The U.S. Supreme Court currently has nine members: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.1Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members The current Supreme Court justices sit in a 6–3 conservative-to-liberal alignment, a balance shaped largely by the three appointments Donald Trump made during his first term. Every justice on the bench today holds a law degree from Harvard, Yale, or Notre Dame.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
Roberts is the 17th Chief Justice of the United States, nominated by George W. Bush and confirmed in September 2005. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, served as Principal Deputy Solicitor General under George H.W. Bush, and sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before his elevation.2The White House Archives. Judicial Nominations – Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. At the time of his confirmation, he was the youngest person to hold the position in a century.
As Chief Justice, Roberts holds the same single vote as every other member of the Court. The position carries administrative weight, though. He presides over oral arguments, speaks first in the justices’ private case conferences, and, when he votes with the majority, decides which justice will write the Court’s opinion. When he is in the minority, that assignment power falls to the most senior associate justice in the majority. Beyond the courtroom, he heads the Judicial Conference of the United States, the policymaking body for the federal court system.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 331 – Judicial Conference of the United States
Clarence Thomas
Thomas has served since October 1991, which makes him the longest-tenured current justice. He is a Yale Law School graduate who chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Ronald Reagan and spent about a year on the D.C. Circuit before George H.W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court. His confirmation vote of 52–48 remains one of the narrowest in the Court’s history.4U.S. Senate. U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 102nd Congress – 1st Session
Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Alito joined the Court in January 2006, nominated by George W. Bush. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, then spent 15 years as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.5George W. Bush White House Archives. Judicial Nominations – Justice Samuel A. Alito
Sonia Sotomayor
Sotomayor is the first Hispanic justice and the senior member of the Court’s liberal wing. Barack Obama nominated her, and she was confirmed in August 2009. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and served as a federal district court judge in the Southern District of New York before spending over a decade on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.6United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court – Sonia Sotomayor
Elena Kagan
Kagan took her seat in August 2010 after a nomination by Barack Obama. Her path was unusual. She had never served as a judge. She was Dean of Harvard Law School and then U.S. Solicitor General, the federal government’s top advocate before the Supreme Court. Her J.D. is from Harvard.1Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members
Neil M. Gorsuch
Gorsuch was the first of three justices nominated by Donald Trump during his first term, confirmed in April 2017 to fill the vacancy left by Antonin Scalia’s death. A Harvard Law School graduate, he worked in the Department of Justice as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General and spent about a decade on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit before his nomination.7The White House. President Donald J. Trump Nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court
Brett M. Kavanaugh
Kavanaugh joined the Court in October 2018 after one of the most contentious confirmation battles in recent memory. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and spent over 12 years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit before his nomination by Donald Trump.8Congress.gov. Nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh for Supreme Court of the United States
Amy Coney Barrett
Barrett was nominated by Donald Trump and confirmed in October 2020 to succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She earned her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School, where she later taught for more than 15 years, and served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.9The White House. Amy Coney Barrett She is the only current justice who did not attend Harvard or Yale.
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Jackson is the most junior justice, nominated by Joe Biden and seated in June 2022. She is the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. A Harvard Law School graduate, she served on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before moving to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.1Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members
Why Nine Justices
The Constitution created the Supreme Court in Article III but said nothing about how many people should sit on it. That decision belongs to Congress, and the number has shifted several times. The Judiciary Act of 1789 started with six justices. Congress raised and lowered the count throughout the 1800s, often for plainly political reasons, until an 1869 law settled on nine, one for each federal judicial circuit at the time.10Federal Judicial Center. The Supreme Court of the United States and the Federal Judiciary Current federal law fixes the Court at one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, with six forming a quorum.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1 – Number of Justices
How Long the Current Lineup May Last
Supreme Court justices serve for life, or more precisely “during good Behaviour,” the phrase used in Article III.12Congress.gov. Constitution of the United States – Article III There is no term limit and no mandatory retirement age. A justice leaves the bench by choosing to retire, by death, or through the exceedingly rare path of impeachment and conviction. Only one Supreme Court justice, Samuel Chase in 1805, has ever been impeached by the House, and the Senate acquitted him. No justice has ever been removed from the Court.
Several current justices have already served 15 years or more, and some may remain on the bench for another two decades. That longevity is the practical consequence of life tenure: a single president’s appointments can shape the Court for a generation.