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A Short Biography on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A Short Biography on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Justice Ginsburg is the oldest member of the current Supreme Court of the United States. She is an Associate Justice. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton. She has served the fourth longest of the current Associate Justices. She is only the second female justice on the Supreme Court.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was born March 15, 1933 in New York City. Ginsberg attended James Madison High School in New York City, which later dedicated a room in her honor. She earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York in 1954, after which she enrolled in Harvard Law School. 
She had to transfer to Columbia Law School, but in doing so was able to earn the distinction of being the first woman to be on two major law reviews, the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review. In 1959, she earned her Bachelor of Laws (LL. B.) from Columbia, tying for first in her class. She was awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Willamette University and Princeton University in 2009 and 2010, respectively. 
After she graduated, Ruth Bader Ginsburg served as a professor at Rutgers University School of law from 1963-1972, and then became a law professor at her alma mater from 1972-1980, while serving as General Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union from 1973-1980.
President Jimmy Carter appointed her to become Justice Ginsburg while serving on the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, from 1980-1993. While there, she became friends with Justice Scalia, a friendship that would continue when the two both served on the Supreme Court. After being nominated by President Clinton to the Supreme Court, Justice Ginsburg was approved by a margin of 96-3. 

A Short Biography on Justice Clarence Thomas

A Short Biography on Justice Clarence Thomas

On the list of Supreme Court Justices, Clarence Thomas experienced one of the most controversial nomination hearings. While Justices Scalia and Kennedy faced unanimous approval, the Senate vote which approved Clarence Thomas was very close, with the final vote coming to fifty two Senators in favor and forty eight Senators opposed. This was the narrowest confirmation vote in more than a century.
Clarence Thomas had first appeared on a list of Supreme Court Justices replacement candidates in 1990 when Justice Brennan stepped down. However, President George H.W. Bush had to postpone his nomination of Thomas due to concerns that he was not yet sufficiently experienced. 
By the time Thomas was finally nominated a year later, however, these fears had not yet been address. President Bush stated that Clarence Thomas was the “best qualified [nominee] at this time” However, there is dubious support for this claim. Critics have claimed that instead, Thomas was the only African American candidate who could provide a reliably conservative vote to replace Thurgood Marshal, the only African American on the Court.
The American Bar Association rated Thomas “qualified” by a 13-2 margin, well below the normal recommendation that most nominees had received since Eisenhower, a unanimous “well qualified” evaluation. Part of the criticism was that Clarence Thomas had never argued before the high courts, had never written a consequential legal book, article of brief.
The most serious reason Clarence Thomas is included on a loss of Supreme Court Justices who have faced a challenging nomination process is because of allegations of sexual harassment leveled again Thomas during the hearing by Anita Hill. 

A Short Biography on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

A Short Biography on Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy is one of the two members of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court to receive unanimous approval from the United States Senate after his confirmation hearing, the other being Justice Anton Scalia. Following the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, Justice Anthony Kennedy often serves as the swing vote in close court decisions.
Anthony M. Kennedy was born and raised in Sacramento, California, to and by a father who was an influential attorney in the California legislature. Anthony Kennedy bears no relation to the Kennedy political dynasty. He is the second oldest member of the United States Supreme Court, as he was born on March 11, 1936. As a child, Anthony Kennedy met the Earl Warren, a man who would later go on to serves as Chief Justice of the United States.
Anthony Kennedy graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School in 1954, and attended Stanford University from 1954 through 1958, where he earned a B. A. in Political Science. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1961, graduating cum laude.
After graduation, Anthony M. Kennedy was in his own private practice from 1961 through 1963, after which he assumed control of his late father’s practice, which he continued until 1975. 
Between 1965 and 1988, he served as a Professor of Constitutional Law at the McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific. President Gerald Ford, acting on a recommendation from Ronald Reagan, nominated Kennedy for a position on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 1988, Anthony M. Kennedy was nominated by President Reagan for a seat on the Supreme Court. 

A Short Biography on Chief Justice John Roberts

A Short Biography on Chief Justice John Roberts

 Before being appointed Chief Justice, John Roberts had an extensive legal career, despite only being fifty years old when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 2005 by President George W. Bush.
John G. Roberts was born January 27, 1955. He was raised in Northern Indiana and educated in a private school, before leaving Indiana to attend Harvard College and subsequently attending Harvard Law School. While attending Harvard Law School, he served as a managing editor of the Harvard Law Review, a prestigious position.
Chief Justice John Roberts was exposed to the function of the Supreme Court shortly after he was admitted to the bar when he served as a law clerk for William Rehnquist, the man who he would eventually replace as the Chief Justice of the United States. 
After serving as a law clerk, John G. Roberts took a position in the Attorney General’s office while Ronald Reagan was President. He then moved on to serve in the Department of Justice and the Office of the White House Counsel under the Reagan Administration and the Administration of George H.W. Bush.
After his time with the Bush Administration, John G. Roberts went into private practice, during which time he argued thirty-nine cases before the Supreme Court.
In 2003, President George E. Bush appointed Roberts to serve as a judge on the D.C. Circuit, only to be nominated to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. When Chief Justice Renquist died prior to Robert’s confirmation hearing, Bush resubmitted Roberts to become Chief Justice John Roberts. 

Who is in Barack Obama’s Supreme Court?

Who is in Barack Obama's Supreme Court?

