Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett pose during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. (Photo by ERIN SCHAFF/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
No shade at all… but here are a few things we should all know about the individuals who make up the Supreme Court of the United States.
Nine justices comprise the US Supreme Court, one chief justice and eight associate justices. The number of justices is fixed by Congress by the authority of judicial code, (28 U.S.C. 1), enacted on June 25, 1948. The President of the United States nominates candidates for the Supreme Court. They must be approved by the US Senate. 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.
So, who exactly are these super important people and how old are they?
John G. Roberts (Chief Justice)
Born: January 27, 1955
September 5, 2005 – George W. Bush nominates Roberts to be chief justice of the United States following the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
Clarence Thomas
Born: June 23, 1948
July 1, 1991 – Nominated to the Supreme Court by the older George Bush to fill the seat of the retiring Thurgood Marshall… THURGOOD MARSHALL
Stephen G. Breyer
Born: August 15, 1938
May 13, 1994 – Nominated by Clinton.
Samuel Alito
Born: April 1, 1950
October 31, 2005 – Nominated by George W. Bush to replace Sandra Day O’Connor.
Sonia Sotomayor
Born: June 25, 1954
May 26, 2009 – Is nominated by Barack Obama to replace Justice David Souter on the US Supreme Court.
Elena Kagan
Born date: April 28, 1960
May 10, 2010 – Obama nominates Kagan to be a justice on the US Supreme Court.
Neil Gorsuch
Born date: August 29, 1967
January 31, 2017 – Gorsuch is nominated by Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.
Brett Kavanaugh
Born date: February 12, 1965
July 9, 2018 – Kavanaugh is nominated by Trump to replace retiring Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
Amy Coney Barrett
Born date: January 28, 1972
September 26, 2020 – Trump nominated Barrett, to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (we’ll get into this another day).
Just old as hell smh
