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  • Justice

How Old Are The Supreme Court Justices?

Supreme court justices are old, and have a lot of credible experience on their records.
  • Nabeel Ahmad
  • November 17, 2020

In the state judiciary of the United States, the state supreme court holds the highest level of power over cases- and the decision is considered final in both state and federal courts. For instance, if a First Amendment right to freedom of speech case was chosen by the highest court of a state (typically the state supreme court), the case could be referred to the Federal Supreme Court.

There are nine justices on the court- eight associate justices and one chief justice. Justices are former law professors and are chosen by the President. The Supreme Court meets in Washington, D.C.

Table of Contents

  • 1 Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?
  • 2 How many Supreme Court Justices are there?
  • 3 Supreme Court Justices Ages
  • 4 Supreme Court Justices Salary
  • 5 Which Supreme Court Justices are Conservative?
  • 6 Conclusion

Who is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

The supreme court is the judicial branch of the US Constitution, with John G. Roberts, Jr. as the Chief Justice of the United States. The average salary figure that a chief justice of the supreme court receives in 2020 is $277,700, which has of course increased with a small percentage each year. Here is a table from the last 10 years of the salary figures of chief justices and associate justices of the supreme court of the United States.

How many Supreme Court Justices are there?

There are a total of nine members of the US Supreme Court, with one chief justice and eight associate justices. The current members of the supreme court are:

  • John G. Roberts, Jr., Chief Justice of the United States
  • Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice
  • Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice
  • Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice
  • Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice
  • Elena Kagan, Associate Justice
  • Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice
  • Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice
  • Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice

Supreme Court Justices Ages

According to data provided on the internet by The Green Papers, this is the list of the supreme court justices’ ages and who they were appointed by.

JusticeDate of BirthAppointed bySworn in
Clarence Thomas6/23/1948

Age: 72 yr 4 mo

George H. W. Bush10/23/1991

Served: 29 yr 0 mo

Stephen Breyer8/15/1938

Age: 82 yr 2 mo

Bill Clinton8/3/1994

Served: 26 yr 3 mo

John G. Roberts1/27/1955

Age: 65 yr 9 mo

George W. Bush9/29/2005

Served: 15 yr 1 mo

Samuel A. Alito, Jr.4/1/1950

Age: 70 yr 7 mo

George W. Bush1/31/2006

Served: 14 yr 9 mo

Sonia Sotomayor6/25/1954

Age: 66 yr 4 mo

Barack Obama8/8/2009

Served: 11 yr 2 mo

Elena Kagan4/28/1960

Age: 60 yr 6 mo

Barack Obama8/7/2010

Served: 10 yr 2 mo

Neil McGill Gorsuch8/29/1967

Age: 53 yr 2 mo

Donald John Trump4/10/2017

Served: 3 yr 6 mo

Brett Michael Kavanaugh2/12/1965

Age: 55 yr 8 mo

Donald John Trump10/6/2018

Served: 2 yr 0 mo

Amy Coney Barrett1/28/1972

Age: 48 yr 9 mo

Donald John Trump10/27/2020

Served: 0 yr 0 mo

Supreme Court Justices Salary

The average salary figure that a chief justice of the supreme court receives in 2020 is $277,700, which has of course increased with a small percentage each year. Here is a table from the last 20 years of the salary figures of chief justices and associate justices of the supreme court of the United States.

YearChief JusticeAssociate JusticesChief Justice

2019 inflation adjusted figures

Associate Justices

2019 inflation adjusted figures

2000$181,400$173,600$269,313$257,733
2001$186,300$178,300$268,999$257,448
2002$192,600$184,400$273,774$262,118
2003$198,600$190,100$276,021$264,207
2004$203,000$194,300$274,780$263,003
2005$208,100$199,200$272,420$260,769
2006$212,100$203,000$268,994$257,453
2008$217,400$208,100$258,158$247,115
2009$223,500$213,900$266,349$254,908
2010$223,500$213,900$262,040$250,785
2011$223,500$213,900$254,016$243,106
2012$223,500$213,900$248,898$238,208
2013$223,500$213,900$245,307$234,771
2014$255,500$244,400$275,936$266,540
2015$258,100$246,800$278,391$266,203
2016$260,700$249,300$277,726$265,581
2017$263,300$251,800$274,631$262,636
2018$267,000$255,300$271,847$259,935
2019$270,700$258,900$270,700$258,900
2020$277,700$265,600N/AN/A

Note: Sample rates have been extracted online, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Which Supreme Court Justices are Conservative?

The current Roberts Court has become more conservative, now with six conservative justices that include Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett (appointed by President Trump).

As of October 26, 2020, of the 9 justices of the Supreme Court, 6 were appointed by a Republican president, and 3 were appointed by a Democratic president. As of October 26, 2020, of the 13 federal appeals courts, Republican appointees have a majority on 7 courts, while Democrat appointees have a majority on 6 courts.

Conclusion

Supreme court justices are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate. For the nomination process, the names come from several different departments, like the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, members of Congress, sitting judges and justices, and the American Bar Association.

A president is likely to appoint a judge who has the same political ideology as their own, like a liberal President will try to appoint a liberal judge. And there is often bias involved- Presidents are likely to choose their friends and people with the same political party as their own.

Until relatively recently, almost all federal judges were white males. Today, however, ethnicity and gender are important criteria for appointing judges. In 1967, Lyndon Johnson appointed the first African American Supreme Court justice, Thurgood Marshall. In 1981, Ronald Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor. All recent presidents have appointed African Americans, Latinos, members of other ethnic minority groups, and women to district courts and courts of appeal.

Judges serve their whole lives for the judicial system of the country, making sure that justice is served and criminals are rightfully punished. They need to be of excellent character, fair and unbiased in all their decisions and ruling.

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Nabeel Ahmad

Nabeel Ahmad is the founder and editor-in-chief of Legal Inquirer. Apart from Legal Inquirer, he is a serial entrepreneur, and has founded multiple successful companies in different industries.

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