Jacob Batchelor World History Extra Credit 10/16/08
Supreme Court Justices
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1790, there have been one hundred and ten Supreme Court justices, which included seventeen Chief Justices. Each of these Justices was chosen by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The first Chief Justice was John Jay of New York. President George Washington appointed Jay in 1789. The average term for Justices is about 15 years. The Presidents that appointed the most Justices were George Washington with 10, and Franklin D. Roosevelt with 8.
Now the limit for Justices in nine all together. Currently there are four liberals, four conservatives, and one sway. The conservatives are very strict when it comes to the U.S. Constitution while the liberals bend the laws stated in it a little. The sway votes either way in a debate. One thing I did not know was that President Taft was a Chief Justice after leaving office.
If a republican such as John McCain wins the presidency he will most likely choose a conservative Justice when John Stevens retires. If that happens there will be five conservatives and three liberals. Then the liberals if all voting together will always lose to the conservatives each time even with the sway vote. It would then be 5-4 conservatives. If Barack Obama wins presidency he will most likely choose a liberal for office and that will keep everything even. A list of the current Justices is shown below:
| Occupation | Name | Age |Conservative/Liberal |
|Chief Justice |John Roberts |53 |C |
|Associate Justice |Samuel Alito |58 |C |
|Associate Justice |Antonin Scalia |72 |C...