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
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.
| Justice | Date of Birth | Appointed by | Sworn in |
| Clarence Thomas | 6/23/1948 Age: 72 yr 4 mo | George H. W. Bush | 10/23/1991 Served: 29 yr 0 mo |
| Stephen Breyer | 8/15/1938 Age: 82 yr 2 mo | Bill Clinton | 8/3/1994 Served: 26 yr 3 mo |
| John G. Roberts | 1/27/1955 Age: 65 yr 9 mo | George W. Bush | 9/29/2005 Served: 15 yr 1 mo |
| Samuel A. Alito, Jr. | 4/1/1950 Age: 70 yr 7 mo | George W. Bush | 1/31/2006 Served: 14 yr 9 mo |
| Sonia Sotomayor | 6/25/1954 Age: 66 yr 4 mo | Barack Obama | 8/8/2009 Served: 11 yr 2 mo |
| Elena Kagan | 4/28/1960 Age: 60 yr 6 mo | Barack Obama | 8/7/2010 Served: 10 yr 2 mo |
| Neil McGill Gorsuch | 8/29/1967 Age: 53 yr 2 mo | Donald John Trump | 4/10/2017 Served: 3 yr 6 mo |
| Brett Michael Kavanaugh | 2/12/1965 Age: 55 yr 8 mo | Donald John Trump | 10/6/2018 Served: 2 yr 0 mo |
| Amy Coney Barrett | 1/28/1972 Age: 48 yr 9 mo | Donald John Trump | 10/27/2020 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.
| Year | Chief Justice | Associate Justices | Chief 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 | $265,600 | N/A | N/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.