The current Supreme Court Justices are Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and newly appointed Justice Elena Kagan.
Barack Obama’s Supreme Court comes from a variety of backgrounds. Although most of the current Supreme Court justices come from prestigious Northeastern law schools, each member of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court has widely varied life experiences. 
Most of the current Supreme Court justices have experience as sitting judges, with Justice Elena Kagan being the sole exceptions. Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice Sonia Sotomayor are the only current Supreme Court justices who have not served as professors at prestigious law schools.
When they were facing their initial nomination to the Supreme Court, three of the members of Barack Obama’s Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, faced only minimal opposition, Justices Scalia and Kennedy receiving no opposing votes, Justice Ginsburg only having three dissenting votes.
Four current support Justices have been replaced in the past decade. It is believed that two of the members of the current Supreme Court Justices will be replaced in the upcoming years. 

A Brief History of the Supreme Court

A Brief History of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of the United States is regarded as the highest judicial body in the country. The United States Supreme Court leads the federal judiciary and administers various rulings on violations of legal code.
The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices; the Associate Justices are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by majority vote of the Senate. 
The History of the Supreme Court is organized based on era; these particular eras are named after the Chief Justice of that particular time frame. 
The earliest Courts within the Supreme Court were run under Chief Justices, Rutledge, Jay and Ellsworth during 1789-1801. At this time, the Supreme Court heard few cases; furthermore the Court initially lacked a home and any sense of real prestige.
The Supreme Court, and the prestige or reputation attached, dramatically altered during the Marshall Court (1801-1835). During this era, the Supreme Court was declared the supreme arbiter of the United States Constitution. The Marshall Court made several important rulings which gave shape and substance to the constitutional balance of power between the federal government and the states.
 As time passed, the Supreme Court gained administrative and authoritative power and through its numerous court decisions, laid the interpretative framework for which the United States Constitution was built off. Presently, during the Roberts Court, the Supreme Court has dealt with many issues concerning anti-trust legislation, abortion, the death penalty, the Fourth Amendment, free speech of high school students as well as government employees, military detainees, voting rights, school desegregation, and campaign financing. 

What You Must Know About the Supreme Court

What You Must Know About the Supreme Court

In any county, the Supreme Court is the highest court in the country. A supreme court may be known as the court of last resort, last instance, or last judgment. A supreme court may also be referred to as the high court or highest court. A supreme court is a court from which a ruling cannot be appealed.
The United States Supreme Court is made up of nine justices. It represents one of the three branches of the federal system, and is the only court in the United States which is specifically established in the Constitution. It is presided over by a Chief Justice of the United States, with eight Associate Justice. 
Each justice appointed to the United States Supreme Court is nominated to the position by the President of the United States, and receives confirmation through the advice and consent of the Senate. The Senate bestows consent in a majority vote.
Judges of the United States Supreme Courts do not have term limits, with the tenure of each United Court Supreme Court Justice persisting as long as each justice exhibits “good behavior.” A member of the United States Supreme Court can only be removed upon death, resignation, retirement, or conviction upon an impeachable charge.
The majority of the cases argues before the United States Supreme Court in Washington D.C. are appellate cases, although there is a small range of cases over which the Court has original jurisdiction.

A Short Biography on Justice Sonia Sotomayor

A Short Biography on Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor’s biography reveals that judge Sonia Sotomayor beings a strong life experience with her to the bench.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor was born in the Bronx, New York City. Sonia Sotomayor graduated summa cum laude with a B.A from Princeton University, before receiving her J.D. from Yale Law School after serving as an editor at the Yale Law Journal. 
After graduation, she served as an assistant district attorney in New York for five years. She entered private practice in 1984, before being nominated to serve on the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by President H.W. Bush in 1991, with her confirmation to the position coming in early 1992.
While serving in that capacity, Judge Sonia Sotomayor issued two famous rulings, the first an injunction against Major League Baseball which ended the 1994 baseball strike. Judge Sonia Sotomayor also ruled to allow the Wall Street Journal to publish Vince Foster’s final note. 
In 1997, Bill Clinton nominated her to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In a repeat of Sonia Sotomayor’s biography, her confirmation was delayed once again. While on the Second Circuit, Judge Sonia Sotomayor heard more than three thousand appeals and wrote almost four hundred opinions. Judge Sonia Sotomayor has also taught at NYU School of Law and Columbia Law School.
Judge Sonia Sotomayor was President Barack Obama’s first nominee to the US Supreme Court.

A Short Biography on Justice Samuel Alito

A Short Biography on Justice Samuel Alito

Justice Samuel Alito is the one hundred and tenth Supreme Court Justice. This conservative jurist was appointed to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush.
Samuel A. Alito Jr. was born on April 1, 1950 in Trenton, New Jersey, and grew up in Hamilton Township a suburb of Trenton. Samuel Alito left a note in his college yearbook which said that he hoped to “eventually warm a seat on the Supreme Court.” 
He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He then attended Yale Law School, where he served as editor of the Yale Law Journal while earning his Juris Doctor in 1975.
After graduating from Yale Law School, Samuel A. Alito Jr. served on active duty from September to December 1975. He earned a rank of Captain before receiving an Honorable Discharge in 1980.
During 1976 and 1977, Samuel Alito clerked for Third Circuit appeals Judge Leonard Garth in Newark, New Jersey. He interviewed for a clerkship with Supreme Court Justice White, but was not hired. For 1977-1981, Alito served as Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey. 
He prosecuted may drug trafficking and organized crime cases. He was an Assistant to Solicitor General Rex E. Lee from 1981-1985, during which time he argued twelve cases before the Supreme Court. From 1985-1987, Samuel A. Alito Jr. was the Deputy Assistant to Attorney General Edwin Meese. From 1987-1990, Alito served as Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
In February 1990, President George H.W. Bush nominated him to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 2005, George W. Bush nominated Samuel Alito to become a Supreme Court Justice. He was narrowly approved, by a vote of 58-42. 

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