Recess appointments[edit] When the Senate is in recess, a president may make temporary appointments to fil l vacancies.

Recess appointees hold office only until the end of the next Senate session (at most, less than two years). The Senate must confirm the nominee for them to continue serving; of the two chief justices and six associate justices who have received recess appointments, only Chief Justice John Rutledge was not subsequently confirmed. No president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has made a recess appointment to the Cou rt, and the practice has become rare and controversial even in lower federal cou rts.[73] In 1960, after Eisenhower had made three such appointments, the Senate passed a "sense of the Senate" resolution that recess appointments to the Court should only be made in "unusual circumstances."[74] Such resolutions are not leg ally binding but are an expression of Congress's views in the hope of guiding ex ecutive action.[74][75] Tenure[edit] The Constitution provides that justices "shall hold their offices during good be havior" (unless appointed during a Senate recess). The term "good behavior" is u nderstood to mean justices may serve for the remainder of their lives, unless th ey are impeached and convicted by Congress, resign or retire.[76] Only one justi ce has been impeached by the House of Representatives (Samuel Chase, March 1804) , but he was acquitted in the Senate (March 1805).[77] Moves to impeach sitting justices have occurred more recently (for example, William O. Douglas was the su bject of hearings twice, in 1953 and again in 1970; and Abe Fortas resigned whil e hearings were being organized), but they did not reach a vote in the House. No mechanism exists for removing a justice who is permanently incapacitated by ill ness or injury, but unable (or unwilling) to resign.[78] Because justices have indefinite tenure, timing of vacancies can be unpredictabl e. Sometimes vacancies arise in quick succession, as in the early 1970s when Lew is Franklin Powell, Jr. and William Rehnquist were nominated to replace Hugo Bla ck and John Marshall Harlan II, who retired within a week of each other. Sometim es a great length of time passes between nominations, such as the eleven years b etween Stephen Breyer's nomination in 1994 to succeed Harry Blackmun and the nom ination of John Roberts in 2005 to fill the seat of Sandra Day O'Connor (though Roberts' nomination was withdrawn and resubmitted for the role of Chief Justice after Rehnquist died). Despite the variability, all but four Presidents have been able to appoint at le ast one justice. William Henry Harrison died a month after taking office, though his successor (John Tyler) made an appointment during that presidential term. L ikewise, Zachary Taylor died early in his term, but his successor (Millard Fillm ore) also made a Supreme Court nomination before the end of that term. Andrew Jo hnson, who became President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was deni ed the opportunity to appoint a justice by a reduction in the size of the Court. Jimmy Carter is the only President to complete at least one term in office with out making a nomination to the Court during his presidency. Three presidents have appointed justices who collectively served more than 100 y ears: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln.[79] Membership[edit] Current justices[edit] Name Born Appt. by Senate conf. vote Age at appt. First da y / Length of service Previous positions Roberts John Roberts (Chief Justice) January 27, 1955 (age 59) September 29, 2005 in Buffalo, New York George W. Bush 78 22 50 8 years, 4 months Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (20 03 2005); Private practice (1993 2003); Professor, Georgetown University Law Center (1992 2005); Principal Deputy Solicitor General (1989 1993); Private practice (1986 19

89); Associate Counsel to the President (1982 1986); Special Assistant to the Atto rney General (1981 1982) Scalia Antonin Scalia March 11, 1936 (age 77) in Trenton, New Jersey Ronald Reagan 98 0 50 September 26, 1986 27 years, 4 months Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (19 82 1986); Professor, University of Chicago Law School (1977 1982); Assistant Attorne y General (1974 1977); Professor, University of Virginia School of Law (1967 1974); Private practice (1961 1967) Kennedy Anthony Kennedy July 23, 1936 (age 77) in Sacramento, California Ronald Reagan 97 0 51 February 18, 198 8 26 years Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1975 1988); Professor, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific (1965 1988); Private practice (1963 1975) Thomas Clarence Thomas June 23, 1948 (age 65) in Pin Point, Georgia George H. W. Bush 52 48 43 October 23, 1991 22 years, 3 months Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (19 90 1991); Chairman, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1982 1990); legislative assistant for Missouri Senator John Danforth (1979 1981); employed by Monsanto Co mpany Inc. (1977 1979); Assistant Attorney General in Missouri under State Attorne y General John Danforth (1974 1977) Ginsburg Ruth Bader Ginsburg March 15, 1933 (age 80) in New York, New York Bill Clinton 96 3 60 August 10, 1993 20 years, 6 months Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (19 80 1993); General Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union (1973 1980); Professor, Co lumbia Law School (1972 1980); Professor, Rutgers University School of Law (1963 197 2) Breyer Stephen Breyer August 15, 1938 (age 75) in San Francisco, California Bill Clinton 87 9 56 August 3, 1994 19 years, 6 months Chief Judge, Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (199 0 1994); Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1980 1990); Professo r, Harvard Law School (1967 1980) Alito Samuel Alito April 1, 1950 (age 63) in Trenton, New Jersey George W. Bush 58 42 55 January 31, 2006 8 years Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (1990 2006); Profess or, Seton Hall University School of Law (1999 2004); U.S. Attorney for the Distric t of New Jersey (1987 1990); Deputy Assistant Attorney General (1985 1987); Assistan t to the Solicitor General (1981 1985); Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District o f New Jersey (1977 1981) Sotomayor Sonia Sotomayor June 25, 1954

