A Supreme Court Justice is one of nine members of the United States Supreme Court, the highest court in the federal system, appointed for life to interpret the Constitution and federal law in rulings that bind every other court in the country. There is one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices. As of 2026, the Chief Justice earns $320,700 and each Associate Justice earns $306,600.1Federal Judicial Center. Judicial Salaries – Supreme Court Justices Because the Court’s decisions are final, these nine people shape federal law more durably than almost any other officials in government.
What a Justice Does
The job is deciding what the Constitution and federal statutes mean when real disputes bring them into conflict. Article III of the Constitution vests all federal judicial power in one Supreme Court and whatever lower courts Congress creates, which puts every federal legal question ultimately in the justices’ reach.2Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article III
Their most powerful tool is judicial review: the authority to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The text of the Constitution does not spell this power out. The Court claimed it in the 1803 case Marbury v. Madison, reasoning that because the Constitution is the supreme law, any ordinary statute that conflicts with it cannot stand, and the judiciary is the body that must say so.3Congress.gov. ArtIII.S1.3 Marbury v. Madison and Judicial Review Every time the Court invalidates a federal or state law, it draws on that authority.
Choosing Which Cases to Hear
The justices do not hear every case that reaches them. Losing parties in lower courts file petitions asking the Court to take their case, and thousands arrive each year. The Court typically grants review in roughly 100 to 150 of them.4United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures It takes just four of the nine justices to agree to grant a case. Once accepted, both sides file written briefs and then appear for oral argument, where the justices press each lawyer with questions. Afterward, the justices meet privately to discuss the case and cast preliminary votes.
Writing the Opinions That Become Law
A majority opinion needs at least five votes, and once issued it becomes binding law that every lower court must follow.4United States Courts. Supreme Court Procedures A justice who agrees with the outcome but reaches it by different reasoning can write a concurrence. One who disagrees writes a dissent. Dissents carry no legal force on the day they are published, but they sometimes become the foundation for a later reversal.
Emergency Orders
Not every decision comes with full briefing and oral argument. The justices also handle emergency applications, sometimes called the shadow docket, in which a party asks for fast action such as blocking a law from taking effect or staying an execution. These move quickly, usually without oral argument, and the Court often disposes of them through unsigned orders with limited written explanation.
How Someone Becomes a Justice
The Constitution gives the President the power to nominate Supreme Court justices with the Senate’s advice and consent.5Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 After the President names a nominee, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds public hearings, questioning the candidate at length about judicial philosophy and views on constitutional interpretation. The committee then votes on whether to recommend the nomination to the full Senate.
The full Senate decides by simple majority. That threshold changed in April 2017, during the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked what is commonly called the nuclear option to end the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees. Before that change, 60 votes were needed to overcome a filibuster and reach a final vote.6Congress.gov. Senate Proceedings Establishing Majority Cloture for Supreme Court Nominations
There Are No Formal Qualifications
The Constitution sets no requirements for age, education, citizenship, or legal experience. A nominee does not technically need to be a lawyer.7Supreme Court of the United States. Frequently Asked Questions – General Information In practice, every justice in the Court’s history has had legal training, and most served as federal appellate judges before their nomination, but that is custom, not a constitutional rule.
The Nine Seats
Federal law fixes the Court at nine members: one Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1 – Number of Justices; Quorum Congress has set the number as low as five and as high as ten in earlier eras, but it has stayed at nine since 1869. Any six justices form a quorum.
As of 2026, the sitting members are 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.9Supreme Court of the United States. Current Members
What the Chief Justice Does Differently
Each justice casts one equal vote. The Chief Justice carries extra duties on top of that: presiding over oral arguments, leading the private conference where the justices discuss cases, and heading the Judicial Conference of the United States, which sets administrative policy across the federal courts. The Constitution also requires the Chief Justice to preside over presidential impeachment trials in the Senate.10Constitution Annotated. Historical Background on Impeachment Trials
Circuit Assignments
Each justice is also assigned to one or more of the thirteen federal judicial circuits. As circuit justice, they rule on emergency applications from cases in those circuits, such as requests to pause a lower court order while an appeal goes forward. The Chief Justice currently covers the D.C. Circuit, the Fourth Circuit, and the Federal Circuit.11Supreme Court of the United States. Circuit Assignments
Ethical Rules and Recusal
In November 2023, the Court adopted its first formal written code of conduct. Its five canons address integrity, impartiality, diligent performance of duties, limits on outside activities, and a bar on political activity such as endorsing candidates or contributing to campaigns.12Supreme Court of the United States. Code of Conduct for Justices The Court said these principles were not new, only newly written down.
Federal law also governs recusal. Under 28 U.S.C. ยง 455, a justice must step aside from any case where their impartiality could reasonably be questioned, including personal bias, a financial interest, a close family member involved as party or lawyer, or prior involvement as a government lawyer or witness.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 455 – Disqualification of Justice, Judge, or Magistrate Judge Unlike lower federal judges, no outside authority can force a Supreme Court justice to recuse. Each justice decides for themselves, and they rarely explain the choice publicly.
Pay, Tenure, and How a Justice Leaves the Bench
Congress sets the salaries, which stand at $320,700 for the Chief Justice and $306,600 for each Associate Justice as of January 1, 2026.1Federal Judicial Center. Judicial Salaries – Supreme Court Justices The Constitution forbids reducing a sitting justice’s pay, a safeguard against political pressure on the bench.
Article III says federal judges hold their offices “during good behavior,” which in practice means for life.14Congress.gov. Overview of Good Behavior Clause A justice whose rulings anger Congress or the President cannot be removed for those rulings alone.
A justice can leave voluntarily at any time by resigning or retiring. Retirement at full salary runs on the “Rule of 80” under federal law: the justice’s age plus years of federal judicial service must reach at least 80, with a minimum of ten years of service at age 70.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 371 – Retirement on Salary; Recall to Service
The only way to remove a justice involuntarily is impeachment. The House can impeach for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors,16Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II, Section 4 and conviction in the Senate requires a two-thirds vote.17U.S. Senate. About Impeachment It has happened once. In 1804, the House impeached Justice Samuel Chase; the Senate acquitted him on every article.18Federal Judicial Center. Samuel Chase Impeached No justice has ever been removed from the Court.