns $320,700 per year and Associate Justices earn $306,600.8Federal Judicial Center. Judicial Salaries – Supreme Court Justices Congress sets judicial pay, and the Constitution bars reducing a sitting justice’s salary during their time in office.
What Justices Actually Do
Most cases reach the Court through petitions for a writ of certiorari, a request asking the Court to review a lower court’s decision. The Court receives more than 7,000 petitions each term and takes only about 100 to 150.9United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures A paid petition costs $300 in docket fees.10Supreme Court of the United States. Paid Cases Guide Parties who cannot afford the fee can file in forma pauperis at no cost.
The selection runs on the “Rule of Four.” At least four justices must vote to hear a case before it gets scheduled for full briefing and oral argument. The Court tends to grant review in cases that involve splits among federal appellate courts, challenges to the constitutionality of a federal or state law, or important federal questions that lower courts have not resolved. A denial does not mean the Court agrees with the lower ruling. It means fewer than four justices thought the case warranted review.
In a small category of disputes, the Court acts as a trial court. The Constitution grants original jurisdiction over cases involving ambassadors, public ministers, and consuls, and over disputes in which a state is a party.11Constitution Annotated. Supreme Court Original Jurisdiction The most common modern examples are boundary disputes and water rights conflicts between states.
The Annual Term
By statute, the term begins the first Monday in October and runs through the following summer. It alternates between “sittings,” when justices hear oral arguments and release opinions, and “recesses,” when they research, deliberate, and write, roughly every two weeks.12Supreme Court of the United States. The Court and Its Procedures Arguments typically happen Monday through Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m., with each side getting 30 minutes. Arguments generally end in April, and the biggest decisions tend to arrive in late June.
After argument, the justices meet in a private conference where no one else is present, not even law clerks. The Chief Justice opens discussion on each case, and the rest speak in order of seniority. Votes are taken, opinion-writing is assigned, and drafts circulate for months. Justices sometimes change their votes as the reasoning develops.
Types of Opinions
The majority opinion is the binding decision, setting the rule that lower courts must follow. A concurring opinion is written by a justice who agrees with the outcome but wants to lay out different reasoning. A dissent records disagreement by justices who voted the other way. Dissents carry no legal force at the time, but they sometimes lay the groundwork for future Courts to change direction.
Emergency Orders
Not everything moves through full briefing and argument. Emergency applications for stays or injunctions go to the individual justice assigned to the relevant federal circuit, who can act alone or refer the matter to the full Court. These are handled on paper and can come at any hour.13Supreme Court of the United States. A Reporters Guide to Applications Pending Before the Supreme Court of the United States When the full Court acts on a stay, five justices must agree. This category of business is sometimes called the “shadow docket” because orders often come with little or no written explanation.
The Chief Justice’s Extra Duties
The Chief Justice carries responsibilities beyond leading the Court’s deliberations. Under Article I, the Chief presides over Senate impeachment trials of the President.14Constitution Annotated. Historical Background on Impeachment Trials Chief Justice Roberts presided over President Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020. Outside the courtroom, the Chief Justice heads the federal judiciary, chairs the Judicial Conference of the United States, oversees the Administrative Office of the Courts, and delivers an annual report on the state of the federal judiciary. The Chief’s vote on a case still counts the same as any other justice’s.
Ethics Rules That Apply to Justices
For most of the Court’s history, the justices were not bound by a formal ethics code. That changed in November 2023, when the Court published its own Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.15Supreme Court of the United States. Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
The code requires justices to avoid letting personal, financial, or political relationships influence their official conduct. It directs them to disqualify themselves from cases where their impartiality could reasonably be questioned, including situations involving personal bias, prior involvement as a lawyer, or a financial stake in the outcome. It also bars membership in organizations that practice discrimination based on race, sex, religion, or national origin.
The code has no external enforcement mechanism. Each justice decides individually whether recusal is required, and there is no appeal from that decision. Financial disclosure requirements exist separately under federal law, requiring justices to report income, gifts, and reimbursements.