(age 59) in New York, New York Barack Obama 68 31 55 August 8, 2009 4 years, 6 months Circuit Judge, Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ( 1998 2009); District Judge, District Court for the Southern District of New York ( 1992 1998); Private practice (1984 1991); Assistant District Attorney, New York Coun ty, New York (1979 1984) Kagan Elena Kagan April 28, 1960 (age 53) in New York, New York Barack Obama 63 37 50 August 7, 2010 3 years, 6 months Solicitor General of the United States (2009 2010); Dean o f Harvard Law School (2003 2009); Professor, Harvard Law School (2001 2003); Visitin g Professor, Harvard Law School (1999 2001); Associate White House Counsel (1995 199 9); Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council (1995 1999); Professor, Univers ity of Chicago Law School (1995); Associate Professor, University of Chicago Law School (1991 1995) Court demographics[edit] Main article: Demographics of the Supreme Court of the United States The Court currently has six male and three female justices. One justice is Afric an American, one is Latino, and two are Italian-Americans; six justices are Roma n Catholics, and three are Jewish. The average age is 68 years, 2 months, and ev ery current justice has an Ivy League background.[80] Four justices are from the state of New York, two from New Jersey, two from California, and one from Georg ia. In the 19th century, every justice was a male of European descent, almost always Protestant and of Northern European descent, and concerns about diversity focus ed on geography, to represent all regions of the country, rather than ethnic, re ligious, or gender diversity.[81] Thurgood Marshall became the first African Ame rican Justice in 1967, and Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female Justice i n 1981. O'Connor, whose appointment fulfilled Ronald Reagan's campaign promise t o place a woman on the Court, was later joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by Bill Clinton in 1993. Marshall was succeeded by Clarence Thomas in 1991, who is the second African American to serve on the Supreme Court. In 1986, Antonin Scalia became the first Italian-American to serve on the Court. After O'Connor h ad in 2006 been succeeded by Samuel Alito, Ginsburg was in 2009 joined by Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latino justice, and in 2010 by Elena Kagan, so that there w ere three female justices. Most justices have been Protestants, including 35 Episcopalians, 19 Presbyterian s, 10 Unitarians, five Methodists, and three Baptists.[82][83] The first Catholi c justice was Roger Taney in 1836, and 1916 saw the appointment of the first Jew ish justice, Louis Brandeis. In recent years this situation has reversed: after the retirement of Justice Stevens in June 2010, the Court is without a Protestan t for the first time in its history.[84] Retired justices[edit] There are currently three living retired justices of the Supreme Court of the Un ited States: John Paul Stevens, Sandra Day O'Connor, and David Souter. As retire d justices, they no longer participate in the work of the Supreme Court, but may be designated for temporary assignments to sit on lower federal courts, usually the United States Courts of Appeals. Such assignments are formally made by the Chief Justice, on request of the Chief Judge of the lower court and with the con sent of the retired Justice. In recent years, Justice O'Connor has sat with seve ral Courts of Appeals around the country, and Justice Souter has frequently sat on the First Circuit, the court of which he was briefly a member before joining the Supreme Court. The status of a retired Justice is analogous to that of a Circuit or District Ju dge who has taken senior status, and eligibility of a Supreme Court Justice to a ssume retired status (rather than simply resign from the bench) is governed by t he same age and service criteria. Justices sometimes strategically plan their decisions to leave the bench, with p

ersonal, institutional, and partisan factors playing a role.[85][86] The fear of mental decline and death often motivates justices to step down. The desire to m aximize the Court's strength and legitimacy through one retirement at a time, wh en the Court is in recess, and during non-presidential election years suggests a concern for institutional health. Finally, especially in recent decades, many j ustices have timed their departure to coincide with a compatible president holdi ng office to ensure that a like-minded successor would be appointed.[87][88] Name Born Appt. by Retired under Conf. vote Age at appt. First day Date of retirement Stevens John Paul Stevens April 20, 1920 (age 93) in Chicago, Illinois Gerald Ford Barack Obama 98 0 55 December 19, 1975 June 29, 2010 O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor March 26, 1930 (age 83) in El Paso, Texas Ronald Reagan George W. Bush 99 0 51 Septembe r 25, 1981 January 31, 2006 Souter David Souter September 17, 1939 (age 74) in Melrose, Massachusetts George H. W. Bush Barack Obama 90 9 51 October 9, 1990 June 29, 2009 Seniority and seating[edit] Many of the internal operations of the Court are organized by the seniority of t he justices; the Chief Justice is considered the most senior member of the Court , regardless of the length of his or her service. The Associate Justices are the n ranked by the length of their service. During Court sessions, the justices sit according to seniority, with the Chief J ustice in the center, and the Associate Justices on alternating sides, with the most senior Associate Justice on the Chief Justice's immediate right, and the mo st junior Associate Justice seated on the left farthest away from the Chief Just ice. Therefore, the current court sits as follows from