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Supreme Court (Membership (There are 9 members with one chief justice,…
Supreme Court
Membership
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They are appointed by the president and approved by a majority in the Senate, and are there for life unless they are impeached.
Democrat appointed judges are: Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Ginsberg
Republican appointed judges are: John Roberts (the chief justice), Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy.
The president has to wait for a vacancy to occur. Then the president's closest aides look for suitable candidates. A shortlist is drawn up and candidates have a detailed interview and FBI checks. The president announces the nominee. They then need to be confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, it is debated and a final vote is taken.
There are 4 main pools of recruitment: the federal Appeals Court (Sonia Sotomayor), the states courts, the executive branch (Elena Kagan) or academia (Elena Kagan).
The Senate has rejected 13 nominees since 1789, the most recent being Merrick Garland with Obama.
Philosophy of Justices
Justices are often deemed liberals or conservatives and are often appointed by the president on this basis.
Another classification is loose constructionists and strict constructionists, which means they interpret the constitution liberally or strictly.
Roberts, Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito are strict constructionists and conservative.
Ginsberg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan are loose constructionists and liberal.
However, Kennedy is a wild card and is often the deciding vote because he can lean towards either side. He is a swing justice
Judicial Review
Judicial review is not in the constitution. It is the power of the SC to declare acts of congress or the executive unconstitutional.
When it isn't used often this is a period of judicial restraint. In active times this is judicial activism.
Through this process they can update the meanings of the words of the constitution eg. deciding that freedom of speech applies to corporations.
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